architect noun 1 Aust. a person registered in the state or territory where they work. 2 law a title that, in every state and territory, a person may use only if registered with that jurisdiction’s board. 3 law, SA, Tas a word with relatives: some Acts also reach “architectural” and the other words built from it.
In Australia the word “architect” belongs to a register. Each state and territory has its own board, set up under its own Act, to register architects, carry out disciplinary investigations and pursue anyone who uses the title without being registered. This guide follows the word through each jurisdiction’s law.
General informationGeneral information about how architects are registered under each state and territory’s Act, not legal advice about any person, business or project. The official places to check are the boards named below and the Acts linked in each guide.
Eight boards, eight Acts
Registration is a state and territory matter: each board regulates the practice of architecture in its own jurisdiction. The Architects Accreditation Council of Australia lists the eight boards and the law that set each one up.
| Jurisdiction | Board | Act |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | NSW Architects Registration Board | Architects Act 2003 |
| Victoria | Architects Registration Board of Victoria | Architects Act 1991 |
| Queensland | Board of Architects of Queensland | Architects Act 2002 |
| South Australia | Architectural Practice Board of South Australia | Architectural Practice Act 2009 |
| Western Australia | Architects Board of Western Australia | Architects Act 2004 |
| Australian Capital Territory | ACT Architects Board | Architects Act 2004 |
| Tasmania | Board of Architects of Tasmania | Architects Act 1929 |
| Northern Territory | Northern Territory Architects Board | Architects Act 1963 |
The eight boards together own the Council, a not-for-profit company they set up. It coordinates the National Standard of Competency for Architects, the benchmark for every assessment on the way to registration.
What the word tells you about a person
On the Council’s description, an architect has five years of professional education and at least two years of practical experience, has passed the Architectural Practice Examination, and appears on a register of architects. The examination is a national one, run by the Council with the state and territory boards.
Registration also carries duties that continue. In South Australia every architect must hold professional indemnity insurance and complete a minimum amount of continuing professional development each year. In New South Wales architects are bound by the NSW Architects Code of Professional Conduct 2017 and must complete at least 20 hours of professional development a year.
A professional body is a different thing from a board. The Australian Institute of Architects is the peak body for the profession, and the Council notes that not all of its members are registered architects. Only a board’s register says who is.
The five guides
Each guide also has its own tab in the thumb index on every page.
- WordsThe protected words: who may be called an architect. The title, the words built from it, and the exceptions each Act names.
- RegistersChecking an architect’s registration, state by state. What each board’s register shows, what its marks mean, and when registrations renew.
- BusinessesWhen a company or partnership may use the title. Approval, registration and licensing for businesses, and who in them must be an architect.
- PathThe path to registration as an architect. Qualification, experience, the national examination, and what keeps a registration current.
- MisuseMisusing the title: offences, penalties and complaints. What each Act sets as the penalty, who acts on it, and how a board deals with a complaint.
What this guide covers
The sources behind this guide speak in detail for Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, and more briefly for New South Wales and the ACT. For Queensland they give only the name of the board and its Act. Where a guide says nothing about a state, that is a gap in this guide, never a sign that the state has no rule. The board in each state is the place to check.