Purpose
The Certified Environmental Practitioner (CEnvP) Scheme is the leading certifying body for environmental and social practitioners in Australia and New Zealand. The Scheme assesses the experience, skills and ethical conduct of environmental and social professionals working across the region and the globe.
As the environment industry matures, the community is demanding greater accountability from industry and government. Certification provides a means of clearly recognising suitably qualified and experienced environmental practitioners, and giving clients and the community confidence in their work. It also allows practitioners to demonstrate to employers, clients and professional associates that their environmental skills and knowledge meet national standards.
Certified practitioners may use a professional seal and post-nominal in recognition of their certification. Once certified, CEnvPs continue to develop their practice through ongoing Continuing Professional Development activities, which are submitted every two years. This ensures that CEnvPs maintain currency in their knowledge base, and continue to strive for professional excellence.
Complying with the international standard for certification bodies, the CEnvP Scheme operates independently and is supported by legislation and government recommendations across Australia and New Zealand.
History
The CEnvP Scheme was established in 2004 under EIANZ By-law 16. The Certification Board, regional Assessment Panels and Registrar were established in time for the first CEnvP application in late 2004. Although established under EIANZ, CEnvP acts independently as a certification body.
Compliance
The strong governance arrangements put in place behind the CEnvP Scheme, including the Certification Board, an Appeals process and third-party complaint process, ensure that the Scheme remains effective and fair.
The CEnvP Scheme is based on ISO/IEC 17024:2012 “Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons” (which is identical to AS/NZS ISO/IEC 17024:2013). Among the key requirements of this international standard are that certification is available to anyone who meets specified criteria, not just those who belong to a particular institute or association; and that scheme governance demonstrates independence from any other organisation (including the EIANZ which may have initiated the scheme) in its certification decisions. The degree of compliance of the CEnvP Scheme with ISO17024 is assured by EIANZ By-Law 16 and is regularly audited. In 2017 the Heads of EPAs in Australia and NZ agreed on principles for recognising certification schemes which acknowledged the importance of ISO17024.
As the CEnvP Scheme sits within the governance of the EIANZ, specifically By-law 16, CEnvPs have strong governance and must abide by the EIANZ-CEnvP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. CEnvP has clear operational policies, procedures and complaints handling as required for ISO17024. The CEnvP Scheme has robust processes for endorsing a professional as being suitably qualified and competent prior to their certification. A CEnvP is required to undertake continued professional development and periodically produce the requisite hours.
Impartiality is essential in maintaining the integrity of our certification process. The CEnvP Scheme is committed to high standards of ethical conduct and accordingly places great importance on being impartial and avoiding and managing any existing or potential conflict of interest. This applies to CEnvP Scheme Board members, staff and volunteers.