NATA: 50 years experience with accreditation

 Laboratory accreditation is becoming increasingly accepted around the world as a means of identifying technically competent laboratories. It is also being used as a mechanism for the acceptance of test data both nationally and internationally. The concept and mechanisms of accreditation have been developed over the past 50 years. The first national laboratory accreditation system appeared in Australia in 1947. This organisation, known as the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA), has since taken a leading role in developing accreditation practices that are now used world-wide in evaluating testing, measurement and calibration laboratories. This paper examines the development of the world's first and largest laboratory accreditation system, and looks at the difficulties and triumphs in gaining acceptance and recognition by government and industry of the benefits of laboratory accreditation. Received: 24 June 1996 Accepted: 25 June 1996