After graduating and registering as an architect in Australia, and then going to work in London, the whole process to get recognised in the UK was extremely long, arduous, and expensive, recalls Kathlyn Loseby, CEO of the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia.

The recent Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) signed between the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, which came into effect on 25th May 2023, is expected to ease the pathway for architects from these countries to work in all three countries.

British Consul General in NSW and the Deputy Trade Commissioner for Australia and New Zealand, Louise Cantillon explains that the MRA has been in the works for six years, with trilateral teams across Australia, New Zealand and the UK discussing this and getting the pieces in place.

Replacing a laborious and intensive process

The MRA signed between the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (AACA), the UK’s Architects Registration Board (ARB), and the New Zealand Registered Architects Board (NZRAB) seeks to replace the previous process, which was laborious and quite intensive, and made it difficult for architects to get accreditation. The MRA “...will cut all of that out and make it much simpler for architects from the UK, Australia and New Zealand to be able to work in each other's countries,” Cantillon noted.

Elaborating on her personal experience in the 1990s, Loseby says the process to get her qualifications recognised in the UK was very intensive, and she ended up not doing it. But the new MRA changes all of that by allowing any recently registered architect to go to the UK and have their qualifications and registration recognised.

“Australians, when we study architecture, are always keen to go and work in the UK. It's very similar to here; it's part of our education and our studies, it's the gateway to Europe. Similarly, I see a lot of British people coming here, so really we're just recognising that we have so many similarities in our qualifications and our registration processes,” Loseby says.

“Most in-demand mutual recognition agreement”

Loseby also expects this programme to be “the most in-demand mutual recognition agreement that architects have ever had in our Australian history”. However, the impact of the MRA in terms of the number of architects who will make use of it will only be known after a few months. “But we're expecting it to be actually really high,” she says.

“When we've been negotiating the free trade agreements between the UK and Australia and New Zealand, the number one thing that companies ask for is mobility of people. So that is the number one issue and anything that can help that is going to make a difference and whether it's mobility in this case, recognition of architects around that, or whether it's the youth mobility programme, which will increase from 30,000 to 35,000 and go from two to three years, I think we're going to see a much bigger crossover of people between all our three countries,” Loseby says.

How do you see the impact on architecture students?

“Huge,” says Loseby. Knowing that their degrees will be recognised in the UK, and they can go through the standard registration process is a massive change.

“One of the advantages of studying architecture is that you learn about buildings throughout the world and how better way to actually experience that than to actually go to another country.”

Cantillon says she hopes it will draw more attention to the profession, given that an architectural degree will automatically get recognition in three different countries, which is such an amazing advantage that other professions don't offer.

Image: Shutterstock

This is a transcribed excerpt from our recent podcast: Episode 157: UK Consul General Louise Cantillon and AAC CEO Kathlyn Loseby explain the Mutual Recognition Agreement (UK MRA)

Branko Miletic

The-Mutual-Recognition-Agreement-and-its-impact-1732010385.png

Let’s connect!