NATA was established in 1947 in response to a call for the formation of a national testing services body to ensure the munitions which the government was manufacturing during the Second World War met a sufficiently high standard.
In 1988, NATA's role as an accreditation body was recognised by the Australian Government in a Memorandum of Understanding[2] which was renewed in 2014.
[3] NATA provides accreditation services to inspection bodies and producers of certified reference materials.
[6] NATA accreditation formally recognises facilities that meet the competency requirements to produce reliable technical results for a particular test method.
NATA represents Australia in a number of high-level International fora related to laboratory, inspection body, reference material producer and proficiency testing service provider accreditation practices and policies.