If your engineering degree is not from a Washington Accord-accredited program, you will need to write a Competency Demonstration Report (CDR) for your Engineers Australia assessment. Here is how to do it well.
What is a CDR?
A CDR is Engineers Australia’s way of assessing whether your engineering knowledge and competencies meet Australian standards. It consists of:
- Three career episodes (1000-2500 words each)
- A summary statement mapping your competencies to EA’s requirements
- Continuing professional development list
Writing your career episodes
Each career episode describes a specific engineering project or task you worked on. The key principles:
Focus on YOUR contribution
Do not describe the team’s work. Use “I” not “we”. EA wants to know what you personally did, decided, and achieved.
Be specific and technical
Include engineering calculations, design decisions, technical challenges, and how you solved them. Vague descriptions will not pass.
Show a range of competencies
Across your three episodes, demonstrate: application of engineering knowledge, engineering design, project management, and communication.
Use the paragraph numbering system
Number every paragraph in each career episode (e.g., 1.1, 1.2, 1.3). You will reference these numbers in the summary statement.
Common mistakes
- Plagiarism - EA uses plagiarism detection software. Do not copy from online samples. Plagiarised CDRs are automatically rejected.
- Too general - “I managed the project” tells EA nothing. “I calculated the beam dimensions using finite element analysis, considering dynamic loads of…” tells them a lot.
- Wrong category - Make sure your CDR matches the correct engineering category (Professional Engineer, Engineering Technologist, or Engineering Associate).
The Washington Accord shortcut
If your degree is from a Washington Accord-accredited university, you can skip the CDR entirely and use the Direct Pathway. This is much faster (4-6 weeks vs 8-12 weeks) and simpler. Check EA’s list of accredited programs before writing a CDR.
See the full Engineers Australia assessment guide for fees and processing details.
