The primary purpose of professional accreditation is to ensure that graduates from specific courses are professionally qualified and competent. The University also recognises that external accreditation of its courses by professional bodies is an important component of a quality assurance framework where a course is assessed against criteria within certain specified categories. Accredited courses meet the standards set by the relevant accrediting body.
Regulation is enforced by government in occupations where public safety needs to be ensured. Professions such as architecture, teaching, nursing, medicine, and psychology are regulated whereas engineering, accountancy and journalism are unregulated or voluntary. In unregulated professions, national professional associations themselves may establish an accreditation function as part of their wider professional services and operations.
There are a number of courses at Federation University which are accredited. Discipline areas are listed below, along with the accrediting body. To find out if a specific course is accredited, look under the Professional Recognition heading in Course Finder:
| Study Area | Accredited by |
| Psychology | Australian Psychological Accreditation Council |
| Exercise Physiology | Exercise and Sports Science Australia |
| Nursing & Midwifery | Australian Health Practitioner Registration Authority and the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Accreditation Council |
| Paramedicine | Ambulance Victoria |
| Accounting | CPA Australia |
| Engineering (Civil, Mining, Mechanical) | Engineers Australia |
| IT | ACS |
| Education | Victorian Institute of Teaching |