The policy debate on accountability in higher education has been vigorous in many countries, but it has focused primarily on broad objectives or approaches. Limited attention has been paid to the mechanisms by which universities would implement accountability objectives and to the critical role of academics in developing ways to assess learning outcomes. Yet, giving members of the professoriate a central role in accountability is vital: implementing accountability requires decentralised implementation linked to the differing circumstances of study fields and levels. Academics must be involved in a sequence of tasks--developing assessments, testing and refining them against new evidence, making sense of accountability results, and responding with changes in programmes or delivery. This paper outlines a process showing how universities and other tertiary institutions could develop and use outcome measures for student learning. It also recognises that professional and disciplinary associations (e.g. business, education, chemistry, literature and social welfare), nationally and internationally, could contribute to these developments in their specialty fields.