Below are the application rules for membership of the Association of Consultants in Access Australia
Accredited membership (Individuals only)
The association requires evidence of relevant qualifications and/or significant experience, continuing professional development training, and skills and knowledge pertaining to access to premises, before accepting an Applicant for accredited membership.
Applicants for this class are expected to have spent at the very least three years* as an associate member of ACAA and to be able to demonstrate active participation in the association’s CPD program prior to applying for accredited membership. Refer below to the Accreditation Checklist for more details.
*An associate member of ACAA before eligible to upgrade to an accredited member must wait at least the following:
- 18 months if the applicant holds the Diploma of Access Consulting,
- 2 years if the applicant holds the Certificate IV in Access Consulting;and
- 3 years if the applicant held Associate membership prior to July 2012 and has not attained the Certificate IV in Access Consulting.
Only in extraordinary circumstances will consideration be given to an Applicant who is not already an associate member.
Accredited membership applicants must:
- have both a Proposer and Seconder
[each of whom must hold of Accredited ACAA membership]
Guidelines for Proposers and Seconders for applications for ACAA Membership - have a minimum of three Referees must be nominated
[A referee is a person who can substantiate the applicants work experience in access, and vouch for their good character and proficiency. A suitable referee is a client, work colleague or associate who can verify an applicant's professional and personal attributes that support their ability to operate effectively as an access consultant. Referees for Accredited Membership must include at least two clients of the applicant.
The Association will always contact an Applicant's Referees. An Applicant’s Proposer or Seconder. Employee or Family member cannot be accepted as a nominated Referee.] - participate in the Association’s Continuing Professional Development Program throughout the associate membership period.
Demonstrated by gaining minimum 30 CPD points per year is required
[And also in order to maintain ongoing accredited membership class.] - to successfully complete an Accreditation Membership Test
[Associate members can undertake the test at any time prior to applying for upgrade to Accredited membership. However, it should be noted that Accredited membership will not be activated until the qualifying period for Accredited membership has been met, even if the Accreditation Membership Test has been successfully taken. For more details, please see our Accreditation Test Information Section] - Provide a detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Provide three samples of Access Reports
[Reports can have any confidential client details removed, or blanked out. All information provide is kept confidential to the Membership Committee only]
This Checklist is to assist you in preparation to apply for Accredited member. Accredited Application Checklist
Associate membership (Individuals only)
Associate membership Applicants must:
- be able to demonstrate that they are engaged in some way in access consulting
- have successfully completed the nationally recognised qualification
[‘Certificate IV in Access Consulting’ (or provide evidence of recognised prior learning (RPL) for the units of competency related to the Certificate IV in Access Consulting as determined via the appropriate nationally recognised RPL process) [Provide a copy of the Certificate of Attainment or RPL approval] - have both a Proposer and Seconder, each of whom must hold Accredited ACAA membership
[If necessary, you can apply for a Proposer and Seconder to be appointed by the Association on your behalf.]
Guidelines for Proposers and Seconders for applications for ACAA Membership - have a minimum of three Referees must be nominated
[A referee is a person who can substantiate the applicants work experience in access, and vouch for their good character and proficiency. A suitable referee is a client, work colleague or associate who can verify an applicant's professional and personal attributes that support their ability to operate effectively as an access consultant. An Applicant’s Proposer or Seconder, Employee or Family member cannot be accepted as a nominated Referee.] - Provide a detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Provide two samples of Access Reports to demonstrate your work experience undertaken in Australia over the last 1-2 years.
[Reports must be authored by the applicant, must not be a re-submission of an report/assignment undertaken for any training, and can have any confidential client details removed, or blanked out. All information provided is kept confidential to the Membership Committee only. To facilitate the application process consider providing two to three reports that demonstrate work variety/complexity]
This Checklist is to assist you in preparation to apply for Associate member. Associate Application Checklist
Affiliate membership (Individuals only)
Affiliate membership applicants must:
- have an interest in access
- provide a statement describing the nature of their interest in access
- have both a Proposer and Seconder, each of whom must hold Accredited ACAA membership
[If necessary you can apply for a Proposer and Seconder to be appointed by the Association on your behalf.]
Guidelines for Proposers and Seconders for applications for ACAA Membership
For this class of membership Referees are not required.
For this class of membership, participation in the ACAA Continuous Professional Development Program is not required.
Student membership (Individuals only)
Student membership applicants must:
- have an interest in access
- provide a statement describing the nature of their interest in access
- have both a Proposer and Seconder, each of whom must hold Accredited ACAA membership
[If necessary you can apply for a Proposer and Seconder to be appointed by the Association on your behalf.]
Guidelines for Proposers and Seconders for applications for ACAA Membership - provide proof of full time status as a student
For this class of membership Referees are not required. For this class of membership, participation in the ACAA Continuous Professional Development Program is not required.
Retired membership (Individuals only)
- Retired membership applicants must have retired from active practice in access consulting.
Corporate sponsor membership (Organisations only)
From 1st July 2018, Corporate membership has been reclassification as Supporters. Corporate member is now advertised as “Corporate Sponsor” category
The object of this policy is to clearly establish the intent of corporate membership as supporters of ACAA and prohibit companies that provide Access Consultant services regarding design and certification services from misleading practices that imply ACAA Accreditation through a corporate membership, e.g. XYZ Certifiers have no ACAA Accredited member employees but use their corporate membership to advertise their services, which implies ACAA membership is all encompassing.
The intent of corporate membership is to have a category enables companies that sell/manufacture accessibility related products and services to become members to advertise and support ACAA.
Corporate Sponsorship is available only to the following two groups:
1. Businesses that provide products and services that related to the design, construction and maintenance of the built environment for use by people with disabilities including older people and support the objectives of ACAA; and
2. Business that provide Access Consultancy services shall be eligible only if there is at least 1 financial ACAA Accredited level member employed full time. Occasional sub-contractors engaged by a business from time to time does not fulfil this requirement.
For more details of the benefits of our three Corporate Sponsor membership Packages.
ACAA Advertising and Sponsorship Opportunities
[Note: ACAA does not guarantee, support or endorse any product or service provided by a Corporate Sponsor, nor does it warrant any assertions made of products or services. Users of these products and services are recommended to obtain independent information and to perform independent research before using the information acquired from Sponsors. ACAA assumes no liability or responsibility for any inaccurate or incomplete information, nor for any actions taken in reliance thereon.]