Apply for membership

Affiliate membership applicants must:

• have an interest in access
• provide a statement describing the nature of their interest in access and a Curriculum Vitae (CV)

For this class of membership, Referees are not required.
For this class of membership, participation in the ACA Continuous Professional Development Program is not required but certainly welcomed.

Associate membership Applicants must:

• be able to demonstrate that they are engaged in some way in access consulting and have been for at least six months prior to application
• Have successfully completed the nationally recognised qualification of Certificate IV or Diploma in Access Consulting.
• Have a qualification in a related field – for example, architecture, building design, interior design, landscape design, occupational therapy, construction management, town planning, building surveying or the like
  • [If the applicant does not have the required qualification in a related field or is relying on lived experience, they may apply for affiliate membership and participate in the ACA mentoring program for a minimum period of two years instead of qualification before applying for ACA Associate level membership.]
• Provide a minimum of three Referees.
  • [A referee is a person who can substantiate the applicant’s work experience in access and vouch for their good character and proficiency. A suitable referee is a client, or work colleague who can verify an applicant’s professional and personal attributes that support their ability to operate effectively as an access consultant. An applicant’s employee or family member cannot be accepted as a nominated referee. At least two referees must be external to the applicant’s current place of employment]
• Provide a detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV) that outlines experience in access consulting.
• Provide two samples of access reports to demonstrate their work experience undertaken in Australia over the last six months. It is preferable, that the report be prepared under the supervision of an ACA accredited member.
  • [Reports must be authored by the applicant, must not be a re-submission of any course assignment undertaken for any training or training course, and can have any confidential client details removed or blanked out. All information provided is kept confidential to the ACA Membership Committee only. To facilitate the application process, the applicant should consider providing two to three reports that demonstrate work variety/complexity]

The association requires evidence of relevant qualifications and significant experience, continuing professional development training, and skills and knowledge about access to premises before accepting an applicant for accredited membership.
Applicants for this class are required to have spent three years as an associate member of ACA or equivalent part-time. This can be reduced to two years full-time providing access consulting services under supervision of Accredited Member shown through CV and proven by a stat dec form by employer. Accredited membership applicants should be able to demonstrate active participation in the association’s CPD program before applying.

Accredited membership applicants must:

• have both a Proposer and Seconder
  • each of whom must hold an ACA Accredited membership
• Guidelines for Proposers and Seconders for applications for ACA Membership
• nominate a minimum of three Referees
  • a referee is a person who can substantiate the applicant’s work experience in access and vouch for their good character and proficiency. A suitable referee is a client, work colleague or mentor 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. Referees can also include the Proposer or Seconder if required
• participate in the Association’s Continuing Professional Development Program throughout the associate membership period
  • demonstrated by attaining a minimum 30 CPD points per year for the (minimum) three years prior to application for accredited membership . In order to maintain an ongoing accredited membership class, 20 CPD points per year is required
• provide evidence that they have been an ACA Associate member for at least 3 years (or two years full-time providing access consulting services under supervision of Accredited Member shown through CV and proven by a stat dec form)
• provide a detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV) that demonstrates the applicant’s experience in delivering access consulting services
• provide three samples of Access Reports
  • the reports must demonstrate a variety of projects, report styles and technical skills at different stages of the design process. Reports can have any confidential client details removed or blanked out. All information provided is kept confidential to the ACA Membership Committee only
• applicants are required to attend a panel interview (via Zoom or another virtual platform – likely 15-30 minutes) with representatives or nominated representatives of the ACA Membership Committee
  • The interview intends to ascertain that the information contained within the report submitted is the applicant’s work and that their knowledge and skills are commensurate with those demonstrated throughout the reports
  • An interview process is standard in many other organisations for this membership level. It is intended as a friendly chat to enable the membership committee to understand how the applicant will conduct themselves in the industry in various scenarios. It also allows the committee to ask any questions relating to the application and vice versa – the applicant can also ask questions about ACA generally.

Apply for Accredited Membership only
Book the Accreditation Test and Apply for Accredited Membership

Student membership applicants must:

• have an interest in access
• provide a statement describing the nature of their interest in access
• provide proof of full-time status as a tertiary student

For this class of membership, Referees are not required. Participation in the ACA Continuous Professional Development Program is not required for this membership class but is certainly welcomed.

The intent of corporate sponsorship is to have a category that enables companies that sell/manufacture accessibility-related products and services to become members to advertise and support ACA.

Corporate Sponsorship is available to the following two groups:

1. Businesses that provide products and services that are related to the design, construction and maintenance of the built and landscaped environment for use by people with disabilities, including older people
2. Businesses that provide Access Consultancy services shall be eligible only if at least one financially ACA Accredited member is employed full-time. Occasional sub-contractors engaged by a business from time to time do not fulfil this requirement.

All corporate sponsors are obligated to support the objectives of ACA.

For more details on the benefits of our three Corporate Sponsor membership Packages.

ACA Advertising and Sponsorship Opportunities

[Note: ACA 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 perform independent research before using the information acquired from Sponsors. ACA assumes no liability or responsibility for any inaccurate or incomplete information nor for any actions taken in reliance thereon.]

• Affiliate – $154

• Associate – $297 (incl $154 application fee)

• Accredited new application $500 (incl $154 application fee) – Renewal – $385

• Student – $55

• Corporate Bronze – $1100

• Corporate Gold – $2500

• Corporate Platinum – $5000