It has been a year since I have served as the President of ACA – to say that it has been a busy year for ACA would be an understatement!
In my year as the President, I have been working on:
- New branding of ACAA to ACA a shorter, sharper ‘Access Consultants Association” trading name as was requested by several members
- Starting and running the electronic version of Access Insight with all articles placed on the new website for easy reference
- Lobbying on behalf of ACA to the NSW Department of planning for update to the SEPP Housing 2021 (Schedule 4 of the SEPP that deals with Housing for Seniors and people with a disability). This has been extremely successful with majority of the recommendations provided by ACA being taken up by the department
- Participating in meetings and providing detailed feedback to Australian Human Rights Commission on their proposed Draft Design Guidelines for Access and Inclusion in Residential Development.
- Lobbying Standards Australia on behalf of ACA for update to AS4299- 1995 Adaptable housing standards
- Working on the new proposed standards AS1428.6-Fixtures and Fitments which will replace AS1428.2 as part of the ME064 committee
- Looking after ACA social media accounts (LinkedIn)
- Representing ACA, SDA assessors on the NDIS SDA Reference group
- Representing ACA on RAIA’s (Australian Institute of Architect’s) National Enabling Architecture Committee
- Representing ACA on the ABCB’s (Australian Building Codes Board) Livable Housing Implementation Advisory Committee
- Organising CPD webinars for ACA
- Setting up VIC, QLD, TAS state networks with their terms of reference
- Organising the Online Full day conference on the 18th of October 2024 which will be followed by the in person 2 day conference in 2025 in Melbourne VIC
Membership
In the 2023-2024 year ACA membership has continued to grow with several associate members progressing to accredited member status.
Finance
ACA has ended the 2023-2024 year financial year in a good position. Our main sources of income continue to be membership fees and the webinars. The main expenditure this year has been the website redevelopment.
ACAA Management Committee
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone on the management committee.
- Bruce Bromley, Vice President
Bruce has spent substantial time for the design and development of the new website. This is a huge task with the website being very complex. - Lynda Wilem, Secretary
Lynda as the Chairperson of the membership committee has been responsible for the assessments of all membership applications which a big-time commitment as well. Supported by Hamish Murray the membership committee works as a well-oiled machine. Daniel Bedwell and Sharlene Howland are also part of the membership committee with Daniel being responsible for Corporate membership policies and procedures - Howard Moutrie, Treasurer
Howard has ensured that all accounts are in great shape for ACA. In addition to this role Howard also looks after the technical queries and as you must have seen regular technical articles in Access Insight.
Thank you also to Liz Bray as our office administrator to provides constant support to the committee and members.
Website Redevelopment
The new website is in the defect rectification phase and we are looking at introducing new features such as automated logo generation to reduce manual work. It will streamline user experience and provide ease-of-use for members to navigate and make changes to the profile, CPD activities, etc.
This website is a major investment of ACA funds – an investment that gives back to the members and I hope that everyone can appreciate the time, effort and financial commitment involved.
Mentor Program
Our Mentor Program continues to run smoothly this year and I thank Lindsay Perry for her time commitment and passion for teaching / mentoring that goes into this.
Australian Standards Committees
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our members who represent ACA on various Standards Australia Committees. As voluntary roles, your time and dedication is most appreciated.
A special thank you to Mark Relf, Eric Martin and Angela Roennfeldt who have worked tirelessly on AS1428.6 which will be out on public comment phase this year.
Thanks
And a final thanks to all the members of ACA who have reached out to me with their support. The membership committee is here with the sole purpose of serving ACA members and pushing ACA to new heights. Please reach out to us if there is anything we can do to help.
Wishing all our members the best wishes of the Season and we look forward to working with you in the new year.
Farah Madon
ACA President