FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

Our president, Max Murray, shares his lates thoughts and news with you ...

Australian Government’s draft Disability (Access to Premises – Buildings) Standards

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Hello all

The Association of Consultants in Access, Australia (ACAA) management committee on behalf of Association members congratulate the Australian Federal Government for their initiative of tabling the draft Disability Discrimination Act Access to Premises Standards (Premises Standards) in Parliament on 2 December 2008. This important action puts in train the process for bringing to conclusion the adoption of this important Disability Discrimination Act regulation. The documents are available for download from the web site of the Attorney General, www.ag.gov.au/premisesstandards.

ACAA is the national peak body for professional consultants providing advice to the construction industry on providing buildings which are accessible for all Australian citizens. ACAA members have been heavily involved in assisting government develop the Premises Standards documents throughout the process since 1995.

ACAA looks forward to contributing to the forth-coming consultations by the Legal & Constitutional Affairs Committee. All interested members of the association and or general public may make personal submissions. For background information, including the full terms of reference, please visit the inquiry website at www.aph.gov.au/laca or contact the LACA Committee Secretariat on (02) 6277 2358.

We again applaud the government for its initiative in moving to bring into effect this important legislation which will provide certainty of compliance for the construction industry and will give certainty of access to all Australians with a disability.

President's Message

Thursday, August 28, 2008

I trust everyone is enjoying the new ACAA website and have taken the opportunity to search through it to view the information provided. I hope visitors are finding it useful and return often for updated material.

There is much happening on the management front within ACAA and it is my pleasure to report that the updated Access Consulting Competency Training Packages (Certificate IV and Diploma) have successfully undergone review and approval by all State Education Departments and have now been endorsed by the Federal Department as nationally approved training packages. It is pleasing to see that there is interest amongst Registered Training Organisations to develop the teaching resources necessary and to deliver training in some of these competencies.

The ACAA 2008 CPD Conference is the major CPD training event staged by management to provide focused up-skilling for members and allied professionals engaged in the area of building access.

Organisation of the ACAA 2008 CPD Conference program is now complete with speakers arranged for all sessions. Details of the program and for the information to be presented by each speaker have now been added to the website and visitors are encouraged to view these details within the Conference page. The management committee believe that the program will provide an excellent training opportunity for both members of the Association and members of the community with an interest in the area of building access.

I hope to meet with many of you in Adelaide in October.

President's welcome to the new website

Saturday, July 05, 2008

It is with pleasure that I welcome all ACAA members and the public to our new website.

I am confident that it will provide a new high level of membership services. Members of the public are invited to explore the website, and learn about the Association of Consultants in Access Australia and the professional services its members provide.

The amount of information that our new website contains will grow rapidly over the coming months. Any feedback on the content, sources of valuable information, training, contacts or ideas for future development of the website is welcome.

Now, please go ahead and explore!

Max Murray