Dear members, some of you who are also members of the ASU will recently have received notification from the union of your free membership of the Australian College of Community and Disability Practitioners. The college has been set up by the union to ‘empower community and disability practitioners in establishing standards of practice for work in the social, community and disability services sector’ and is intended to eventually be governed by a board of academics or members of the Skills Council, employer representatives, and practitioners. The chair will be a union appointment.
While ACWA appreciates the interest that the ASU and others are taking in respect of providing further avenues for the professional concerns of workers in our sector to be heard at this time of change, we are concerned that there is potential for confusion between ACWA membership and membership of the ACCDP.
As many of you will know ACWA was established in 1969 as the Australian Institute of Welfare Workers by practitioners for practitioners. It remains to this day a practitioner driven professional body that sets the practice and ethical standards for community workers. Community work practitioner is a term that ACWA has fought long and hard to have recognised and embraces the whole spectrum of workers in the social, community, disability and human services sector and includes frontline, managers, and paid and volunteer workers.
For many years ACWA has been one of the few acknowledged organisations to accredit community and human services diploma and degree courses. It is also the Department of Immigration and Border Protection authorised assessing agency for overseas qualifications in community services. Without a doubt today’s high standard of education and practice in the Australian community sector is due in large part to ACWA’s efforts. With the support and mandate of members we have also recently launched a major initiative: the Australian Community Workers Register which has been particularly well received by workers and industry/employer groups and will over time ensure an even higher standard of practice across the whole sector.
ACWA is a truly independent incorporated organisation and, unlike the proposed governance structure of the ACCDP, is governed by community work practitioners who are committed to the development of the profession and the career progression of members including students. Membership of ACWA is not dependent upon employment with a particular agency or group, or membership of a union; it does, however, meet the selection criteria of the most sought after community sector roles and provides a definite advantage over non-members in the search for employment or career development. Membership of ACWA is something to note with pride.
For those of you who are members of both the ASU and ACWA there may appear to be a duplication of roles between ACWA and the newly formed ACCDP; we can assure you that there is not and we encourage you to retain your professional ACWA membership which brings many benefits even if you decide to take up the free ACCDP membership offered by the ASU. We intend to discuss with the ASU the motivation and merits of starting up a College at this particular time and will keep you informed of our discussions. If you have any questions or concerns please contact our national office.
