Your eligibility for membership will be based on several criteria which may include whether your qualification is relevant, or an ACWA accredited qualification, your industry experience and duration of employment in that role, whether you are a resident or citizen of Australia.
If you graduated more than 10 years ago you will need show that you are current in your professional knowledge. You can do this by providing evidence of recent industry experience.
Glossary of terms
ACWA accredited qualification
You are deemed to have graduated from an ACWA accredited course if the course and campus was ACWA accredited during the duration of your study. You can check our accredited course finder or previously accredited course lists. Where shortcomings are identified in fieldwork placements ACWA may ask an applicant to reapply after completing 3 months full time or part-time equivalent industry experience.
Relevant qualification
A relevant qualification is one which adequately prepares graduates to perform community work in Australia. It should specialise in community or human services, or a specific service field. Fields of practice include youth work, mental health, applied social science, community development, alcohol and other drugs, disability and counselling.
Please note:
- Qualifications specialising in nursing, education and child care are not typically deemed relevant as they do not focus on community services.
- Some courses do not contain the breadth of core content required to prepare graduates for practice e.g., graduate certificates and graduate diplomas. These qualifications must follow a relevant undergraduate or additional related qualification, otherwise they will not be considered sufficient.
- ACWA will not accept qualifications which are unduly short. Unduly short qualifications do not provide students with sufficient time to gain the required skills and knowledge.
RPL policy
Some students use their prior work experience to gain recognition of prior learning (RPL) towards their qualification. ACWA only accepts up to 40% RPL otherwise a qualification will not be recognised.
Industry experience
Industry experience is paid work in the community sector which is performed at the skill level commensurate with your qualification.