Progress ReportAt 30 June 2008, Engineers Australia included over 1,500 Engineering Technologist members and over 5,400 Engineering Associate members. Technologists generally possess three year degrees, while associates possess a two year Associate Diploma, Diploma or Advanced Diploma or equivalent.
In the private and public sectors professional engineers, technologists and associates comprise what is known as the engineering team. Their skills are mutually interdependent, with substantial overlap between roles and responsibilities. Questions have arisen as to whether membership of Engineers Australia yields value proportionate to the contribution by technologists and associates to the workplace achievements of the engineering team.
As a way of addressing this issue, Engineers Australia Council designated 2008 as the Year of the Engineering Team, and established a Project Task Force led by Engineers Australia National Deputy President Peter Godfrey. The project aims to determine and provide pathways to meet the needs, prerequisites and processes required by Engineers Australia to truly represent a fully-enfranchised engineering team across all three occupational categories.
Communication of the Task Force's activities has been an important aspect of its business, and every 2008 issue of Engineers Magazine is carrying a feature article on activities such as articulation, teamwork and potential bye-laws change, as well as a personal profile of an outstanding Technologist or Associate. The Engineers Australia web site features a web page displaying the Task Force's Plan of Action, with regular updates. It also features an Online Blog, where members of Engineers Australia and the public can comment on posts from the Chair of the Task Force and its members.
The Task Force, which has been in operation since 2007, has made some early progress on removing prescriptions that prevented Associates and Technologist Members becoming elected Division representatives on Congress. In a related development, Council, through a series of decisions in May and August 2007, approved new Division Regulations and Regulations for the Election and Appointment of Office Bearers. This has opened eligibility for office bearer positions on Divisions to all three occupational groups, ie, professional engineers, engineering technologists and engineering associates.
The Task Force is presently developing a case to give Technologists and Associates the right to vote in ballots to change the Bye-laws.
With the national marketing campaign being prepared for implementation from 2009, the Task Force is formulating its input in respect of Technologists and Associates, particularly in the areas of profile raising, career preference and credentials.
The extent to which candidates for Stage 1 or Stage 2 processes are required to rely on qualifications versus competencies, is undergoing examination and testing with a view to assessing the scope for change.
The Task Force objective with accreditation is for Engineers Australia to become a full signatory to the Dublin Accord, which recognises the Engineering Associate level qualifications of member organisations around the world. To achieve this, the Task Force is supporting Engineers Australia's efforts to accredit TAFEs and other Registered Training Organisations to the competency requirements for Engineering Associates.
The Task Force objective with regard to registration is to establish and publish a searchable Unified National Registration System for all occupational categories. The issue was put to the Minister for Finance and Deregulation, in his capacity as Chairman of the Council of Australian Government's Business Regulation and Competition Working Group. Meanwhile, the framework for a Unified Registration System was completed, and approved by the National Engineering Registration Board. Recently, the NERB agreed to proceed with the implementation of the National Engineering Associates Register immediately, subject only to the finalisation of some register design issues.
In designating 2008 the Year of the Engineering Team, Council recognised that the issues were complex, in some cases long standing, and in all cases essentially internal to Engineers Australia. Council also recognized that resolution would, in some areas, extend beyond 2008.
| Peter Godfrey - Chair | National Deputy President |
| Dr Maurice Allen | Director, Education and Assessment |
| Peter Cockbain | Past National President |
| Martin Dwyer | Director, Engineering Practice and CPD |
| Michael Forry | Member, National Engineering Registration Board |
| Kim Greenock | Chair, National Committe for Engineering Technologists of Australia |
| Peyi Pey Guo | Member, National Committee for Women in Engineering |
| Hari Krishnan | Member, National Committee for Engineering Technologists of Australia |
| WGCDR Ross Magno | Chair, National Committee for Engineering Associates Australia |
| Nathan Munro | Nominee, Young Engineers Australia National Committee |
| Frank Novacco | Member, National Committee for Engineering Associates Australia |
| Jamie Penrose | Director, Communication and Marketing |
| Adrian Richards | Chair, College of Biomedical Engineers |
| Dave Wilkinson | Immediate Past Chair, National Committee for Engineering Technologists of Australia |
| Rob Williamson | Member, National Committee for Engineering Associates Australia |
| Paul Varsanyi | National Office |
| Lee Vereschildt | National Office |