ISAAC renaming and NAAA merger

Eric Frei

ISAAC will be renaming to Arboriculture Australia

NAAA is going to merge with them.

Currently ISAAC have around 531 members and NAAA around 120.

Link to merger document.

Link to proposed new constitution.

Interesting parts.

The costs and CEU's etc ...

And in addition you can pay more for these memberships.

So, have a look at how it affects you, do you have enough insurance according to them?

Are they going to lobby that only their members with their CEU's should be used?

Are they now bringing to the Australian education system their own version of CEU's?

Do we really need an interfering organisation to validate your credentials, heck, you can see all of mine here so why pay them $700 a year? None of the AQF qualifications that we obtain in Australia come from them, but they are tacking on a CEU program, I call it the hook and milk run so they get you as a member and get a drip feed for re-certifying your membership .... that's what many are kicking up a stink about how the ISA is charging $200 odd every 3 years to re-certify your CEU's.

Take heed, read it on page 6 section 4:-

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Garry Brockley

These people are seriously going to take over this area if we are not careful, why should i pay them for a certificate in something i already have and keep on paying year on year as they put thier costs up, just to give me a cert i already have, grrrr.
So if were not with them we cant even approach a council or similar institution for work? even though we have the same quals or higher and a relevant insurance, and the ability to carry out the work required to a high standard.
thats creating an unfair market that will cost us all in the long run!

Also who the hell gives these directors the right to restrict where we can earn money from, they dont know us, they will put thier friends first (thats human nature) and cause problems for those that they dislike or rival companies, because you can guarantee the directors will have thier hands in different businesses that will gain massively from doing all of this but still sell it as "the best thing for arboriculture", jeez these people give me the sh***

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Eric Frei

Evidence that a non for profit organisation is just a business that generates leads and farms them out to their mates. No transparency. Corymbia on that forum is Mark Hartley.

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vl2007

Wow...that does sound F'ed-up, but how do you get a voice in this mess. Sounds like it all happened behind closed doors, and is a done deal.

treeshaveneeds

Sounds like a done deal, and initially if you want to bid on the contracts they refer people to you would have to join. But you could also be an independent couldn't you? And noting the various reasons why, and how by hiring you they can actually save money and bullshit? A lot of residential consumers care a lot more about $$ and less about belonging to organizations.
NOt an easy way to go, but at least if the money stays in your pocket you know how it is used.

And, how many enquiries do they generate? or how many hands do they have in the government pockets? Municipal contracts will be harder to get, means you have to become more visible to the people who make the decisions and those who award the contracts. These people love going to professional organizations, because they believe all is above board and is politically correct, and so other correctness must be there too. Pity.....

Eric Frei

The president works for a council.

I would also like to add that many who work the domestic sector only have $5million P/L insurance, so in addition to the fees they charge your insurance premium will quadruple as they insist on $20million.

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treeshaveneeds

Sounds like a serious conflict of interest to me. I wonder how the people who elected/appointed him feel about this conflict of interest. You can't normally have ties to any professional organization because of the strong tendency to favortism and misappropriation of council funds.

stan

I don't think it is right to be charging membership fees in excess of $200. On the other hand many people in the industry have been asking for some sort of regulation similar to what builders have for their industry. The sort of program this association has put forward could be a good thing for the industry.

This industry is forever changing and there is always something to learn so why not install some sort of regulation forcing practicing arborists to be continually educating themselves to better both themselves and ultimately clients.

Government agencies will always look for companies and people who belong to associations because they can clearly see that to be a member you have to meet certain criteria. In most cases these associations develop their criteria to meet council specifications to ultimately better members exposure to government contracts.

Eric Frei

You need to do more research!

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Therrin

That would sound nice in a perfect world. Unfortunately there's this stuff called "politics and bureaucracy" which come into play, and F*** over those perfect ideals. Then it just turns into a dog-and-pony show, who knows who, who benefits, who's got deep pockets, who can get what out of it.

When all else fails, remember FOLLOW THE MONEY TRAIL!!!