It is just over a week until the Australian Architecture Conference on the 2nd & 3rd May in Sydney this year. The first day is being held at the Sydney Opera House with the second at the Seymour Centre at the University of Sydney. The conference offers two full days of architectural presentations and explorations supplemented by fringe events and, of course, time with colleagues. This year’s conference is being held over a Friday/Saturday which will make it easier to get time away from the office. If you have not secured tickets yet, please do so as soon as possible. Details and tickets are available through the website: https://conference.architecture.com.au/.
Meanwhile, the awards programme continues apace with the recent announcement of shortlisted entries and the impending visits to shortlisted projects. Thanks to the Chapter’s Natasha Ugrinic for weaving the visits across the numerous awards categories with visits throughout Victoria in the days before the Conference.
Formal CPD
All registered architects in Victoria are required to complete 10 formal and 10 informal continuing professional development (CPD) points each year to maintain their registration with the ARBV. For those who have participated in the Victorian Chapter’s forums, including those dedicated to Large, Medium, Small, EmAGN, Regional, and Sustainable Practice, it is evident that the standard of presentation, discussion, and peer learning is consistently high and readily comparable to formal CPD offerings. In recognition of this, the Victorian Chapter has advocated that, where events are properly structured to meet ARBV CPD requirements, forum chairs, coordinating with Institute staff, should be enabled to deliver sessions eligible for formal CPD points. Following formal submissions and presentations to the ARBV and the Institute’s National Education Program Lead, it has now been resolved that Victorian forum chairs may collaborate with Chapter staff to curate and deliver formal CPD events.
The ARBV has requested that such curated events be designated as ‘Workshops’, and members should be aware that forums do not automatically qualify as formal CPD events. Members are therefore encouraged to look for formal CPD workshops developed and presented by forum chairs. These sessions will continue to provide the rich content and collegial learning typical of Victorian forums, while also enabling participants to earn formal CPD points through their involvement. This initiative represents yet another benefit of active engagement with the Victorian Chapter and its professional networks.
Advocacy to VSBA
I, together with Chapter Councillor Brad Kerr and Executive Director Daniel Moore, met with the Victorian School Building Authority’s Executive Director of Delivery, Avril Shihab-Smith. The VSBA has been a significant patron of architects for many years, and in particular, over the last couple of years, has managed a huge multi-billion-dollar construction programme. We discussed topics such as better enabling Designing for Country, the training required to engage with the VSBA’s tripartite web platform, consultant prolongation cost,s including as a consequence of builder insolvency, as well as the regularity of consultant payments. We have now established quarterly meetings with the VSBA, and we look forward to nurturing this relationship to the benefit of the Victorian School building programme and the profession. Members can direct any potential discussion topics to Daniel Moore, who will collate and consider them for our next quarterly meeting.
David Wagner FRAIA
President of Victorian Chapter