Tips for Maternity Leave
Sarah Lebner reviews her experience of preparing for maternity leave while balancing her responsibilities as a principal architect.
Flexibility - New Award Clauses
New clauses in Modern Awards aim to further support flexible work. The ACA outlines what this might mean, how employers can prepare for these changes, and where to find good material to support flexible workplaces.
How to Make Flexibility Work for your Practice
Think flexible working will hurt your bottom line? A recent study found flexible workers were more, not less productive than their peers. So, how can you make it work in your practice? Merilyn Speiser from Catalina Consultants looks at the issues.

HR Policy Templates
Comprehensive and written in plain English, the HR Policy Templates can be readily tailored to suit the needs of specific practices.

2018 Salary Survey Findings
The findings of the 2018 National Salary Survey, with analysis by Dr Gill Matthewson, are now out. There is still a gender pay gap and some practices persist in paying under Award minimums!
Valuable Experience or Exploitation? The Story of Unpaid Internships
In a profession under pressure, unpaid internships are becoming increasingly common, but they may be placing our most vulnerable students and graduates at risk. Melonie Bayl-Smith unpacks the issues.
Managing the Risk of Sexual Harassment
Implementing policies and staff training around harassment are important, but enforcement is crucial. Employers must be prepared to take direct action when required, advises employment law specialist Elizabeth Radley.
ACA Salary Calculator
The ACA Salary Calculator provides architectural practices with a clear methodology for determining the appropriate award-compliant salaries. Now updated to 2017–18 rates.
2018 Award Rates
Updated Federal Industrial Awards pay rates for the Architects Award – effective from 1 July.
How Do You Performance Review?
ACA – SA is developing advice for all members about the effective use of performance reviews. To get going we want to hear from you.
National Salary Survey
The ACA National Salary Survey provides important data on architectural salaries across Australia.
The Ultimate Return to Work
Providing support and easing the transition for an employee returning to work makes good business sense, argues Jennekin Dicks.
The New Workplace
At a time when margins are small, and the war for talent is real, Josephine Sukkar outlines the importance of trust, clever recruitment and succession planning, and the cultivation of flexible management and teams.
Stopping Harassment in its Tracks
How does your practice address sexual harassment at work? Merilyn Speiser from Catalina Consultants offers a 10-step approach to keep your business harassment-free.
Individual Flexible Arrangements
Individual flexibility arrangements provide the opportunity to vary modern awards or enterprise agreements to provide flexibility in a fair and appropriate manner.
The powerful impact of part-time work
Part-time employment can have enormous benefits – to employers and employees, but also to the creative process, argues Madeline Sewall.
Supporting Mental Health in the Workplace
The topic of mental health is receiving increasing attention in architecture. So, how can you ensure that your practice is safe and healthy? ACA partner Cbus works with SuperFriend to provide knowledge and resources about mental health, some of which is shared below.
Federal Industrial Awards Pay Rates from 1 July 2017
Updated Federal Industrial Awards pay rates for awards relevant to employees working in architectural practices.

2017 Salary Survey - Findings
The findings of the 2017 National Salary Survey, with analysis by Dr Gill Matthewson, are now out – salaries are up very slightly, but worrying trends continue for the third year. There is still a gender pay gap and some practices persist in paying under Award minimums!
The Merits of Mentoring
When it comes to creating a motivated and well-supported architectural workforce, mentoring is a no-brainer, argues Michael Smith.
Part of the Territory? A response from the ACA
Poor workplace cultures and conditions are bad for everyone – employee, employer and the wider profession. David Wagner responds to one recent account.
2016-10-17

Architects and mental health
"This review has highlighted the lack of data and knowledge in relation to the mental health and wellbeing of architects. It has highlighted a number of characteristics of work and education of architects that are strongly associated with increased risk of developing mental health problems."
As part of an ongoing project, the NSW Architects Registration Board has now released a literature review of material relevant to architects and mental health.
LinkReverse Mentoring
Reverse mentoring has much to offer architectural practices, with potential benefits to employees, employers and the whole business.

2016 Salary Survey Report and Analysis
The ACA has released the report on findings of the 2016 National Salary Survey – salaries are up very slightly, but worrying trends continue – there is still a gender pay gap and some practices persist in paying under Award minimums!
EOFY: Remuneration resolutions
Leone Lorrimer offers a series of resolutions to help ensure that architectural practices provide fair and equitable remuneration, and a set of resources to support them.
Managing for Happiness
Nurturing a company culture of opportunity and challenge, support and appreciation is not just about giving you a warm fuzzy feeling – it can increase your bottom line. Rena Klein makes the case.
Federal Industrial Awards Pay Rates from 1 July 2016
Updated Federal Industrial Awards pay rates for awards relevant to employees working in architectural practices.
Attracting and retaining great employees
Competition for good architectural staff is keen across much of Australia at the moment. Salaries matter, but as Krista Shearer from Bespoke points out, there are other things your practice can do to attract and retain good people – and people rarely move for salary alone.
Measuring Productivity
What is productivity and how should we measure it? Robert Peake reports on recent survey findings and suggests strategies for architectural practices.
CEO Roundtable on Gender Equity
Leone Lorrimer co-hosted the first CEO Roundtable to explore and discuss gender diversity issues in architecture. She reports on the event and the resulting action plan.

2015 Salary Survey Report and Analysis
The ACA has released the report on findings of the 2015 National Salary Survey. The outlines the broad trends identified this year and compares these to the results from the previous two years.
Champions of Change
Sydney-based representatives from top Australian architecture practices have signed up for the first Male Champions of Change program in architecture. Leone Lorrimer reports on the launch event, the initiative, and what it means for Australian architecture.
Successful Leadership Succession
How do you develop a clear, effective process for succession in your practice? Robert Peake outlines the key issues and strategies, and warns of problems you may encounter.
A Guide to Managing Performance
Retaining high performing employees and managing performance have major business benefits. Peta Tumpey and Katie Simon of TressCox Lawyers provide a guide.
Do We Need a Construction Happiness Index?
John Held on happiness, mental health and the construction industry.
Supporting Working Parents
What does the recent Human Rights Commission report mean for architectural businesses?

2014 Salary Survey Findings
The ACA is pleased to release a report on findings of the first two iterations of the National Salary Survey.
10 Principles for Building an Architectural Business
How do you build an architectural business? Charles Justin offers 10 principles to guide a practice.
Parlour Guides to Equitable Practice
The Parlour Guides to Equitable Practice aim to help Australian architecture move towards a more equitable profession; one that offers opportunity for all and is better positioned to meet contemporary challenges.
Why HR Policy Matters
With the release of the new ACA HR Policy Templates, we outline the benefits of having policy in place for practices of all sizes.
Guide to Hiring New Employees
A new guide for small business from the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Australia's Second Most Overrated Degree?
A response to recent mainstream media reportage claiming that architecture as Australia's second most overrated degree.
Pay equity
Equal Pay Day draws attention to the pay disparity between men and women. We list some resources to help you ensure this is not an issue in your practice.
2014-01-29

Managing Part-Time Architects
Meaningful part-time work in architecture is a key issue for many, but not all practices know how to manage this effectively. Misty Waters has written about tips for employers and for those returning to work, available on Parlour.
LinkSalaries
The international discussion of architecture salaries continues with a number of ongoing projects.
Graduate Gender Pay Gap
The graduate gender pay gap in architecture is a complicated matter. John Held and ACA – SA aimed to clarify recent poor reporting.
Women in Male-Dominated Industries: A Toolkit of Strategies
The Women in Male Dominated Industries Toolkit of Strategies offers a range of ways to recruit, retain and support women.
To Work or Not to Work? The Part-time Question
Melonie Bayl-Smith argues that flexible work arrangements may be the best option for an architectural practice to retain its corporate knowledge and for the profession to retain its talent.
Performance reviews
How do you make performance reviews productive for both the business and the employee?
Preliminary Observations from the Inaugural Salary Survey
The ACA ran its inaugural salary survey in mid-2013. What does it tell us about renumeration in the profession?
Internships Update
Do internships provide a much-needed foot in the door and an opportunity to learn or are they exploitation? It all depends on the structure and policies in place, and the integrity with which they are supervised.
Superannuation Changes from 2013
Mark Ward of Cbus gives an overview of changes to the Australian superannuation system which took effect at the beginning of the 2013 financial year.