President’s Comment – November 2024
The internet is a dangerous beast, as it stores your words forever: all 40 of these otherwise forgotten President’s Comments are still lurking on the ACA website.
Six years ago, as I commenced my term as National President, I wrote:
Managing an architectural firm can be a complex and sometimes frustrating occupation. The ACA not only provides resources, education and representation on business and industrial matters, but a way to meet, share and discuss issues with our peers. They may be our fiercest competitors, but they are still happy to share information and experience, and we can work together to improve our businesses and the quality of the architecture we produce. We must also aim to be exemplar employers to attract and train the next generation of architects.
At the end of this month I will finish my term as National President, having been on the National Executive for 12 years and the SA Committee for 21 years. Are those words still relevant? It seems to be an even more complex and frustrating occupation. At the same time, there is still a willingness to share that information and experience, to work together and explore different forms of practice, and to seriously consider how issues as diverse as unfair contracts, mental wellbeing and government construction policies affect our profession. We can reflect on how our profession supported each other during the pandemic and how our members spent hours crafting policy responses to governments. That spirit of collaboration has been noted across the whole construction industry, and our profession is better for it.
Our latest strategic goals set us new challenges, and our team is ready to tackle them. I’d like to thank all the branch committees and the National Executive for their work. Our staff are amazing, led by Angelina Pillai with the help of Sian Jepson, Susie Ashworth, Katherine Ygosse, Emma Brain and Sascha Byrne at a national level and of course our branch Executive Officers. A special word of thanks goes to Michelle Eades, who is retiring after 30 years as national Executive Officer and whose experience and knowledge of all things governance will be sorely missed!