Australian Counselling Association (ACA)

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ACA Purpose

To provide a single unified voice and promote public confidence and trust in the counselling profession.

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Mission Statement

• To be recognised as the Association for Counsellors in Australia.
• To provide an industry based Association for persons engaged in counsellor education and practice.
• To be a self-regulatory body to provide for registration of members and to provide a mechanism for dealing with complaints about members.
• To liaise with Government for the benefit of members and the public.
• To provide a single unified voice for the counselling industry.
• To provide a consistent Code of Conduct and set of Practitioner Standards.
• To promote the professional development and growth of practicing counsellors.
• To provide a National Complaints Tribunal.
• To assess, review and recognise counsellor education courses.
• To maintain a register of, and to certify practicing counsellors.
• To identify to the public at large counsellors that meet nationally approved standards of practice.
• To make the general public at large more aware of the counselling profession and the availability of reputable counsellors.

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What we offer

We have a full time professional manager and an administrator whose jobs are to be available 5 days a week 8 hours a day to our members. The manager is a qualified counsellor who has years of experience in the corporate and private sector. The association is run from a national office, not a mobile phone or a volunteers house. Due to having a full time manager and a fully maintained office we have the resources to produce up to date quality information for our members and the public. We can lobby the government and meet with other professionals during normal work hours. Membership applications are processed generally within three working days of receipt. We have a current national register and course recognition scheme. We are not talking about it, we are doing it.

The association has successfully negotiated several corporate contracts for our members by lobbying local businesses. How many associations actually get there members work? The association receives phone calls from the public asking for counselling on a regular basis, we refer these enquires to our registered members. The association has also approved several courses both in the private provider sector and at university level.

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