Chapters are established and governed by ACA for the purpose of providing benefits and opportunities to ACA Members through collegial networking opportunities. An added bonus of Chapter participation is access to ongoing professional development opportunities. In addition, Chapters held in-person are also able to incorporate group supervision.

The purpose of ACA Chapters is to provide members with:
1. A local forum to meet like-minded Members and to discuss the industry, professional, and other relevant issues.
2. To provide members access to local ongoing professional development, in accordance with these terms. Further information is available within the ACA OPD policy.
3. Updates from ACA Head Office, upcoming events and/or opportunities to get involved.
4. An opportunity for Group Supervision in accordance with the framework.

To ensure the ongoing success of the ACA Chapters, the following are not permitted (additional non-permitted activities are listed in the relevant sections below):
1. Operate independently from ACA: Chapters have no authority under the ACA constitution and play no role in the governance of ACA.
2. Establish as separate legal entities: ACA Chapters are groups of ACA Members, meeting through the facilitated assistance of ACA, for the purpose outlined herein.
3. Hold Annual General Meetings (“AGMs”) or like meetings. In the event of any ACA events such as AGM, Convenors are not to address these questions. Enquiries must be directed to the ACA Office, aca@theaca.net.au.
4. Receive money on behalf of ACA.
5. Gather, maintain or collect member contact information for purposes other than collegial networking. All shared information is to be nominated by the named member and recorded strictly as nominated. The personal and contact information of members is the intellectual property of ACA which is the responsible entity for ensuring the ongoing privacy of its members.
6. Engage in group communication with Members outside the permitted purpose and these Terms. This includes the establishment and operation of social media groups aligned with the operations of the Chapter.
7. Conduct political and or commercial operations. Chapters are established solely for the purpose defined in these Terms. They are not to be used as a commercial or political platform. If a Member is unsure as to the relevance of any subject or issue that is presented at a meeting, they are to clarify the relevance with the ACA Office, aca@theaca.net.au.
8. Chapter Convenors and other Members may not use the name, logo, or intellectual property of ACA, which benefit accrues solely to ACA.
9. Chapters have no authority to act on behalf of the ACA. They cannot commit to any legal contract nor enter into any service. This includes programs/projects, monies/grants, rental/lease agreements, make public statements, hear complaints, or represent ACA outside of Chapter settings. All public statements, media comments, content generation and other public material, must come from ACA.

Professional Development
1. The Convenor is responsible for scheduling the dates and times of Chapter meetings. These should be planned well in advance with no less than 4 weeks’ notice and where possible 12 months in advance in accordance with the plan for annual agenda moving forward.
2. Where a Chapter is running OPD, the Convenors are required to source speakers and presentations for the Chapter meetings. They must send details of all speakers to the ACA at least 2 weeks prior to the scheduled Chapter meeting (ideally, details are sent at least 6 months in advance).
3. All OPD sessions delivered at Chapter meetings should focus on enhancing the professional development of the clinician (e.g., therapeutic approaches / modalities, philosophical / theoretical underpinnings, self-care); and have a valid evidence base or correspond with the Scope of Practice for Registered Counsellors.
4. OPD events are to be delivered as face-to-face events only, delivered at the scheduled Chapter meeting. OPD events are free events only. No paid OPD events or online events are permitted; and no events are to be delivered outside normal Chapter meetings.
5. Members who arrive more than 20 minutes late into a professional development session can attend however, cannot claim OPD points for said meeting. Please advise ACA Office of late arrivals. Late admission of a member to the Chapter meeting will be at the
discretion of the Chapter Convenor.
6. If it becomes clear at any time during a Chapter meeting that a Member is intentionally breaching any of the ACA Codes of Conduct and fails to understand and correct their actions, the Chapter Convenor is to document the event and refer this issue to the ACA office for follow up action. Non-compliance of this policy may lead to action against the nominated Convenor for not adhering to ACA reporting procedures.
7. Members who are challenged in any way at a Chapter meeting should clarify their issues with their own Supervisor in the first instance, then with ACA if appropriate clarity is still not reached.

Costs and Administration
1. Chapters are not to open a separate bank account and cannot apply independently from the parent body (ACA) for funding or grants from any local or government sources.
2. All money is to be collected through the ACA ticketing system and will be accounted for by ACA Administration. No money is to be collected by the Chapter under any circumstance.
3. Venue costs, tariffs and any other venue expenses are managed by the ACA Office. All invoices related to Chapter activities are to be made out in ACA’s name and submitted to ACA for payment.
4. Copies of all paperwork including attendance list, agenda or other associated paperwork are forwarded to ACA Office within 5 days of the Chapter meeting.
5. No selling of ACA merchandise or journals to occur without prior approval in writing. This is to ensure that the correct logo’s and designs are being used. Requests for badges should be forwarded to ACA.
6. Unauthorised transactions will result in investigation with appropriate action.

Ticketing and Attendance
1. ACA is solely responsible for disseminating information regarding event timing and location. Any changes to dates, times, etc will be managed and communicated by ACA to Members.
2. Eventbrite ticketing system must be used. No manual attendance logs are to be kept. No members/visitors are permitted to attend an ACA Chapter meeting without first registering through Eventbrite. Members can register for the event up to 10 minutes prior to commencement of the meeting showing their Eventbrite ticket as proof of entry into the meeting. The Eventbrite tickets will indicate the applicable OPD available.
3. On the day of the event ACA will forward the attendee list to the Convenor in preparation for the meeting. If a Member registers after the sharing of this information, they can still attend with proof of Eventbrite ticket. On arrival Members will be marked off on the
attendance list from Eventbrite only. For consistency and compliance to our data handling policy (and to remove unnecessary administrative tasks) manual attendance records are no longer to be used.
4. OPD points may be recorded in the approved ACA logbook or uploaded at the Member’s discretion to their online profile using the Eventbrite ticket as evidence.
5. Convenors and presenters will be allocated free tickets by ACA staff prior to each meeting for the purposes of evidence of OPD points.
6. Attendance sheets are to be marked by Convenors on arrivals and returned to ACA Office following the meeting for noting.

Monetary and Personal Gains
1. No Members or presenters are to be paid for OPD presentations at Chapter meetings.
2. Chapter meetings are not to be used as a recruiting ground for training providers or Members’ businesses; nor are they to be used to promote the agendas of any Member, training provider or business.
3. No Convenor or Member is to receive any gain – including first-order or second-order gain – as income, kickback or any other form of gain or return, from any service or product mentioned at a Chapter meeting. Breach of this clause will likely result in disciplinary action.

Data Privacy and Confidentiality
1. ACA has a legal responsibility to keep Member contact details private. These obligations are expressed under section 13 of the Australian Privacy Principles and Privacy Act 1988. ACA takes these responsibilities seriously. The personal and contact information of Members is the intellectual property of ACA which is the responsible entity for ensuring the ongoing privacy of its Members.
2. Chapter Convenors are not to maintain, collect, collate or otherwise hold a register of ACA Members or Chapter members; or contact any Members for any purpose outside these express terms.
3. All data pertaining to Chapters is held by ACA.
4. Any breach of these terms is to be immediately reported to ACA.

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All issues relating to the sale of tickets and the hosting of their associated event(s) are the responsibility of the “Event Organiser” and not that of TryBooking Pty Ltd (Australian Business Number 71126987915).

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