ACS news
Thursday, 9 June 2005

ACS Foundation: Building a brighter future for Australian ICT

It's nearly four years since the ACS Foundation was established and the organisation continues to develop and evolve. The Foundation has raised over $5.5 million dollars in cash and in-kind sponsorship for scholarships and research, awarding more than 400 scholarships to high achievers and people who are disadvantaged in some way.

All this has been achieved during a very challenging period for the ICT sector, but as conditions improve and industry growth picks up, the opportunities ahead for the Foundation and its students are extremely bright.

ACS Foundation Executive Director, John Ridge, said enrolments in ICT courses around the country have fallen by 25-40 per cent per year on average over the past few years as students and their parents wrote off ICT as a viable career, profession and future for their children.

"This means we're going to see a shortage of quality graduates in the coming years as those smaller groups come through the pipeline. The industry has recognised this and larger organisations are looking at ways to address the looming shortage to ensure they gain access to the number and quality of graduates they need in this tighter market."

Work-integrated learning scholarships

Ridge said one of the biggest challenges for any new graduate is to land that all-important first job, but this has proven difficult for some in the past because ICT employers typically want to hire people with at least a year's real experience in the workforce.

"The Foundation's Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) scholarships solve this problem by basically combining a three-year ICT-related degree with several months and up to a year of industry-based work experience with a sponsoring donor. Not only does this approach address the need for relevant, practical experience, but it also provides students with valuable industry contacts," he said.

Research by RMIT and others has found that students achieved demonstrably higher grades after a year of industry placement than before, attributing this to their enhanced understanding of real world dynamics and the needs of business. Competition for WIL scholarships is fierce, resulting in an extremely high calibre of graduates.

Proactive employers are now directing substantial resources into work-integrated scholarships and the ACS Foundation expects to offer an additional 200-300 of these scholarships during 2006. This will have the combined effect of attracting and retaining some very bright and talented students into the ICT sector as well as meeting growing demand from employers for graduate staff.

The recent experience of several large employers in Sydney and Melbourne has shown that between 43 and 47 per cent of graduates change jobs within their first year, while over 70 per cent of WIL graduates are still with their first employer seven years later.

"This suggests that the experience of spending a year of work experience with a donor gives a student a strong sense of loyalty to that organisation, as well as a better understanding of their own cultural match with the organisation. Graduates who have no industry experience often find it difficult to identify whether an organisation will be a good fit for them."

For those companies with a large graduate recruitment program, the cost of turning over nearly half of their graduate staff each year is enormous, which is why WIL courses are proving so popular.

"It's about engaging the individual student on a project with a donor organisation and ensuring that expectations are managed and matched on both sides," Ridge said. "This is what our work-integrated learning program is about - ensuring the students gain that 'real-life' industry experience and are involved in projects that deliver real value back to the organisation."

Grow a Graduate scholarships

For employers that recognise a growing need for specific skills, the ACS Foundation also offers a scholarship program called Grow a Graduate, which allows donors to identify and develop the kind of individual for whom they would see a demand in the future.

"Under this program, we encourage sponsors to be very specific about the type of graduate and skill-sets they expect the industry to need in coming years, such as gender, location, background and so on, and the skills they need to possess, and then we'll go out and grow them. The ACS Foundation will identify the institutions that provide the best courses to develop the skills identified and seek applications from students who wish to enrol in those courses," Ridge said.

"It's about being a value-adding entity: we are trying to provide value-add services to the industry by helping the industry to get the people and skills it requires. The donors are driving this by providing the money for scholarships and the Foundation helps to connect the right people with the training they need.

"The ACS has been very generous and continues to support the Foundation with administrative resources and we enjoy strong backing from many State Governments and ICT companies, including Compuware, Altiris, Intersystems, IBM, Microsoft, Motorola and many more."

ACS applauds Budget tax reforms, calls for ICT on govt. agenda

The ACS has welcomed the tax reforms proposed in the 2005-06 budget and its strong macro effects for the industry and the individual ICT professional - but said it is disappointed by the absence of any significant new funding for ICT initiatives. ACS National President Edward Mandla also called on the ICT sector to join forces to increase the impact of its representation in Canberra. Key issues arising from the 2005-06 Budget release that the ACS will be following up with Government include: 1. The importance of closely involving the ICT industry in the proposed Venture Capital review; 2. Deeper tax reform to address work/life balance issues including: tax deductibility for child care, savings incentives for choice of up to 12 months parental leave and removal of fringe benefits tax on gym and health clubs; 3. The need to establish a body responsible for the global ICT brand for Australia - aimed at promoting Australia as an onshoring destination and technology nation; 4. The need for a true broadband strategy across Australia. Commenting on the 2005-06 Budget outcomes, Mandla said: "We currently have many disparate voices representing the ICT sector. For the right kind of impact moving forward, we must develop a united voice on the hard-nosed medium and long term programs for our industry. "The ACS has invested in developing a solid policy platform during the past 12 months, and we will be working towards a stronger industry alliance to create a 10 - 15 year vision which addresses job creation, increased multinational participation and the establishment of an Australian ICT brand," he said. Specific response to 2005-06 Budget: 1 Venture capital: The ACS said it welcomes the proposed review of the venture capital industry, but called close consultation with the ICT sector as part of this review. "Venture capital in Australia for the ICT sector is currently too risk averse and more likely to fund those who don't really need money than those who do," he said. "Minister Coonan is committed to developing programs for angel funding and the ACS looks forward to being actively involved in finding ways to get funding for the ideas of clever Australians - many of which do not originate from research laboratories. "A number of the industry's brilliant ideas come from employed technical people implementing systems in large environments - however, often their own companies are too rigid to develop the solution. These people need to be encouraged and funded. "We have excellent programs; what we don't have is a pipeline of exciting technology companies. So many industry professionals express a desire to do creative work and we need to develop opportunities for them," he said. The ACS also called for the Government to consider allowing government departments to invest around 0.5 per cent of their technology acquisition budgets to pilot installations of Australian innovations. "This would allow innovations to be fully developed, the SME to gain real practical experience in implementing their innovation and provide reference sites for commercialisation and to attract investors," Mandla said. The ACS will be presenting a number of recommendations on technology innovation to the House of Representatives (Science and Innovation Committee). 2. Tax reform: The ACS welcomed the tax cuts proposed by the Government, but called for continued reforms in the future. "Our industry has felt the burden of bracket creep and it is a welcome relief that many computer professionals will move below the highest tax bracket for the first time in years," he said. "We encourage the Government to continue with tax reform to help the brain drain of Australian ICT professionals. To increase participation rates in our industry, we must ensure that we do not lose our best and brightest solely to the lure of lower tax regimes. "Multinational CEOs often say the reward for setting up Asia/Pacific Headquarters or R&D facilities in Australia is a payroll tax bill. Our industry is labour-intensive and pays a disproportionate amount of payroll tax.

"We encourage the Government to continue to battle with state governments over taxes and charges, which reduce competitiveness and employment opportunities in Australia," he said. Work/life balance and tax reform The ACS highlighted its policy in work/fife balance, released earlier this year, and said it has so far received a very positive hearing from industry and in Canberra. However, the ACS believes the government must go further in the next budget with social change. "As outlined in our work/life policy, we are seeking tax deductibility for child care, savings incentives for a choice of up to 12 months parental leave and the removal of fringe benefits tax on gyms and health clubs," Mandla said. "The ICT industry can no longer afford to lose ICT professionals due to a lack of flexibility in the workplace and the high costs of balancing work and life, particularly when our industry provides the technology for more flexible work arrangements. We will continue to drive these programs into the government agenda," he said. 3. Establish a united Australian ICT brand to promote Australia as an onshoring destination: The ACS said it is encouraged to see industry representational bodies such as Tourism Australia receiving $453 million in this year's budget - and that the ICT industry must also work with government to create a body that can attract a significant level of funding to similarly promote Australia offshore. "Minister Coonan has indicated funding could be found to scope out such an organisation. We continue to work with her department on this project," he said. "In the meantime, the ACS is pleased to be increasingly involved in trade discussions and we look forward to participating in COMICTA (Committee for Marketing ICT of Australia) and the Austrade ICT Advisory Panel." 4. Telecommunications & the need for a 'true broadband' strategy: The ACS applauded the focus on the Metropolitan Broadband Blackspots Program and the HiBis (Higher Bandwidth Incentive Scheme), but reminded the Government that 256Kb/s ADSL is not true broadband and Australia remains at the back of the global broadband race. "Fair dinkum broadband or 3Mb/s is years away for Australians, and we're also being left behind in our broadband penetration," Mandla said. "Let's not forget, they don't give out 25th place ribbons and that's where Australia is in terms of broadband penetration. "We believe the challenge for the Government is to look at how we can be a leader in broadband and not just a subsidy provider to Telstra. The ACS supports the idea of National Senators Fiona Nash and Barnaby Joyce that $7bn of the $33.8bn Telstra proceeds should be spent on a national fibre network. "We don't see this as taking $7bn away from the Future Fund; this is an investment that will provide huge returns," Mandla said.

SEARCC Council visits Australia

Preparations for the upcoming SEARCC 05 Conference moved forward with the visit to Australia by the Executive Council of SEARCC (South East Asia Regional Computer Confederation) to view the facilities and discuss issues affecting ICT professionals throughout the Asia Pacific.

ACS Immediate Vice President Richard Hogg, the current SEARCC Vice President, met with SEARCC Secretary-General Yasa Karunaratne and representatives from other member societies from across the region in Sydney in May.

SEARCC 05, to be staged in Sydney from September 28-30, takes the theme of Building Bridges and will provide an excellent opportunity for an international exchange of information and experiences.

"The theme reflects the ubiquity, connectivity and impact of ICT applications on organisations, governments, nations and the community, highlighting the role technology can play in overcoming the digital divide," said Hogg, who sits on the organising committee for the conference.

"I've been concerned that we should be using ICT to enhance relationships between the countries of the region. SEARCC has the potential to bring together a lot of knowledge and data and people, which is something we have perhaps not fully exploited in the past. Yasa Karunaratne and the presidents of the various societies are aware of the need to push ICT as a driver of industry and the glue that brings people together," he said.

In discussing issues affecting the entire region, Karunaratne said the tsunami had affected many of SEARCC's member societies, highlighting the need for business continuity planning.

"We're seeing a huge focus on business continuity, security and forensics across the Asia Pacific, with CIOs and other senior management turning out in significant numbers to attend seminars and workshops on these issues."

He said compliance, governance and accountability are also high on the agenda for CIOs in the wake of recent corporate scandals and the introduction of stricter reporting regimes. This will be the focus of a regional expert speaker program currently being organised by SEARCC.

"One of SEARCC's key goals is to share resources and build on each other's experiences through conferences, seminar and teaching programs," he said.

A good example is the way the Computer Society of Sri Lanka has been offering the ACS Exams to local students for the past 15 years as a way of enhancing and measuring their professional knowledge and skills.

President of the CSSL Lionel Perera said over 10,000 students have completed the examination program since it was introduced in Sri Lanka.

"The ACS and CSSL enjoy a very close relationship and many students join the CSSL for the express purpose of doing the ACS Exams. One of SEARCC's major initiatives is to strengthen relationships and make communication easier between the member societies to encourage greater exchange of skills and people."

SEARCC currently has 13 full members: Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand, and is in discussions with Korea, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam and Kenya about possible membership.

"We're working to rebuild fences and bring new countries into relationship," said Karunaratne. "Kenya has expressed interest in joining SEARCC and learning more about its structure, to assist it in setting up a similar group in Africa."

SEARCC has also increased its level of activity within IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing), which is the global body for computer societies.

"We're now working very closely with IFIP, sharing information and using it to source expert speakers. The President of IFIP, Dr Klaus Brunnstein, is one of Germany's leading experts in network security and will be an invited keynote speaker at SEARCC this year, as well as speaking at the CSSL's national conference," he said.

ACS membership preferred in Saudi Arabia

ACS members have always considered their association to be world-class, but the experience of one member has proven the theory.

Dr Alex Elyassih was promoted from a project management role to product support manager after his employer - Saudi Ericsson - found out he was an ACS member.

Although based in Riyadh, Alex has been a member of the ACS since 1997.

"I joined as an associate member to gain professional knowledge and increase my competitiveness in the IT field, and have since upgraded to professional membership," said Elyassih, who holds a PhD in computer systems and IT from Washington International University.

He joined Saudi Ericsson in 2001 and, until recently, worked as deputy project manager in its radio and microwave department, responsible for technical staff engaged in mobilising, installing and commissioning radio and microwave solutions.

"My promotion to product support manager, with a commensurate salary increase, came after my manager discovered I was a member of the ACS, which is fully accredited and preferred by Saudi Ericsson," he said.

"My new role involves providing training through various product suppliers for voice, speech recording systems, wireless communication systems and computer telephony interface (CTI) applications to the Ericsson call centre, as well as arranging product launches, seminars, road shows and product presentations to various clients.

"I would encourage any professional to consider membership of the ACS not only for networking and professional development, but as a way of gaining recognition for their professional status," he said.

Change is a relative thing Star Wars concepts may come and go, but software engineering fundamentals remain

Ask anyone who works in ICT and they'll tell you what a dynamic sector it is, how quickly technology is changing, and how hard they have to work at keeping their knowledge up to date.

But talk to Professor David Parnas, an early pioneer of software engineering who developed the concept of modular design which led to object-oriented programming, and he'll tell you the underlying principles remain the same.

"We're moving around in circles. Sure, languages have changed, but many of the same issues remain and sometimes the developers of new languages just reinvent a wheel," Parnas explained. "This of course is not so bad; the reason that the wheel keeps getting reinvented is because it is a good idea.

"A few years ago, I spoke to one of the key inventors of Java and asked what they had corrected when they designed their virtual machine, compared to the one for Pascal. I discovered he didn't even know there had been one for Pascal and that his machine still made the same mistakes," he said.

A world authority on software engineering, Prof Parnas is in high demand as a speaker and educator. He is currently director of the Software Quality Research Laboratory at the University of Limerick in Ireland and is on leave of absence from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. He visited Australia in March this year to present the keynote address at the 2005 Australian Software Engineering Conference (ASWEC'05).

Parnas is concerned that today's professionals don't understand the basics of software engineering, the principles that are consistent from language to language.

"The education we're giving budding computer people today is in the technology and not in the fundamentals. In my library, all the books I got as an undergraduate are still true and applicable - ones on linear algebra, calculus and so on - but the next few rows are all computer books and out of date within a year or two.

"University students typically get two sets of courses - one about technology and one about theory - but they don't learn to connect them or how to apply the theory. For example, many universities teach students comparative logic at a theoretical level, but not how to apply logic in programming, so they end up writing illogical programs after they graduate."

When Parnas designed the software engineering course at McMaster, he enforced a rule that they would not teach any theory unless they also showed how to apply it and they would teach no pragmatic techniques without showing that they were sound and safe.

"The challenge for software engineering educators is that they have yet to identify the core body of knowledge for software engineering. Let's choose something that all computer scientists should know, such as how to tell if a loop will or won't stop. This is a very fundamental thing and involves a simple device called monotonic decreasing quantity, but most people I meet have never been taught that, and those who have don't know how to apply it."

Parnas said there was an unsuccessful effort to develop a software engineering body of knowledge in Canada a few years ago. "Those behind it weren't engineers and thought their job was to collect everything anyone ever said about software engineering. They ended up with a giant collection of folklore but no real core body of knowledge.

"In civil engineering, professionals are licensed and the educational programs are subjected to an accreditation process. Every civil engineering program teaches the core body of knowledge for that discipline - both the theory and application - and students have to pass an examination in law and professional responsibility. It's an established procedure. We need a similar approach in software engineering, but unfortunately, it's not where we're heading."

He referenced a survey in Canada showing that people in the community think that software engineers are licensed, even though they're not. There was even a legal battle between the software engineers and computer scientists after the Engineering Society tried to enforce that anyone using the term "engineer" had to be licensed. The two groups tried to come up with a compromise but couldn't agree on either a core body of knowledge or a licensing procedure.

Parnas believes that current proposals to license ICT security experts are "a bit like locking the barn doors after the horse has been stolen".

"You can't add security to a badly-designed system. One of the problems is that when they started making PC systems, they didn't think about time-sharing or networking. Security experts can only patch what's already wrong."

His message to the ICT profession is to introduce accreditation standards for education programs that look at the fundamentals they need to perform effectively in this discipline.

"It's not about asking whether they know Java or Perl," he said. "If you asked what differential calculus and physics you needed to teach electrical engineering students, then the answer would include electrical fields, but not subatomic particles. We need to have these kinds of questions answered for software engineering courses."

Parnas's outspokenness on a range of issues relating to software engineering is legendary in the ICT sector and he was the inaugural winner of the prestigious Norbert Wiener Award for Social and Professional Responsibility.

Parnas has always championed an ethical approach to ICT and spoke out against former US President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, known as Star Wars, after he became convinced it wasn't feasible.

"They argued that they could develop a missile defence system within six years, but I knew it would be impossible to write an application that was free enough from errors to be trusted. I was initially invited to be involved in the project but resigned when I realised the claims being made were fraudulent," he said.

After failing in his efforts to convince government officials of his concerns, he published several articles detailing the problems with the Star Wars project. This led to a series of public debates which in turn forced greater honesty from the project sponsors about what Star Wars could actually achieve.

"We have a professional responsibility to understand what technology can achieve and to ensure that the systems we develop will benefit the community. That means maintaining the highest possible standards in everything we do, which is something that should never change."

Industry and academia confer at ASWEC

The 2005 Australian Software Engineering Conference (ASWEC) was held in Brisbane at the end of March, attracting 115 attendees including 19 from NZ, Finland, Spain and China.

The ASWEC conference series began in 1986 as a forum for exchanging experience and new research results in software engineering. It is organised under the auspices of the Engineers Australia and the ACS's Joint Board on Software Engineering. This year, more than a third of the delegates were from industry, meeting a goal to bring software engineering academics and industry practitioners together.

To encourage industry participation in the conference, a separate industry program committee was created to review the industry experience reports. The three-day event was started with tutorials and an Asia-Pacific workshop on software internationalisation and an Australian workshop on software architecture. The two half-day tutorials were "Model Driven Architecture - Reality versus Fiction" presented by Keith Duddy and Michael Lawley from DSTC, and "Managing Change; Understanding Resistance" by Judy Bamberger.

The conference had three keynote speakers: Prof David Parnas (University of Limerick) who presented "Document-driven disciplined development of software". David Barbagallo (Mincom) who described the challenges of managing a global software engineering capability, and Prof John Gough from the Queensland University of Technology who discussed virtual machines, managed code and component technology. (David Parnas was the keynote speaker at the first ASWEC in Canberra in 1986, where discussed why strategic defence software must be untrustworthy.)

In all, 34 academic research papers and 18 industry experience reports were presented.

An industry prize based on refereed scores was awarded to "Model-based testing using Spec#" by Kelvin Ross, Alena Griffiths, Danny Powell and Jarrod Plant, and for research, shared by two papers: "Refinement laws for verifying library subroutine adaptation" by Colin Fidge, Peter Robinson and Steve Dunne, and "A UML approach to the generation of test sequences for Java-based concurrent systems" by Soon-Kyeong Kim, Luke Wildman and Roger Duke. The conference was sponsored by Boeing Australia, the Distributed Systems Technology Centre, Oracle, the University of Queensland, QUT, Red Hat, Bond University, E-Health Research Centre, Griffith University, Mincom, Object Consulting, the Safety-Critical Systems Club, Swinburne University and Velocity Brisbane.

The 2006 Australian Software Engineering Conference will be held in Sydney from April 18 to 21.

Richard Bridge passing mourned

The ACS was saddened to hear of the untimely death of one of the NSW Branch's most active long-term members, Richard Bridge, who died suddenly of a massive heart attack on Good Friday.

A Fellow of the ACS and former member of the National Council, Richard served as Marketing Board Director from 1997-2000, convened and chaired the E-commerce SIG and established the ACS Central Coast Chapter at Gosford. He also represented the ACS on various committees and working groups in the area of e-commerce.

After many years of working in the NSW Government, where he rose to IT director within the Premier's Department, he moved into private enterprise, contracting to companies like the NRMA, NIB Health Fund and the Sydney Catchment Authority.

His funeral drew an enormous crowd not only from the ICT sector, but from the broad range of community activities in which Richard played various roles.

In the Central Coast, he had long been a supporter of youth activities, involved in establishing and running several youth centres, as well as being active in the Terrigal Surf Club and the rugby clubs where his sons played. Richard was a great believer in health and fitness and had achieved black belts in several martial arts disciplines, which he both practised and taught.

He was also a supporter of local community groups like Rotary and the local regional development organisation.

Richard was just 51and is survived by his wife Sue and his three sons Michael, Chris and Keelan.

SEARCC pioneer dies

ICT pioneer Robert Iau, who played a pivotal role in the Asia Pacific region by founding SEARCC (South East Asian Regional Computer Confederation) in 1976, died recently aged 70.

Singapore-based, he served as Secretary-General of SEARCC for many years, drawing together computer societies from across the region to collaborate, share information and resources, and stimulate growth in the ICT sector.

"Robert made an enormous contribution to growing the ICT sector not only in Singapore, but across the entire Asia Pacific region through his work within SEARCC," said ACS Chief Executive Dennis Furini.

Iau was instrumental in building Singapore's first computer system and, during his nearly 50-year career, played a guiding role in many of that nation's largest computing initiatives.

His influence also spread well beyond the ICT sector through his active involvement in the arts and social issues. He was the first executive chairman of the Singapore Arts Centre and played roles in the Festival of Arts steering committee, advisory council on Culture and the Arts, and the National Arts Council. He also chaired the Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association (Sata) from 1992.

Sturt offers IT doctorate

Charles Sturt University will offer a Doctor of Information Technology program from July 2005.

This professional doctorate, normally taken over six years of part-time study, is intended to be of interest to professionals working in the discipline of information and communication technology and the related fields of information systems, information management and computer science.

This course, while essentially a research doctorate, is designed to offer candidates the opportunity to investigate industry and/or professional issues in the context of an organisation. It is therefore essential that students have access to an appropriate organisation during the period of enrolment to carry out their empirical research work.

The objectives of the DIT are to:

§ extend the candidate's knowledge of the discipline of information and communication technology and closely related fields § develop the attributes required of the candidate to successfully identify, investigate and resolve problems confronting these fields § guide the candidate in a program of research into a current problem confronting information and communication technology, and in the presentation of the findings of the research in a thesis or portfolio. § provide graduates with a competitive advantage in achieving high-level success in their profession.

Entry requirements are normally a relevant honours or masters degree and at least five years of full-time (or equivalent) professional practice, a significant amount of which should be at middle- and/or senior-management level, and some of which must be current.

The cost of subjects taken in the second session of 2005 (starting in July 2005) will be $1720 per subject, and for 2006 the fee will be $2684 per subject.

Pay by the month

Ease the pain of paying a lump sum each year for your ACS membership subscription with an automated monthly or quarterly deduction on your credit card. This facility available to all members, including students.

It can be arranged in any of three ways:

1. On application when joining - when the applicant is expected to pay their application fee in full (if applicable), and the membership fee will be deducted automatically; 2. On renewal, by filling in the appropriate part of your renewal notice and returning it to the ACS National Office; 3. At any time, by contacting the National Office. An ACS representative will record your details and deductions will be made at the next renewal date.

For more information, call ACS member services on (02) 9299 3666.

Ambassador Card offers member excellency

In keeping with itsf ocus on work-life balance, the ACS is introducing The Ambassador Card, a national loyalty program offering price reductions on groceries, restaurants, leisure activities, accommodation, goods and services.

Participating suppliers can be found throughout metropolitan and country Australia. They include hundreds of restaurants, many offering one complimentary main course with the payment of a main course of equal or greater value. Hotels and motels offer up to 50 per cent off rack rate.

Tourist attractions such as Captain Cook Sightseeing Cruises, Melbourne Aquarium, Oceanworld Manly, Ned Kelly's Last Stand and many more offer one free admission for one paid. Save 16 per cent on prepaid one day general admission tickets to Dreamworld, Movieworld and Seaworld by pre-purchasing the tickets from The Ambassador Card before you go.

You can also save on grocery shopping by pre-purchasing a Coles Gift Card from The Ambassador Card at five per cent less than the face value of the card, ie a $100 Gift Card costs $95. The gift card can then be used at any Coles supermarket.

The Ambassador Club is in continual negotiations with suppliers to extend the benefits associated with the card in areas ranging from insurance, gymnasiums and cinemas to computers and office equipment, travel, dry cleaning, clothing and homewares.

It has also offered to work with the ACS to identify and provide additional services and benefits of particular interest to our members and their locations.

The Ambassador Card has the potential to save members hundreds of dollars each year and will be incorporated free of charge into your ACS Membership Card from July 2005. This means that all members who renew in July will receive a combined ACS/Ambassador Card, followed by members in August, September and so on, as your renewals come due. If you have recently renewed your membership or your renewal is still several months away and you wish to take advantage of the Ambassador Card before then, please contact ACS Member Services on (02) 9299 3666 or e-mail memberservices@acs.org.au and for a $10 fee, your membership card will be reprinted immediately as an Ambassador Card.

Associate members can rise a grade

If you are an ACS Associate member with an IT-related degree from an Australian university, you could qualify for Provisional Member or even full Professional Member. The ACS has recently conducted a regrading of Graduate members to Provisional Member and would like to invite any Associate members who think they qualify to also apply to regrade.

Any Associate members who hold a professional IT qualification should apply for a regrade to Provisional Member while those who also have at least four years relevant ICT experience could qualify as full Professional Members.

A regrade application form can be downloaded from the ACS Web site or you can contact ACS Member Services on (02) 9299 3666 or e-mail memberservices@acs.org.au

ACS - Member Advantage Superannuation Fund

Through Member Advantage Insurance and Superannuation Services the ACS can now provide members with a new superannuation package. This fund is open to all ACS members, their spouses and their professional associates. The fund can be used by self-employed individuals, employees (those given fund choice), companies (for "default fund" purposes) and those looking to rollover only.

The ACS - Member Advantage Superannuation Plan (a tailored version of the MLC Masterkey Business Superannuation Plan) provides a wide range of benefits at a price that's genuinely unattainable without your ACS membership. If you would like to discuss our new superannuation plan please phone Member Advantage Insurance & Superannuation Services on 1300 365 152 or e-mail us tanujap@cwtfsg.com.au. Go to the member login at www.acs.org.au for detailed fund information and joining instructions.

Media Enquiries:

John Ridge

Executive Director, ACS Foundation

Email: john.ridge@acsfoundation.com.au • Tel: (02) 9299 3666

Jim Ellis

WA Board Director, ACS Foundation

Email: jim.ellis@westinfo.com.au • Tel: (08) 9489 8400 • Mobile: 0411 553 483

 

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