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The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

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Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#51

Post by ajtaylor »

djt wrote: post #4
_dark_matter_ wrote: post #3

All that about the pamphlet, not a big deal. But the payments at the end for accreditation? That seems to be a worse offense. Of course, if companies are only accepting applicants accredited by the ACS, they must be missing out on SOME people.

I think the main problem is you need the accreditation if you want to apply to immigrate. As I understand it even if you are from overseas and study at a Australian university you would still need to get the accreditation to apply for a visa.

I was concerned about this very thing when I was preparing to immigrate to Australia. In the end, because I had a job offer I got in on a 457 (good for 4 years) and didn't have to pay the ACS' accreditation fee. Even better, in 6 months when I apply for Permanent Residence I still don't have to pay the ACS because I've been working here for 2 years.

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#52

Post by i386 »

tnuc wrote: post #42

If you don't like the Australian Computer Society accreditation, you could could always become a Microsoft Certified Professional. Which one is the bigger joke?

You would probably get something out of being a MCP. There just isn't a good reason to be a member of ACS - at all.

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#53

Post by geolqued »

jacques_chester wrote: post #27
retrogradeorbit wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10.2% (2011 census data) of Australian properties are sitting there vacant. [ http://blog.id.com.au/2012/australian-census-2011/the-where-... ] And there is certainly urban decay all over the city I live in (Perth). Also, building codes are local government, aren't they? So it depends on what council you are in. And I've certainly heard some bad stories.

1. People stay with other people overnight. 2. New buildings are unoccupied, sometimes for months. A more useful measure is rental vacancy rates. The Australian average is 2.3%, which is pretty close to "none" in practical terms.

Those rates are voluntarily self-reported by rental property managers - there's a fairly clear conflict of interest.

According to the following Melbourne has a 5.9% vacancy rate. They use water usage data from the water companies for their analysis. (http://www.earthsharing.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Philip_Soo...

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#54

Post by zik »

jacques_chester wrote: post #12

I basically joined the ACS because it's there and I figured I ought to. They gave me a post-nominal: CT. If I want the next grade up -- CP -- I will need to take thousands of dollars of synergising-outside-the-box courses. Basically the ACS isn't really for software engineers. It's for middle management. I won't be renewing. (I might renew my ACM/IEEE memberships).

I joined the ACE some years ago for the same reason - because it seemed like a good idea to be a member of a professional organisation.

I also didn't renew after I realised what a joke the ACS really was.

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#55

Post by ryanackley »

retrogradeorbit wrote: post #43
tomcorrigan wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the linked article: > While dwellings are vacant for a number of reasons they are primarily associated with holiday areas

Seems inner city Sydney is a 'holiday area'. [ http://australianpropertyforum.com/blog/main/3204321 ]

Only one or two of the suburbs listed are actually considered inner city.

As someone who does live in the inner-city of Sydney and pay $3100USD/month for a shoebox. I would be incredulous if there were a large amount of vacancies beyond normal turnover.

There are usually bidding wars for property sales (most inner-city properties are sold by auction) and dozens of applications for rentals.

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#56

Post by noonespecial »

throwaway2048 wrote: post #6

Accreditation is common in many industries in Australia, it's basically a huge racket. To legally do any wiring work at all it must be done by an accredited electrician, not merely inspected by one as in most countries. in fact most home improvements of any kind must be performed by an accredited tradesman. add to this the laws that state any home improvement must bring the entire house up to current building codes,…

When accreditation becomes more about permission than proficiency, you'll get corruption instead of competence.

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#57

Post by shanmoorthy »

indecision wrote: post #20

I was recently involved in an ACS "Re-accreditation" review for my University which I graduated from in 2011. It was clear from the outset that the whole thing was a farce - to be re-accredited required the ACS to ask past students generic questions (such as "How important is ethics to an IT Professional") and for us to give canned answers. While the university didn't explicitly tell us to give the 'expected' answers…

Those courses are mandatory because the Australian government now correlates generic graduate attributes with funding allocation. This means that all Unis have to show that a percentage of their graduates are competent in, and all graduates have access to courses in ethics, sensitivity, knowledge application, problem solving, and communication. Uni administration forces lecturers to integrate these into their courses, and they then deliver a half arsed rendition to the students.

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#58

Post by beilabs »

Here's my experience with the Australian Computer Society.

Having studied abroad (Ireland), I was required to send in all of my exam results for my B.Sc, H.Dip & M.Sc. as well as a reference from each employer that I worked with in my field (Software Engineering).

For the visa I was applying for at the time it required that I was certified by the ACS, have a minimum of 5 years experience.

The process took 6 months for a single sheet of paper saying I was qualified for my profession! Due to this, my visa was submitted quite a while later than I initially planned and that took a further 12 months. 18 months all up waiting for my residency.

They took $600 for what was an open and shut case. They never contacted any of my references or colleges enquiring about my past experience or grades. The whole thing is a complete sham and is just another way of grabbing money off those who need visas.

The entire visa system in Australia is in bad need of restructuring and left a very sour taste in my mouth.

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#59

Post by mylittlepony »

mrmagooey wrote: post #11

I forgot that the ACS even existed, just let it fade into obscurity on its own terms.

teflonhook 2 hours ago | link [dead]

The problem is this is the professional body that determines what we teach in universities, that promotes the technology industry as a whole and who decides who we let into the country on a skilled visa.

Re: The Australian Computer Society should be disbanded

#60

Post by stephen_g »

Wingman4l7 wrote: post #41

I find it completely ridiculous -- how on Earth could a the ACS hope to apply any sort of standard evaluation to a CS / IT degree earned in any of a dozen countries, from any of a thousand universities (with attendant varying degree requirements and relative differences in course difficulty) , not to mention evaluating self-taught skills or industry experience in hundreds of specialties. A programmer is not a tradesm…

    No IT employer in Australia that I've communicated with has ever mentioned the
    ACS in regards to qualifications, not once -- I would be surprised if any even 
    know it exists
Same - I've been working as a software engineer in Australia for almost five years now, had never heard of them!
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