Membership Policy

This Membership Policy outlines the expectations and responsibilities of ACRS Members. By becoming an ACRS Member, you agree to be bound by:

this Membership Policy;
the ACRS Website Terms of Use;
the ACRS Constitution; and
any applicable ACRS policies or agreements.

Failure to comply with any of the requirements outlined above may result in disciplinary action including the suspension or termination of your membership, in accordance with the ACRS Constitution.

Terminology

In this Membership Policy, except where the contrary intention is expressed, the following words and expressions have the defined meaning set out below:

ACRS means the Australasian College of Road Safety.

ACRS Council means some or all of the ACRS Council members acting as a board.

Fellowship Awards means the process for awarding a fellowship of the ACRS to an individual, as set out in more detail at https://acrs.org.au/about/awards/fellowship-award/.

Member means a member of the ACRS.

Membership Policy means this membership policy.

Personal Information has the meaning given in the Privacy Act.

Privacy Act means the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

Sensitive Information has the meaning given in the Privacy Act.

you, your or yourself refers, as the context requires, to:

the individual accepting this Membership Policy;
the organisation, business or entity on whose behalf an individual accepts this Membership Policy; or
both of the entities referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) above.

New Members

ACRS memberships can be purchased online at https://acrs.org.au/membership/ for both individuals and organisations. Payments can be made via Stripe (Mastercard and Visa only), PayPal or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). Memberships fall under two main categories of Individual or Corporate.

Individual Members – a person is qualified to be a:

Personal Member if the person is interested in advancing the objectives of the ACRS.
Fellow if the person has been awarded a fellowship through the Fellowship Awards process.
Associate Fellow if the person is involved or has been involved in professional or extensive volunteer work in the field of road safety and:
- is making or has made identified and significant contributions to road safety; or
- is making or has made identified and significant contributions to the ACRS.
Student Member if the person is undertaking a full-time course of education.
Concession Member if the person is retired from full time work or is working an average of less than 10 hours per week.
LMIC Member if the person lives in a country classified as low or middle income, according to the World Bank classification of countries by income.

Corporate Members

An organisation is qualified to be a Corporate Member if it:

represents a government, business, education, or industry sector that has developed a strategy for addressing road safety issues; or
is a Community Group, that:
- represents a local community within an identified local geographical area;
- operates principally on a volunteer basis; and
- has developed a strategy for addressing road safety issues in its area.

Corporate Members will receive different levels of Member benefits depending on the level of membership taken out (e.g. Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, or Diamond). The Council, at its discretion, may create and offer different levels of membership from time to time.

Corporate Members are entitled to nominate one Main Contact for the organisation to whom all ACRS invoices and payment information will be sent (the Main Contact). The Main Contact can also add or remove staff to the Corporate Membership up to the maximum number permitted for the membership level held by the at Corporate Member.

To receive ACRS membership benefits such as:

Weekly Alerts;
electronic copies of the Journal of Road Safety;
discounted registration rates to the annual Australasian Road Safety Conference; and
voting rights,

individual staff members must be listed under the Corporate Membership. Organisations must not take out Individual Memberships in lieu of a Corporate Membership.

Memberships will not be active until payment has been made in full.

Memberships are non-transferrable.

All active Members must comply with their obligations under the ACRS Constitution.

Membership Renewal

ACRS Members will receive an invitation to renew their membership, by a minimum of 4 weeks before the anniversary of the commencement of their membership, and can submit payment online via Stripe (Mastercard and Visa only), PayPal or EFT. Credit card payments for Corporate Membership will attract a processing fee. To reduce costs for Members, Corporate Members are encouraged to submit payment via EFT.

If renewal fees are not paid by the due date, the ACRS will terminate the membership at the date of its expiry, and any administrative fees related to re-joining membership of the ACRS will be payable by the Member.

Membership Cancellation and Refunds

ACRS Members may cancel their membership at any time and for any reason by sending an email to admin@acrs.org.au. Upon receipt of this email, the ACRS will remove the Member from its contact list and the Member will lose all benefits associated with their membership. Before requesting cancellation of membership, the Member is encouraged to contact the ACRS and outline their dissatisfaction with the membership so that the ACRS may consider potential solutions for the Member.

If a Member does not comply with:

the ACRS Constitution;
this Membership Policy;
the ACRS Website Terms of Use; or
the ACRS’ vision, purpose and objectives,

the ACRS Council may expel or suspend a Member from the ACRS in accordance with the process set out in rule 11 of the ACRS Constitution. The Member may appeal to the ACRS in accordance with rule 11 of the ACRS Constitution.

Members that voluntarily cancel their membership, or are expelled/suspended from the ACRS, are not entitled to a refund of their membership fees, except when that is required by the Australian Consumer Law. In this event, the refund will be processed using the same method as the original payment, unless the ACRS decides (in its sole discretion) to process the refund by EFT.

Code of Ethics

Members, and their staff (if applicable), are responsible for the decisions they make and the impact they have on others.

Members’ actions and decisions will be reviewed against the ACRS’ vision, purpose and objectives, no matter whether they are a councillor, committee member, employee of the ACRS or ordinary ACRS Member.

The responsibilities of Members, and their staff (in their capacity as a Member, if applicable), are as follows:

Use the ACRS’ vision, purpose and objectives to guide our everyday decision making and behaviour (subject to the requirements of their own organisation).
Promote a culture of fair and ethical behaviour.
Create a climate that will enable Members, and their staff (if applicable), to discuss any issues.Understand the intent of our policies and standards, and the laws that guide our work, and use them every day to guide our actions.
Treat everyone with respect.

The Code of Ethics cannot explicitly address every situation that may be encountered by Members. Therefore, if faced with an issue that may constitute a breach of, or threat to compliance with, this Membership Policy that is not clearly defined above, Members should ask for guidance and support from the Chief Executive Officer or President of the ACRS.

Access to Member Information

Members that have access to other Members’ Personal Information or Sensitive Information, either through their role within the ACRS or through certain member-only features such as the Member Forum or Member Directory, may only access and use this information as permitted by:

this Membership Policy;
the ACRS Privacy Policy;
the ACRS Website Terms of Use;
any applicable ACRS policies or agreements; and
any applicable local, State, Territory, Commonwealth, or international laws.

If a Member lawfully gains access to another Member’s Personal Information or Sensitive Information, they must not:

sell, trade, profit from, or otherwise knowingly or unknowingly provide access to the information to third parties without explicit prior written consent from the Member to which the information relates;
contact that Member for malicious, illegal, spam or advertising purposes, or any other purpose outside of the ACRS’ vision, purpose, and objectives;
collect and store Member information for malicious, illegal, spam or advertising purposes, or any other purpose outside of the ACRS’ vision, purpose, and objectives; or
engage in any other conduct that would:
- breach the Privacy Act or the ACRS Privacy Policy (available at https://acrs.org.au/privacy-policy/);
- cause the ACRS to be in breach of its obligations under the Privacy Act or the ACRS Privacy Policy (available at https://acrs.org.au/privacy-policy/).