The TCIA AGM was held 4/09/2023 – click here for the minutes.

Major business as always was the election of executive members. All executive members were re-elected to their previous posts. Following the constitutional ammendments that were passed (as below), the position of Public Officer was also created to assist the TCIA in compliance with lodging their annual paperwork to remain an incorporated association.

The TCIA Constitution was discussed and updated to ensure it reflects the current operation of the association and where we see the TCIA going in the near future. In line with changes approved at the 2022 AGM, the membership recertification process was ratified in the new constitution. To be clear – the two-yearly membership fee remains at $100 providing recertification occurs before the member has expired (i.e. by June 30th). Members looking to recertify between July 1st and September 30th will pay $150. From October 1st, all members that have chosen not to recertify will be transferred to the “Expired Instructors” list – anyone looking to recertify after this point will require reassessment.

A “Validation of Skills” process has been brought online to assist with guides/instructors that hold external qualifications, that wish to attain comporable TCIA qualifications. This process is also available for members looking to recertify, who have not been able to log sufficient evidence to support currency of skills. Please contact us if you want to take advantage of this.

There are also ongoing discussions between TCIA and DECYP, including the current redrafting of the ‘Procedures for Planning Off Campus Activities’ and ways that TCIA/DECYP can work together to ensure the safety of students at all climbing venues around the state.

We hope you all have a safe and fruitful year ahead.

Rock on,
Richard Youd
Treasurer / Public Officer

It’s that time of year again.

TCIA Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday September 4th at 7pm. Venue TBA

Contact the Secretary or the Treasurer for these details if you want to come.

Hi All,

Please find attached the minutes from this years Annual General Meeting held on 20th July 2022.

2022 AGM Minutes

The major discussion this year involved the recertification process and several changes have been made:

1. Members are reminded that the recertification process is not a reassessment, it merely demonstrates to the TCIA executive team your proof of activity in the industry. It is the individual members responsibility to gauge and assess their own level of current skill and competency, make sure you only operate within your current experience and competence level for all employment. If you are feeling rusty, take time to practice your setup, operational and rescue skills prior to working and as always, contact the TCIA if you have any questions.
2. To address the chronic number of late recertifications and the ongoing burden to our volunteer executive team in chasing these up, effective for the 2023 recertification cycle, membership fees will be increasing for anyone that tries to recertify after they have expired and a hard deadline of 3 months past your expiry will now be enforced. This is intended to fund the extra work involved in chasing late recertifications and hopefully encourage more timely actions by our members to ensure they remain current in their qualifications.
   • Those members who recertify prior to expiry on June 30th will still only pay $100 for two years.
   • Members that have let their qualification expire, and wish to recertify between July 1st and September 30th will now be charged $150 for their two year renewal.
   • All members that remain uncertified past September 30th will be deemed fully expired and will require reassessment if they wish to reacquire their qualification.

Maintaining the currency of your membership is your responsibility. The TCIA has made significant efforts over the last 10 years to chase a high proportion of our members to encourage them to maintain their qualifications – this will not continue.

Going forward, the TCIA will contact all members that we have current contact details for 3 months prior to expiry (i.e. end of March/start of April) to remind you of the recertification process. It is intended that all recertifications should be lodged by the end of May, so that the Membership Secretary has the month of June to process these, ensuring all members are recertified by the time they would otherwise expire. The hard deadline of September 30th gives you a window of 6 months to address any concerns.

As with all other licenses and qualifications that require periodic renewal, the onus is on you, the holder of the qualification, to maintain it. Please check here: http://tcia.asn.au/instructor-contacts/ to see your current expiry date and make a note in your calendar to check this every year.

7pm Wednesday 20th July 2022

The Annual General Meeting will be held upstairs at the New Sydney Hotel and on Zoom for those of us in the north that can’t make it down.

Please rock up early, grab a brew and have a yarn with our good crew of passionate rock climbing and abseiling educators. The TCIA thrives when enthusiastic people bring new ideas, so please drop by and share your thoughts on the direction of the TCIA into the future.

If you plan on joining via Zoom – please email TCIAtreasurer@gmail.com and I will send you the appropriate details.

See you there,

Rich

We have been really busy in the background of the organisation.

For your information;
Annual General Meeting – live via Zoom at 7.30pm Tuesday 22 September (Meeting ID is 942 0616 2859). Please let us know if there’s anything you would like discussed for the agenda – email: TCIApresident@gmail.com. Anyone can nominate for President, Vice President, Treasurer, Membership Secretary, Secretary and Executive members (brain trust).

Training and Assessment – At Whitewater Wall on 17-18 October. Please let us know if you (or someone else) would like to be included. We need to know ASAP to allow for organisation.

Membership – Matt Jones has been really busy processing the many renewals that have come in this year.

Website – We are in the middle of updating and adding membership details for new and renewing members. Thanks for your patience.

Certificates – Matt and I have dug through the archives and found an original certificate. This has been updated and I will soon send out a certificate to each current instructor or guide.

Training manuals – I have written updated BAI, TRA, and SPG manuals. I will soon do the ICG and MPG manuals. The manuals will be checked by peers and then issued to people as they sign up for training/assessment. If anyone has any photos or sketches they think would go well in a manual then please send through.

Treasurer – Richard has been busy keeping the TCIA compliant with insurance and small business practice.

Blackmans Bay Blowhole – Kingborough Council will soon complete the installation of new fencing. They are also installing a labelled belay bar. Thanks to council for this. Please remember to make your own risk assessment before using any venue.

Regards,
Tim Whelan
TCIA President

Hi All,

Please find attached the minutes from this years Annual General Meeting held on 31st July 2019.

TCIA AGM 2019 Minutes

There were two significant points for existing members:

1) The requirement for all instructors that work on indoor climbing walls to hold the specific ICG qualification, due to the many idiosyncrasies encountered in the indoor environment (note: this has not been included by default in ‘outdoor’ qualifications for some years now). To facilitate existing members getting up to speed, the TCIA will allow TRA/SPG/MPG instructors to join any two day ICG training and assessment course that has available positions for just $100. This offer will be valid till the end of 2020, but don’t wait too long, as available positions will be limited.

2) Upgrading your “old TRA” to SPG. TCIA members that qualified as a TRA prior to 2013 were assessed to include some basic aspects of single-pitch climbing (but not all), as we did not offer a specific SPG qualification. This changed ~2013 when the SPG qualification was offered to bring us inline with other institutions throughout the country. All TRA qualifications since then have not incluced any aspects of single-pitch climbing. To aid those directly affected by this, the TCIA will be offering FREE assessment sessions for “old TRA” members to upgrade to the current SPG qualification during any assessment event where an assessment session is available. Once again this is a limited time offer, and must be redeemed by the end of 2020.

Please get in touch with the secretary ASAP to take advantage of these assessments.

6pm Wednesday 31 July 2019

As has become the norm, the TCIA’s  Annual General Meeting will be held in the upstairs boardroom at The Republic Bar – 299 Elizabeth St, Hobart.

For those that can’t make it, we will endeavour to also have a skype/teleconference thing happening as well…. note the word “attempt”. Please contact us beforehand if you want to take advantage of this.

This is your opportunity to influence the direction and running of the TCIA. Please come along, have your say, and maybe put your hand up to help us out.

8pm Thursday 26 July 2018

The TCIA’s  Annual General Meeting will be held in the upstairs boardroom at The Republic Bar – 299 Elizabeth St, Hobart.

Several of the crew will be meeting downstairs for dinner at 7pm if you’d like to turn up a little earlier.

This is your opportunity to influence the direction and running of the TCIA. Please come along, have your say, and maybe put your hand up to help out.

In previous years, the TCIA has asked members to provide evidence of their current first aid qualifications when applying for recertification. In line with other outdoor professional bodies in Australia, we have made the decision to no longer require this evidence when you submit your logbook for recertification.

Our focus remains on the training and ongoing development of quality climbing and abseiling instructors and guides in Tasmania.

It is, however, a community expectation that outdoor professionals hold current first aid qualifications, the TCIA strongly encourages you to pursue and maintain these to support safe work practices in both your vocational and recreational endeavours.

Please see here for the minutes of the meeting:

Among other things, the new executive was elected, with only one major change. Bill Baxter stepping aside as president and Tim Whelan taking his place.

President: Tim Whelan
Vice President: Garry Phillips
Secretary: Stu Scott
Treasurer: Richard Youd
Membership Secretary: Renee Harrington
Executive: Bill Baxter, Jess Westbury, Alex Wilson.

Other reports tabled at the meeting:
* President’s Report
* Treasurer’s Report (aka Profit & Loss)

Training & Assessment dates decided:
October 14th & 15th 2017
March 24th & 25th 2018