 professionals australia, formerly the association of professional engineers, scientists and managers australia (apesma), is an australian employee association registered under state and federal industrial relations acts. this makes it, effectively, a trade union for the purposes of worker-employer bargaining; professionals australia is affiliated with the australian council of trade unions (actu). professionals australia acts to service member needs, primarily in terms of salary and industrial advice. this places professionals australia within the services model of trade unionism. it also performs many of the functions of a professional association. professionals australia has approximately 25,000 members from the following professions: engineers, scientists, managers, architects, it professionals, pharmacists, veterinarians, surveyors, translators and collieries staff in addition to student members. professionals australia is an example of a union that is organised along occupational lines. for this reason its coverage areas overlap substantially with industry unions which now represent the majority of union members in australia. professionals australia began as the association of professional engineers, australia (apea) which formed in 1946 and registered as an industrial association in 1948. apea was the first organisation to ensure that professionals be recognised and rewarded for the high-value work they do. the professional engineers case finalised in 1961 saw engineers across australia received salary increases averaging more than 40 per cent. even more importantly it set the precedent for work value and benchmark salaries for professionals. professionals australia has government approval as an assessment entity for the only mandatory engineering registration scheme in australia â the registered professional engineers of queensland (rpeq).http://[http://www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/newsviews/latest/?id=3312 rpeq asse
Engineering_societies Professional_associations_based_in_Australia Trade_unions_established_in_1917 Trade_unions_in_Australia