QAA|Queensland Arboricultural Association Incorporated| unqualified members and selling credibility

QAA Credibility| No Criteria For Membership Acceptance

Often you may see businesses advertising like adjacent or trucks with stickers on them saying Member of the Queensland Arboricultural Association.

The purpose of this article is to expose the fact that there's no criteria for membership, and it's part of the QAA's marketing to sell credibility. In other words people are joining so that they look professional but in fact could have ZERO qualifications. In fact, anyone can join then receive a media kit for their advertising purposes.

In a recent and detailed case at Chatswood Hills Primary School you can see how a contractor to Qbuild (Queensland's public works dept) actually had non qualified people on a jobsite not working to Australian Standards and breaching OHS regulations. Whilst this phenomena has been known in the tree community some time it has been allowed to continue. QAA claim to have approximately 1/3 of Queensland tree business or tree loppers (unable to verify which of the two as they are not the same) as members, and it's extremely likely that is because of the ZERO acceptance criteria and the increase in perceived credibility that consumers get. I personally have had people tell me they join for that and as part of the package they receive a years subscription to The Australian Arbor Age which is worth around $50/year but you can obtain that directly without being a member of the QAA.

Other organisations have some criteria, varying from qualifications to insurance requirements, but not the QAA. ISA for example allows people to advertise that they are members however that alone does not mean you are qualified. So the ISA have another set of criteria to advertise "Certified Arborist" etc, and it must have your name and certification number as businesses do not get qualifications people do.

What complicates this entire matter more in Australia is that there is no central registry to check anyone's qualifications. The ISA for example has it's own internal lists and you can search the register by name, location or number ... however the ISA qualification is their own internal certification and not part of the AQF recognised training we do in Australia. Our training is rolled out via TAFE and colleges, it's more comprehensive with practical tree work as a core competency which has to be assessed. Then you also have the problem that the business owner may in fact have some qualifications however he sends out unqualified people to the jobsite. It's vital you know who will be working on your trees and what their qualifications are, a good reputable business would proudly show what qualifications it has.

To make matters even worse currently part of the QAA Code of Ethics reads this:-
4. Not to publicly condemn, criticise or disvalue another members work.
Well, that could sort of build a great little niche of members who are sheltered. The exposure in the Chatswood Hills Primary School thread at Tree World certainly breaches that code doesn't it? However the exposure from that thread meant Q-Build state wide changed policy and QAA has had to after years of this practice address it. What their new criteria is and when it comes into effect is unknown, as they have failed to respond in almost 3 months, not even a formal acknowledgement of the issue whilst Q-Build a huge govt department not only mailed but had one of it's directors personally visit and set into motion changes that benefit legitimate qualified operators and of course the trees.

Conclusion

Currently if you see QAA logo's, stickers and membership claims it means little as anyone can join including the home-owner, there's no qualification standard, no verification of insurances and certainly a lack of transparency and exposure. For those who have studied and taken the time to get qualified it's extremely disheartening to even consider that a customer may prefer to deal with a "QAA member" (who is possibly not even qualified or less qualified than you) because they splash logo's and credibility luring flags on their advertising. Do your research, check the tree workers qualifications, it's people who work with trees ... not businesses and companies, professionals will proudly show their education achievements. With internet being as accessible as it is today and the simplicity of web software there's little excuse for people not to have their qualifications easily accessible, that is an alternative to the lack of a central registry to check qualifications. Customers can visit their site and see what they have.

The poinciana's seen above were "pruned" by not only a QAA member but a QAA Sponsor in October 2008. What you see here is malpractice, topping and lopping.