About AIAM
The Australian Institute of Animal Mangement Inc. is a properly constituted incorporated association operating under a constitution approved by Consumer Affairs. The Insititute has a registered ABN and is a national organisation. The Institute's focus is on service delivery and the development of solutions in animal management.
In 1999, at a Gold Coast Animal conference, a think tank meeting was held to see what an organisation like ours should in fact be working towards. At that meeting, senior Local Government officers from each State spoke about the most pressing problems they faced in carrying out their day to day duties in animal control and regulation. Consensus was reached and a list of most important needs was decided as follows:
- Develop recognition in the community of the value of municipal Animal Management services
- Provide AMO access to career pathing through Animal Management training of National AQF standard
- Encourage consistency in legislation and regulative processes across municipal and State boundaries in Australia
- Push for the provision of sufficient resources to allow the delivery of good quality Animal Management services
- Have a regular national forum for the sharing of progressive and innovative ideas.
To this day that direction is essentially unchanged. The Institute presses on towards these objectives by convening its annual national Animal Management conference. Each conference has the following objectives:
- Stimulate critical and constructive assessment of current urban animal management practices and performance
- Encourage reflection about the essential roles and purpose of urban animal management
- Support R&D in animal management
- Promote continuing education for AMOs within an accredited national competency framework of relevant training package competencies
- Develop a body of readily accessible quality literature on this subject
- Share knowledge and experience to build a collegiate sense of common purpose and mutual assistance in this industry
- Help underscore the significant occupational health and safety issues associated with animal management
- Draw together streams of consensus for nation uniformity on important matters pertaining to urban animal management policy and practice
- Recognise excellence in animal management service.
All members of the AIAM Committee and Executive contribute their service to the Institute voluntarily. As a consequence of this generosity, AIAM is an unusually cost effective organisation. For example, Institute office bearers pay their own way to attend meetings. They pay full delegate fees to attend the very conferences that they themselves have convened.
Because of the voluntary nature of Committee input to AIAM activity, there is a finite limitation to how much the Institute can manage to accomplish each year. While AIAM has no legislative or regulatory authority at any of our three levels of government in Australia, it does nevertheless have significant influence. The Institute is not in a position to mandate or dictate anything to anybody, but it can and does effectively stimulate the pursuit of best practices in Australian community Animal Management service.