The Australian Council of Professions' definition of a profession is:
"A profession is a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to ethical standards and uphold themselves to, and are accepted by the public as possessing, special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised body of learning derived from research, education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to exercise this knowledge and these skills in the interest of others.
"It is inherent in the definition of a profession that a code of ethics govern the activities of each profession. Such codes require behavior and practice beyond the personal moral obligations of an individual.
"They define and demand high standards of behavior in respect to the services provided to the public and in dealing with professional colleagues. Further, these codes are enforced by the profession and are acknowledged and accepted by the community."
' [ACS entry into ACP] is a notable moment in the lifetime of one of the world's youngest professions. Such recognition can help signal the importance to students and to the industry, that a strong technical base is not enough'
--Liz Sonenberd, University of Melbourne
ACP found ACS a body that already displayed characteristics of all these grounds of qualification, and in the closing days of 1999 formally accepted ACS's application for membership, alongside professional associations for doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants and other professionals.
The acceptance offers an extra attraction to IT workers and executives seeking the benefits of participation in their professional society. It has lured back to membership some of Australia's most distinguished IT practitioners. These include John Debrincat, managing director of Compuware; David Ireland, general manager of Unisys; and Chris Bird, chief information office of Cable & Wireless Optus.
"The ACS is not a club," president Ridge says, "it's a professional society. wider recognition of this we expect to lead to a continuing sharp increase in our membership numbers"
