ACS Professional Standards Scheme (PSS) Annual Declaration

Need to update your account details? Visit your member portal.

To maintain your CP status, you must complete at least 30 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) each certification year.

You must also be able to verify these activities, if you are selected for an audit

Visit ACS CPD Requirements for more information on CPD.

We understand that sometimes life circumstances can make it difficult to meet your CPD hours. If the exceptional circumstances are still continuing, you may be eligible for a CPD career break.

CPD career break
You may be eligible for a CPD career break if you are taking a break from the workforce for at least six months (but less than three years) due to:

• Serious illness
• Parenting leave
• Extended travel
• Caring for family members
• Involuntary unemployment
• Elite sporting or cultural pursuits

You can find out more about the eligibility criteria here.

This section will help you confirm your status in the Professional Standards Scheme (PSS) for this certification year.

All CPs are automatically considered participants. However, you may be eligible for an exemption depending on your work.

Here's what that means:

• participants are covered by the PSS and benefit from a cap on their legal liability. This is for members who provide tech services to external clients.
• exempt members are not covered by the PSS, as their work circumstances mean they don't need its protection. If you are exempt, your liability will no longer be capped under the PSS.

You may be eligible for an exemption if you are:

• non-practising (includes retired)
• work solely in academia
• work as an employee
• providing only internal services for a non-tech company overseas.

Resource: Participation Exemption Factsheet
Download detailed PDF guide

Thank you. Because you work outside of Australia, the PSS is not intended to cover your civil liability, as the Scheme is a specific Australian legal framework.

What happens next?
To ensure your compliance record is accurate, we need to verify your specific circumstances (e.g., if you still have Australian clients)

1. Please proceed to the next section to sign and submit this declaration.
2. An ACS staff member will contact you directly to confirm your participation or exemption status.

Please continue to the next sections to provide details of your PI insurance.

Please note the conditions of your exemption:

• It is only available for this certification year and expires at your next annual Declaration.
• You must contact CPcompliance@acs.org.au if your work circumstances change and you are no longer eligible for exemption (e.g. change from a government employee to employee of a tech organisation).

The PSS team will contact you to advise on the outcome.

Please proceed to the final section to complete your declaration.

A key requirement of the PSS is that all tech professional services must be covered by PI insurance that complies with ACS Insurance Standards. This protects both you and your clients.

How can you be covered?

• Your Employer's PI insurance
• Your Own PI insurance
• ACS Complimentary Member Insurance (Errors & Omissions)

To help you complete this section, please have the following handy:

• Your business' latest tax return
• Your insurance policy and renewal invoice (if you arrange your own insurance)
• If you arrange your own insurance, you should review your policy against the checklist below.

Resources:

• ACS Insurance Standards
• PI Insurance Checklist

Let's start by confirming how you are covered.

Based on your responses, your tech services are covered by the ACS’s complimentary member insurance.

⚠️ Key exclusions for ACS complimentary member insurance

This policy does NOT cover the following high-risk activities:

• Managed services
• Cyber security: consulting, penetration testing, etc.
• Development of AI Tech
• Fintech: Cryptocurrency, blockchain, payment & credit card processing
• HealthTech: Medical devices used in clinical/patient environments
• SaaS: Hosting records for > 10,000 users
• Multimedia services: Social media apps, gambling, adult content
• Defence: Aerospace, military, or defence systems
• Operational technology: SCADA, PLC programming, IoT
• High PII: Activities responsible for large amounts of Personally Identifiable Information

Have questions about your ACS CP member coverage? Please contact Leah Lang, Senior Relationships Manager, InsuranceHouse.

• Phone: 0455 112 715
• Email: Leah.Lang@insurancehouse.com.au
  
  

Full policy details ↗

Based on your answers, it appears your tech professional services are not currently covered by a PI insurance policy.

What does this mean?

1. You may be non-compliant with PSS obligations.
2. You are not protected by the PSS liability cap in the event of a claim

Based on your answers, your PI insurance policy is not compliant with the ACS Insurance Standards.

What does this mean?

• You are currently non-compliant with PSS participation requirements
• You may not be protected by the PSS liability cap in the event of a claim

Next steps

1. Contact your broker to upgrade your policy to meet ACS Standards; OR

Contact the ACS team (CPcompliance@acs.org.au) to apply for an exemption if you have exceptional circumstances

As a PSS participant, you must ensure your tech professional services are covered by a policy that complies with ACS Insurance Standards.

Since you are unsure of your compliance status, you must verify this now.

Please note: the PSS Team cannot provide advice on your specific insurance policy. However, we can contact your broker to confirm compliance on your behalf.

The PI Insurance Compliance Checklist can assist you and your broker in this process.

The data you provide in this section helps us understand market trends and advocate for better, more affordable insurance for all tech professionals.

This information also supports ACS PSC mandatory reporting. When we report data to the PSC, it is de-identified and aggregated.

As part of our regulatory obligations, we need to know if you reported any new PI insurance notifications, claims or settlements to your broker in the last year.

As a PSS participant, you have a professional obligation to inform your clients that your liability is limited by the PSS.

What you must do

You must include the following exact statement on all business documents you give to current or potential clients (e.g., Invoices, Proposals, Email Footers, Newsletters, your website(s), other written advice like plans, drawings, specifications):

           "Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation."

Formatting requirements

• The statement must be legible.
• The font must be at least 8-point Times New Roman

For more information on the disclosure requirements, please see the PSC’s Disclosure Factsheet HERE.