Dave Smith takes us back in time to see how Area Councils came about in Australian skydiving and explain the role they fulfil in the Australian Parachute Federation structure.

The APF has come full circle to arrive at the Area Councils being committees of the APF. To understand where we are today and what role Area Councils fulfil in the APF structure, it’s probably worth doing a historical recap.

APF’s beginnings started with military parachutists deciding to form civilian parachute clubs. So APF became a ‘federation of clubs’ in much the same way Australia is a federation of states and territories. Councils were created so these state-based clubs could get together and coordinate their activities and organise local competitions.

What we now call ‘Area Councils’ were originally called ‘State Councils’ and there were nine. Over time, Victoria and Tasmania combined, ACT was absorbed by NSW and Queensland split into two giving us seven. Because the actual geographic area of each do not match state and territory boundaries the name was changed to Area Councils.

As the Councils developed, legal advice was that they should become ‘incorporated associations’ to be eligible for funding from their state and territory governments. Model rules were developed which each council adopted. Councils appointed Area Safety Officers, vetted new club applications and CI appointments and dealt with disciplinary matters. Councils performed regulatory functions for and on behalf of APF.

Over time, privately-owned businesses replaced traditional clubs and APF Members who were registered through these token ‘clubs’ had no say on who should be elected to the APF Board. Club owners called the shots and APF Members were essentially disenfranchised!

With having regulatory functions, Councils could block new club applications based on these being a threat to existing operations, Area Safety Officers were auditing their competitor operations, and a ‘significantly large’ operator could effectively stack the APF Board. Essentially “the fox was in charge of the hen house” and changes were needed to overcome these threats:

Firstly, all regulatory functions were moved in-house under the APF head office with the appointment of national officers to deal with safety, auditing, aircraft operations, club approvals, CI appointments, etc. These functions now come under the Safety & Training Manager (STM) and national officers.

Secondly, the APF constitution was changed so individual APF Members, not Group Members (the new name replacing ‘Clubs’), would vote on who is elected to the APF Board. The power to influence the direction of the APF was removed from the Clubs/Group Members and given to individual APF Members.

Thirdly, Area Councils de-registered as incorporated associations and became committees of the APF, now operating under the Area Council Charter. The role of Councils now is to support APF objectives and foster and promote skills development. Councils, collectively, have more than $500,000 available for skills and sport development and receive regular top up funding from APF.

Into the future, the Councils will play a key role in sports and member development. This will involve supporting efforts aimed at enhancing the skills, knowledge, and enjoyment of individual members while promoting and enhancing participation, retention, and performance across all skill levels.

The message to regular jumpers is: Get involved with your Area Council and share your ideas and initiatives to help develop and foster the sport in your local area.

About The Author

Dave Smith is an Australian Parachute Federation Board Member, with over 50 years of skydiving experience, as well as being a pilot. His series of articles, titled "Looking In The Rear View Mirror", will give examples of how far the Australian Parachute Federation has come since it began, and what it has achieved for its members. 

If you would like to submit an article, or have a topic request for the APF Blog, please email [email protected]