Rejoining Fee Policy

It is a legal requirement to hold an ADAS certificate to work as a construction and other forms of diver in Australia. Failure to renew an ADAS licence under these circumstances results in divers being non-compliant with the law and deprives them of a means to demonstrate competence as an occupational diver.
ADAS requires applicants to apply for renewal of their ADAS licence by the date of expiry on the licence held. Failure to do so requires the diver to provide evidence of continued proficiency (in the form of verified log book records of at least 20 dives in the preceding 24 months or a formal assessment of diving competency) at the level of the ADAS licence.

Applications received beyond the date of expiry of the ADAS licence are processed as follows:

1) Applications received within 2 years after the date of expiry of the card will be renewed from the original date of expiry.

2) Applications received after 2 years from the original date of expiry of the card will incur a rejoining fee of $150. This fee is additional to the licence renewal fee. Renewal will provide 5 full years of certification from the date of issue of the renewed licence.

Note: After 2 years, inactive divers will be removed from the ADAS database. The rejoining fee caters for the administrative expenses involved in reinstating divers on the database, processing late applications, and verifying continued proficiency evidence .

This policy applies to all ADAS licences.

Criteria for Waiving Rejoining Fee

The rejoining fee ($150) may be waived at the discretion of the Processing Officer if the applicant fits one or more of the following circumstances:

1) The applicant has had a medical condition which precludes him/her from undertaking diving work;

2) The applicant has been unable to work due to circumstances outside of his/her control;

3) The applicant has, for whatever reason, been a primary carer for a child or other relative and thus has been unable to work.

Answer Some confusion has arisen about the difference between ADAS Onshore Supervisor and ADAS Offshore Supervisor qualifications. The two qualifications are not interchangeable and ADAS Onshore Supervisors are NOT qualified to work as Offshore Supervisors.

Australia has two separate sectors of regulated diving -

(1) onshore and inshore construction diving which is regulated by the Australian state occupational health and safety authorities and

(2) offshore/inshore oil and gas diving which is regulated by a National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority under federal/state mirror legislation.

Under (1), divers are required to be supervised by trained and ADAS certified ONSHORE Supervisor. Onshore Supervsiors do not require offshore oil and gas diving experience and are qualified either as Occupational Scuba Supervisors or Surface supply Supervisor to 30m (Restricted SSBA) or Surface supply Supervisor to 50m (Unrestricted SSBA). They are issued an ADAS (plastic card) Certificate of Competence which is quite clearly marked ONSHORE Supervisor. They are competent supervisors at the level to which they have been trained and certified but do not necessarily have offshore experience and are not certified by ADAS to supervise offshore operations. These Onshore Supervisor certificates are not recognised by IMCA for supervising offshore operations.

Under (2), divers must be supervised by trained and certified ADAS OFFSHORE Supervisors who must have complied with the ADAS/IMCA/DCBC agreed training and assessment regime. These supervisor must comply with the requirement to be experienced offshore commercial divers and have the requisite offshore supervisory and ALST panel hours etc. They will have ADAS plastic identity cards that quite clearly state that they are either ADAS Air or Bell OFFSHORE Supervisors. These certificates are recognised by IMCA and also under the Canadian system.

To make the matter more confusing for everyone, under the Australian national vocational and technical training system, successful graduates for Supervisor qualifications are awarded an (A4 sized paper) national Diploma in recognition of their academic achievement. These Diplomas have no legal significance. All ADAS Supervisor graduates are awarded with these Diplomas but as noted above, their legal certificate of competence is the ADAS plastic card.

Our intention in the first instance in providing various endorsements as to non-certified qualifications was merely to allow divers to have a list of their specialist skills on their ADAS card for the information of employers. The endorsements were never intended to be the legal proof of competence – this must be provided by separate evidence. In regard to dive supervisors, after consultation with our international partners and consideration of the issues involved, ADAS policy was changed to require that supervisors have a stand-alone card that identifies them and specifies their level of supervisor qualification, competency and currency. The reasons for that were as follows: The supervisor certification is not an endorsement; it is a now a qualification in its own right with its own industry-agreed set of competencies and requirements (see http://www.adas.org.au/qualifications/200382141.htm ). Acceptance of the role as a dive supervisor imposes on the recipient substantial legal duties and obligations and responsibilities. Because of the very diverse nature of the diving industry, there is not just one level of dive supervisor qualification. Whilst there are definitely a common core of the softer supervisor skills (leadership, communication, problem resolution etc) quite obviously, the diving skills, knowledge and experience required for supervising surface supplied construction diving are quite different from those required for a scientific diving on scuba. The various levels of supervisor qualification have requirements that are additional to merely possessing a diver qualification at that level, and therefore the level of supervisor qualification will not necessarily always be congruent with the level of diver certification. For example, a Part 3 diver might well have sufficient operational experience to meet the requirements for a Part 2 supervisor but not those of a Part 3 supervisor. Whilst the prerequisites for obtaining the qualification include certification as a diver, maintenance of ongoing diver certification is not necessary in the long term to retain such certification – a diver can continue as a supervisor well after ceasing to be medically fit to dive. In effect, the supervisor qualification offers a completely separate career choice for divers who cannot, or do not wish to, continue to dive. The necessity for supervisors to be certified will be called up in the revision to AS/NZS 2299.1 to be released later this year and then will become a legal requirement for most occupational diving areas. Occupational health and safety regulators have indicated that they expect supervisors to be provided with a supervisor certificate of competence card that identifies them and specifies their level of supervisor qualification, competency and currency. If you wish to be certified as both a diver and a supervisor, you will be expected to pay for the additional certification. To make life easier for everyone, ADAS is looking at ways to make the certification periods for the two certifications concurrent, and will bring this into effect as soon as we can.

Answer The diving industry has the ability to make you a good living, but like any job - if you don't work at it you won't succed. It depends on the individual. Many graduates have very despondently crashed out of the diving industry . Others have gone on to bigger and better things with every passing job. The difference? The diver and how he conducts himself within the industry.

However, to get you in the ball park, take a look at the award for occupational divers negotiated by the Maritime Union for indicative rates. Look for general rates at

www.osiris.gov.au/html/awards/1/AW814932/0/IA000020.htm

For offshore rates, look at

www.osiris.gov.au/html/awards/1/AW814932/0/IA000030.htm

These rates have recently been re-negotiated and we will bring you the new rates when made available to us.

The thing to also remember about pay is that it will vary with your experience. Don't necessarily expect that you, as a brand new 'baby' diver, will be worth the same to an employer as a fully worked-up, all bells-and-whistles, professional who has been in the business for years.

Answer You can apply for consideration under the ADAS Recognition of Prior Learning process.

Divers who can establish comprehensive relevant theoretical knowledge and occupational diving experience gained in on-the-job situations and who have formal logbook evidence of such experience, may claim up to a maximum of two weeks’ credit towards the normal at-level ADAS training programs.

This maximum period of credit is based on the assessment by ADAS that divers who have not undertaken formal diving training will not have been exposed to the required standard of training in safety-critical activities such as emergency procedures, rescues and risk assessment, and to the professional standard of teamwork expected of ADAS certified divers. The latter competency in particular cannot be adequately assessed in the limited time and opportunity afforded by an assessment-only procedure.

If a candidate has not kept a logbook, they cannot be considered for assessment using letters of reference from past employers alone. If they are able to produce records of dives from company dive records and/or computer logs signed, dated and stamped by the employer/supervisor, these are to be approved by the Executive Director ADAS before they are accepted for the assessment.

If you want more detailed information on the subject of RPL procedures, look in the relevant topic in the "Information for Divers" area of this website.

Answer

HSE Part I is equivalent to ADAS Part III (SSBA to 50 metres)

HSE Part II is equivalent to ADAS Part 4 (Closed Bell Diver)

HSE Part III is equivalent to ADAS Part 2 (SSBA to 30 metres)

HSE Part IV is equivalent to ADAS Part 1 (SCUBA to 30 metres)

The other way around:

ADAS Part 1 (SCUBA to 30 m) is equivalent to HSE Part IV

ADAS Part 2 (SSBA to 30m) is equivalent to HSE Part III

ADAS Part 3 (SSBA to 50m) is equivalent to HSE Part I

ADAS Part 4 (CLosed Bell diver) is equivalent to HSE Part II

Answer Experienced recreational training staff can be very skilled SCUBA divers but they generally lack experience in occupational competencies such as working as a team using commercial diving equipment, working underwater using hand tools, undertaking stand-by diver and attendant duties and conducting risk assessments. They are also usually less knowedgeable than ADAS requires in regard to some aspects of diving theory, especially in the areas of occupational health and safety legislation and relevant industry standards and codes of practice.

For this reason, to be assessed as competent at the level that ADAS requires, they must undertake some training to gain the requisite competencies and go through the rigorous assessment process that underlies all ADAS competency assessments.

Experienced recreational Divemasters/Dive Coordinators who have qualifications from either PADI, NASDS, SSI or NAUI or from an ADAS-approved equivalent can claim up to one week’s credit on an ADAS Part 1 course only.

Experienced recreational Instructors who have qualifications from either PADI, NASDS, SSI or NAUI or from an ADAS-approved equivalent can claim up to one week credit on an ADAS Part 1 course. Where the applicant can demonstrate exceptional experience and qualifications as a recreational instructor up to two weeks credit can be sought, subject to prior approval being gained from the Executive Director ADAS.

Most diving doctors are registered with the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society (SPUMS).

You can find a list of contacts for SPUMS doctors at www.spums.org.au/ddlnav.htm

Answer No is the quick and easy answer. Plenty of divers have made a healthy living as onshore divers from things as diverse as aquaculture to civil construction.

Answer The minimum age of 18 is the only age specification. There are a number of commercial divers working offshore over the age of 50.

The ability to do this, of course, depends on maintaining your diving medical fitness.

If you want to and you have the skills, you can always move on to supervising or management, neither or which requires a diving medical, but do have there own quite special requirements.

Answer No school will guarantee work for you before you are certified - that would be an unrealistic expectation. A number of the schools operate commercial diving wings and may make an offer to certain graduate students. More commonly, contractors or ex-students will contact the DTEs and in these instances, at the schools discretion they will pass this information on.

Answer You can do as little or as much as you think you need to achieve your goals.

Remember when making these choices that you should make yourself as employable as possible. Try to leave as many options open to yourself as you can – don’t handicap yourself before you get established.

Answer ADAS is an accreditation organisation that has worked closely with its diver constituency to try and meet all the needs of the modern diving professional. As such, ADAS offers a complete career path to meet the requirements of the forward thinking diving professional.

From entry level commercial scuba to deep water closed bell diving, speciality training in areas of interest - inspection, diver medics, supervisors, chamber operators - and even, should you have the dedication and experience, work your way through to trainer status. ADAS is committed to providing a comprehensive training and qualification structure for the working diver.

ADAS is the only commercial accreditation body that has gone out of its way to give its divers options for their future.

Answer ADAS is totally committed to ensuring that the Scheme operates at the standard of world best practice. It has adopted the 5 year renewal cycle to ensure that the national and international occupational diving industry can have confidence that any diver with a current ADAS Certificate of Competency is a safe and competent occupational diver.

There are a number of factors which led to adopting the renewal policy to ensure the continuing credibility of the ADAS Certificate.

- An employer has a duty of care under the law that ensure that his or her employees are provided with all the required instruction and training necessary to ensure their health and safety.

- In general, employers meet that part of their duty of care by relying on the ADAS reputation for quality and credibility – that an ADAS Certificate of Competency is a demonstration that a diver is can perform safely and competently at the level and against the relevant ADAS Competence Standards for which they are qualified.

- If the ADAS certificates are to remain credible in the industry and keep their worldwide reputation for quality and high standards, the industry must to be able to feel confident that any diver that fronts with an ADAS certificate will be at the very least safe and competent in all the basic diving skills.

- ADAS believes that a certificate that is issued for a lifetime cannot credibly assure an employer of an employee’s competence. In fact, ADAS started with the intention of making the life of the certificate 3 years (in line with the Netherlands system), believing that this was the most credible period over which a diver who had been generally inactive could retain competence. In the end, after negotiations with divers and the union, a compromise was reached and the period was extended to 5 years.

- ADAS requires every certified diver and supervisor at the end of each 5-year period to examine their diving history and assess whether they, on the basis of their diving-related activities, have retained their currency of skills, knowledge and experience. If they feel confident that they can attest to this, they can renew their certification. If they do not feel that they can honestly claim currency, they can arrange to undertaken update activity and reassessment of the competency.

- Divers who are not using or have not used their accreditation for a number of years are unlikely to reaccredit. This clears the deadwood out of the ADAS system and produces a more accurate picture of the state of the occupational diving industry and allows ADAS to focus its efforts to the advantages of the active occupational diving population.

Answer Employment is something that should you should be considering from the moment that you decide that you wish to train as a commercial diver. You should make initial contact with dive companies within your locality and enquire if it would be possible to return to talk to them when you have completed training. Ask them if they have any advice to pass on to you, try and impress them with your enthusiasm and willingness to work.

Seek advice from your DTE as to where jobs are likely to be available.
Always be courteous but remember - no one will give you a job! You have to prove you are worth employing as a diver and you have to sell yourself based on your enthusiasm, professional approach, qualifications, training and experience!

You need to construct a precise and effective C.V. (work record - schools will normally help you here, or you can find any number of professionals through the ‘phone book or newspapers who will help you for a price).

A number of internet sites have been set up to help potential employers and divers alike. www.longstreath.com.au and www.marinecrewaustralia.com are a couple of the more useful sites.

Answer If you really want to be a professional diver, be realistic, do plenty of research (including studying the rest of this website and any other information you can chase up) and identify what your ultimate aim is in the diving job stakes.

- For a start, decide on an objective. For instance, do you want to:- dive as a scientific researcher – maybe collecting samples on the Barrier Reef or under the sea-ice in Antractica, enjoy (?) a life travelling the world to war zones de-fusing mines and other explosive ordinance, search for evidence at underwater crimes scenes, catch and farm wild tuna, build and/or maintain underwater structures such as reservoirs, bridges, oil and gas platforms or pipelines - or perhaps even a combination of some or all of these over a lifetime of occupational diving. Decide if there is some particular type of diving that really appeals to you, and set your sights on that as your ultimate goal!



However, be realistic and make sure that there is a reasonable chance of achieving your aim. A common thread with all of these is that the diving is only a means to get you to the workplace. Once your there, then you use your work skills to do the job your being paid for. The more work skills you have, the more you have to offer potential employers, the more work and the better the jobs you will be offered.

And be prepared to accept that your chosen career will not always be easy and comfortable. Another common thread is the nomadic life style of most of them. Be prepared to travel!

Additionally, very few of these jobs are in warm tropical waters, with great visibility and colourful sea life to keep you comfortable! In fact, most involve lots of groping around in the dark feeling wet, cold and a long way from home!

- Assess what you have to offer the prospective employer of choice and identify any gaps in your personal employability profile (whether that’s a lack in training, qualifications or experience). Be realistic - nobody goes straight into oilfield saturation diving!

- Size up the types of diving work out there that you can get with the qualifications and experience that you already have (as a starting point, for example, maybe look at the aquaculture industry - which seems perennially short of divers). If you have good trade qualifications and an existing work record, you are miles ahead of the pack!

- If you don’t have these, start developing a record of diving work that identifies you as a keen, enthusiastic, dedicated can-do employee. Take any job; seize any opportunity that adds to your credibility as an occupational diver. Let your employer know what your aims and aspirations are – try and enlist him or her on your side. You never know when some effort establishing a good relationship with an employer may pay off – it might be years down the track.

- Whatever you do – log your dives! Accurate, credible records are essential if you are trying to establish you bona fides to a prospective employer. Additionally, you will often need to establish that you have certain experience as a pre-requisite for further training.

- Make a plan of action that will, over time, gain you the knowledge, skills, qualifications and experience that you will need to get to that objective. Keep adding to your skills inventory – nobody is just a diver these days, multi-skilling is the name of the game.

But if you are really keen, then go for it!

No one can guarantee work unless the training that has been sponsored by a future employer. This is not an unusual position as many people undertake further education, university, college etc, without even a clear idea of what they want to be never mind if there is a job out there. Like any other profession, the people who succeed are those who work at succeeding! If you want some philosophical pointers from some experienced divers about a recipe for a successful diving career, read on below!

ADAS has reciprocal recognition with a number of countries e.g. UK, Norway and Canada and the ADAS card is recognised and accepted in a whole range of other countries because of its reputation for quality and credibility. ADAS divers are working as far a field as the North Sea (UK), Kazakhstan (the Russias), Gulf of Mexico (USA), Gulf of Oman (Dubai), Bataan (Phillipines), the China Sea and South China Sea, Jakarta (Indonesia), Brunei, Gulf of Thailand, Nigeria, South Africa, Mumbai (India), Egypt and Angola are amongst some of the parts of the world that ADAS divers have successfully found employment. Of course, just having an ADAS card doesn’t guarantee you a job – you need not only to convince an employer that they should employ you (and for that read on below) but you may need a work permit, entry visa, etc.