Membership Information

Welcome to the Membership Page of the MSIA NSW Division. Listed below is information regarding qualifications, grades of membership, company membership, fees and a downloadable application form.

1. Membership benefits

2. Qualifications required for becoming a member

3. Membership fees

4. Application Form

5. Processing of applications

6. Company membership

7. Memorandum and Articles of Association.

Benefits of MSIA Membership

The benefits of membership in the MSIA far outweigh the cost. Benefits and services offered to members include:

• Receipt of MSIA Bi-annual Journal - Spatial Science

• Receipt of our NSW Division Quarterly Newsletter - CartoCourier

• Invitations to workshops, technical tours and social events

• Local, regional, national and international networking opportunities

Qualifications for Membership

Criteria For MEMBER Grade
You hold an accredited Degree plus at least two years Mapping Sciences experience or Continuing Professional Development (CPD) accreditation deemed satisfactory by Council or You hold an equivalent formal academic qualification approved by Council as satisfying its requirements plus at least two years Mapping Sciences experience or CPD accreditation deemed satisfactory by Council or You have held Associate Membership for five years and have maintained the appropriate number of CPD points approved by Council as satisfying its requirements for that period, and have been engaged in the practice of at least one of the professions of Mapping Sciences, and will have gained thereby, experience deemed satisfactory by Council. 

Criteria for ASSOCIATE MEMBER Grade
You hold an accredited Degree and have less than two years Mapping Sciences experience or CPD accreditation or You hold an accredited Associate Diploma or a formal academic qualification approved by Council as satisfying its requirements and have been engaged in the practice of at least one of the professions of Mapping Sciences for at least two years, and will have gained thereby, experience deemed satisfactory by Council.

Criteria for AFFILIATE MEMBER Grade
You hold an accredited Associate Diploma or equivalent and have less than two years Mapping Sciences experience. Council may elect as an Affiliate to the Institute any person who is not eligible for Corporate or Student Membership, but who is interested in furthering the objects of the Institute and is deemed by Council to be worthy of election.

Criteria for STUDENT MEMBER Grade
You have received or are receiving such academic and practical training as will fit you for admittance as a corporate member of the Institute. The maximum time as a Student Member is ten years, But You cannot remain in the Grade of Student Member beyond the end of the financial year in which You became eligible for a higher Grade.

Note: Once a member is eligible for a higher Grade of Membership, You should make application for that Grade by the end of the financial year of attainment.

MEMBERSHIP

The Manual of Procedure of the Institute requires that the following information be supplied to each Applicant, by the Membership Secretary of the Division, in which the Applicant resides or is located.

APPLICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP
All applicants should be provided with the following details:
· Membership Fee Rates. There is no Nomination or Regrading Fee.
· Details concerning student grade membership.
· Appropriate contact addresses for advice and lodgement of applications, and payment of the Membership Fee.
· Details of expected processing time for applications.

All Applications for Membership must be accompanied by payment of ONE (1) Year's Membership Fee. This is determined at the rate according to the membership grade for which the applicant is eligible. Details on Membership Grades are shown on the reverse side of the Application Form.
The applicant is entitled to the rights and privileges of membership, except voting rights.
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MEMBERSHIP FEE
Annual Membership Fees are required to be remitted as early as possible in each financial year.
The Financial Year is from 1 January to 31 December.

STUDENT GRADE MEMBERSHIP
Annual Membership Fee Rate for a Student Member Grade will be determined upon the status of attendance at a recognised tertiary college of studies, for obtaining the Initial Qualifications required by The Council of the Institute.

ACCREDITED ACADEMIC COURSES
These may consist of Degrees, Diplomas, Associate Diplomas, and former Post Certificates & Certificates of the Department of TAFE.
Courses in GIS, LIS, Computer Science, Cartography, Hydrography, Geography, Geology, Photogrammetry, Surveying and allied disciplines may be accepted as Accredited Courses.
Overseas Qualifications should be accompanied with an assessment from the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition within Australia.

CONTACT ADDRESSES
Membership Applications should be forwarded to the NSW Division Membership Secretary.

If Applications are forwarded directly to the NSW Division GPO Box in Sydney, there will be a delay in receipt of the Applications by the Membership Secretary.

Recommended Postal Address:
Membership Secretary
NSW Division - MSIA
P.O. Box 8113
SUMMERLAND POINT
N.S.W. Australia 2259

REMEMBER, Membership Fee where applicable, or Copy of Enrolment Form of the University etc or TAFE College, must accompany the Application.
Also where applicable, Copy of Qualifications, Certificates etc must be included with the Application.

The Applicant will be advised of the amount of Membership Fee required, and processing of the application will only proceed when this Membership Fee has been received by the Division Membership Secretary.

Cheques or Australia Post Money Order, for Membership Fee, to be made out to "Mapping Sciences Institute, Australia - NSW Division."

The Application Form for Nomination provides for a Proposer and Seconder, these may be left blank if there are no MSIA members available or known to the Applicant.

Alternately,
Applications may be lodged as Image Files and emailed to the divisional membership secretary. PDF, JPG type files are recommended for acceptance, BUT the total files size of attachments & email message, must not exceed Two (2) megabytes per eMail message.

PROCESSING TIME
Applications are assessed by the Division Membership Secretary. Providing that the Qualifications are not unusual, the material received is scanned, and the recommendation and image files are transmitted to the MSIA National Program Manager Membership for acceptance.
Applications with unusual Qualifications may be referred to the Division Membership Panel for their assessment, prior to transmission to the National Program Manager Membership.
Membership Grade assessment will always be to the higher grade applicable.

A period of up to two months should be allowed for all assessments, including that of the MSIA National Program Manager Membership.
If the National Program Manager Membership has any inquiries to carry out, this may extend the processing time.
All communication between NSW Division and the MSIA National Program Manager Membership, is by eMail messages.

Company Membership

As a Company Member of the MSIA, your organisation can benefit from the following:

• Entitled to one free full page monochrome advertisement per issue of Journal of Spatial Science;

• Press releases may be published as "Company Member News" in Spatial Science;

• Company Members receive all information from their local Division of the MSIA; and

• Company Members are eligible to enter for the Hatch/MSIA Technology Award which is awarded at the biennial conference.

With a mailing list in excess of 1500 throughout Australia and overseas, Spatial Science is an extremely cost effective vehicle for advertising products and services directly to professionals involved in cartography, GIS, remote sensing, surveying and related industries.

For details relating to Company Membership and the publication Journal of Spatial Science, reference and inquiries should be made to either:

Graeme Wright (Editor-in-Chief) Department of Spatial Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth W.A. 6845  (08) 9266 7565 (w);  (08) 9266 2703 (fax);  email:  g.l.wright@curtin.edu.au

Caroline Berryman (Production and Circulation Manager) at cherryman@swiftdsl.com.au