Application Instructions

We recommend you have this window open and refer to it while completing your application. 

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Upload Size: A security feature of the Membes-provided application portal is that uploads cannot be more than 500KB in size. Supporting documents of greater than that size must be emailed to membership@ahana.com.au following submission of your application.

Incorrect Credit Card Details: Incorrectly entered credit cards will appear to wipe your responses in the application form. Press "back" in your browser to recover this information.

Mandatory Questions: Most mandatory questions in the application form are marked with a red asterisk, however there may be some questions which are mandatory for you based on your response to a previous question. Before applying, Practising Members, particularly, should review the Practising Memberships information in addition to these instructions.

Non-Mandatory Questions: Data on AHANA members is a crucial tool for AHANA in its role of advocating for members and other AHAs with Australian government (Commonwealth, State/Territory or Local), funding bodies and other stakeholders. AHANA is compiling the first ever comprehensive workforce data on Allied Health Assistants, through the non-mandatory questions in the Student Member and Practising Member application forms. Please see the explanation in our Application Privacy Statement for more information about the value of providing this non-mandatory information to AHANA.

Payment Options and Surcharge: We encourage payment by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). Payment options include the third party payment gateway operated by Stripe Payments built into the application form, or "Pay on Invoice" which includes the option to pay via electronic funds transfer (EFT) only. Stripe Payments applies a surcharge which varies depending on the type of card used to pay and whether the applicant is domestic or international. The surcharge applied in the payment gateway within the form is 1.864% (plus GST), which for many applicants will be lower than the surcharge charged by Stripe Payments to AHANA for the transaction. Paying by EFT does not incur a surcharge by AHANA (or Stripe). International applicants should check with their credit card issuer regarding international transaction fees/charges.

Privacy: AHANA takes your privacy seriously. Please see the Application Privacy Statement for further information.

All Applications

Uploading Documents

All fields requiring documents to be uploaded have 500KB maximum, as a security feature implemented by the company providing the online membership platform. It cannot be changed. 

If any of your required documents are over this size, you will need to email them to membership@ahana.com.au. Please update the email title to include your first and last name and the date you submitted the online form, so we can match the documents to your application. 

Certification

Every application for an AHANA membership contains a mandatory certification.  

The contents of the certification will depend on the type of application being submitted. 

The applicant must tick every statement in the certification before submitting the application for this part of the application to be compliant.  

If an application is submitted without the certification completed in full, AHANA’s secretariat will contact the applicant to confirm whether they agree to any outstanding parts of the certification or choose not to proceed with the application. 

If a statement made in the certification is found after the grant of membership to be false or is not complied with, AHANA may suspend or terminate membership, or decline to renew. 

Suitability Issues

Applicants must declare all Suitability Issues in their application form. 

Suitability Issues are any adverse charges, convictions, orders or findings, whether related to an applicant’s practise or not, including but not limited to the following from Clause 15.2 of Membership By-law 2022-01

  • current criminal charges or prior criminal convictions or findings of guilt for offences punishable by 12 months’ imprisonment or more, either in Australia or elsewhere, including in relation to fraud, misrepresentation or dishonesty; 
  • ethics or disciplinary penalties imposed by AHANA or another professional body that represents health or community care workers, either in Australia or elsewhere; 
  • adverse findings, orders or prohibitions issued by a complaints commissioner or ombudsman that have constrained or limited person’s right to provide health or community services in Australia or elsewhere; 
  • enforcement action taken by a state, territory or federal government regulator or other similar body outside of Australia; 
  • insolvency or administration proceedings or orders; or  
  • disqualification from managing a corporation, 

and any other matters which a reasonable person would consider are relevant to the question of whether the applicant is suitable to hold membership of AHANA. 

Applications for Student Membership only

Student Members are required to provide evidence that confirms their enrolment and anticipated end date in an Australian Certificate III or above in Allied Health Assistance as described in Membership Rule 3.  The best evidence a Student Member could provide to support their application is a Confirmation of Enrolment document, which can be requested from their TAFE/RTO provider. However, the Membership and Certification Committee will also consider a document issued by an education provider which includes:

  • Applicant’s name;
  • Course of study; and
  • Applicant’s anticipated end date.

Documents from the Applicant’s TAFE/RTO provider which are dated and include the TAFE/RTO provider’s logo, name and a reference identifying the education provider (Australian Business Number, RTO number or CRICOS number) are the most likely to satisfy the evidentiary requirements.

Applications for Practising Membership and Student Membership

Code of Conduct 

Practising Members and Student Members must agree to comply with the Code of Conduct which sets out AHANA’s expectations of the minimum standards of conduct for practising Allied Health Assistants.

Applications for Practising Membership only

Certified Copies

Practising Members are required to provide Certified Copies of a variety of supporting evidence for their applications, as described in Practising Memberships

Please refer to this resource for more information.

Practising Member Supporting Documents

Refer to Practising Membership page for information about the following:

  • Evidence of Allied Health Assistance Practise/Employment, and for the template required for this upload; and
  • Insurance Cover.
Register of Allied Health Assistants

AHANA will publish a Register of Allied Health Assistants upon the grant of the first Practising Membership for which a member has nominated that they would like their details included in the Register. 

The Register will be searchable by geographic location. It will include the following details for Practising Members who opt into this service:

  • Member name; 
  • Organisation name (if relevant); 
  • Suburb and postcode of work address; and 
  • Member's chosen phone and/or email address for contact.

Inclusion in the Register is completely voluntary. Applicants for Practising Membership must indicate in their application whether they would like their details included in the Register. Practising Members can also decide at a later date to have their details listed in or removed from the Register and must contact AHANA by phone or email membership@ahana.com.au to request the update.  

Continuing Competence Requirements

AHANA requires Practising Members to complete a certain amount and type of mandatory Continuing Professional Development and to maintain the currency of their Allied Health Assistant practise.

Please see the CPD and Maintenance of Practice FAQs or the Continuing Competence Requirements By-law for further information.