Protecting Architectural Registration: AASA Responds to Victorian Reform Proposals

The Association of Architecture Schools of Australasia (AASA) has written to Victorian Ministers to support the concerns raised by the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (AACA) regarding the proposed abolition of the Architects Registration Board of Victoria (ARBV).

Victoria is the national centre of gravity for architectural education and registration with 40% of all architect registrations in Australia occurred in Victoria in 2025, and Victorian providers account for nearly half of all master-level architecture students nationally, including 49% of all international architecture students. The ARBV underpins a system worth an estimated AU$79 million annually to the national educational economy alone.

The AASA's concerns are threefold. First, the ARBV's independence and specialist expertise must be preserved as architectural registration is a public protection mechanism, not a generic licensing function.

Second, any divergence from the national competency framework risks fragmenting mutual recognition agreements with the UK, USA, New Zealand, and multiple APEC partners that have taken decades to build, potentially placing Victorian graduates at a competitive disadvantage internationally.

Third, there has been no demonstrated case that folding a specialist, self-funded regulator into a broader structure will improve safety, consumer outcomes, or built environment quality.

The AASA strongly supports the ACA's petition and urges the profession, students, and the public to do the same.

260512 Proposed Reforms to the Architects Registration Board of Victoria (ARBV).pdf

Download PDF • 106KB

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