SYDNEY: January 16, 2017 – The IT Professionals Association (ITPA), a broad-based independent industry association for people working in IT, has awarded its first Certified Practising Member (CPM) status just weeks after launching the sanctioned skills verification system.

Late in 2016, Jonathan Crust, a 42-year-old Telecommunications Support Officer for the Loddon Mallee Rural Health Alliance in Bendigo, Victoria became the first ITPA member to be awarded CPM status under its new program.

Launched in November 2016 after a restructure and rebranding of the previous SAGE-AU professional association for systems administrators, ITPA has prioritised the formation of this professional development program modelled on similar certification in accounting and trades.

ITPA President, Robert Hudson said that financial members need to earn a minimum number of credit points through accredited training programmes and courses each year to obtain and retain their CPM status.

“We wanted to implement a professional development program that allowed our members to demonstrate to employers that they have made the effort to ensure that their professional skills are current,” Hudson said.

“Our industry is constantly changing and we feel it is an important member service to provide a certification system that reflects the evolving demands of industry and the new technologies, systems and solutions being adopted.

“We’ve had a great response from members in regards to the CPM program and we are very happy to announce that we have had the first candidate pass all of the criteria set to achieve CPM status.”

ITPA members need to earn 20 credit points each year to retain their CPM status including courses that are being organised by the association using highly experienced members as tutors in a distance-learning online environment.

Crust completed the ITPA-sponsored VMware v6.0 Master Class short course and utilised Business Analysis and Digital Forensics units he had completed in 2016 as part of a Charles Sturt University IT Masters degree he is undertaking to qualify as the association’s first CPM.

“I joined ITPA as a financial member as soon as I heard about it last year because I thought the CPM program was a great way to advance my career and move up the corporate ladder,” Crust said.

“What it does is prove to my current employer and any future prospective employers that I am committed to ongoing professional development through learning new skills that are in demand from the industry.

“Being the first to qualify is a bonus and I genuinely believe that this certification scheme will grow dramatically over the coming years.”

Hudson said that ITPA is focused on growing the clear opportunities there are for IT professionals to develop skills that are relevant to the current and future demands of industry.

“We are all about advancing the careers of our members and advancing the practice of IT in this country so that society is receiving the best possible benefits from a better educated, better organised, better represented IT industry,” he said.

“Our Certified Practising Member scheme is just one of the ways we are delivering on that objective.”

See the ITPA website (www.itpa.org.au) for more details about the CPM program including a list of upcoming courses.

For more information, contact:
Gerard Norsa, Schmooze Communications – 0427 563 442 – gerard@schmooze.com.au
Robert Hudson, President ITPA – 0408 860 595 – president@itpa.org.au

ABOUT ITPA:
The Information Technology Professionals Association (ITPA) was founded in 2016 to lend additional voice to over 620,000 IT professionals who work in Australia. Led and populated by IT professionals who are currently working in the industry, ITPA aims to be a trusted source of advice, knowledge and information about the IT industry for enterprise, government, media and society. It is in tune with the latest industry developments, focused on growing career opportunities for Australian IT professionals and willing to challenge government policy that inhibits the growth of the Australian IT Industry.
www.itpa.org.au