05/09/2026
The questions we should be asking:
❓ Why is employer-governed AUSactive “Limited” funded primarily through mandatory annual registration fees paid by fitness professionals?
❓ If employment contracts require professionals to maintain AUSactive registration, why do the people funding the organisation have so little control over its governance?
❓ Why is AUSTSWIM, a charity and dominant swim teacher registrar, funded through fees paid by swim teachers who have no direct representation on its board?
❓ Why can private registrars collect mandatory employment-related fees when evidence that registration improves professional standards or public safety remains unclear?
❓ Why does the Fair Work Act protect workers against certain compulsory payments associated with “industrial organisations”, while mandatory payments to “industry associations” appear to fall outside those protections?
Yet Victoria’s Labor Government is seeking to restrict state-based unions that actually represent workers.
Not-for-profit does not mean exempt from accountability.
Workers should not be forced to fund organisations they do not control. ❌
