Facility Management Association Australia

As CEO, I primarily drive that work.” BVO: Do you have knowledge resources for members? Burt: “For a number of years, we’ve had a Knowledge Portfolio Group, which consists of FMA members with a particular interest and expertise in three parts of the knowledge equation.The first part is capturing knowledge; the second part is promulgating that knowledge; and the third part is ensuring that we have a repository of knowledge for our members. On an annual basis (planned and also responsive), we contribute to our series of technical “Good Practice Guides”, which focus on particular areas – we don’t call them “Best Practice” on purpose because there is always opportunity to learn. These guides sit within our knowledge portal. We also create other publications, and we do a lot of collaborative work. As a smaller organisation, collaborating with other organisations who are experts in their fields ensures that we gain the most value out of the work we do.” “We actually own a qualification in facilities management – our Diploma is the only FM industry in Australia. Many people didn’t really understand what it was; others had never heard of it. During COVID-19, we were deemed for the most part an essential industry, in order to continue operating facilities and buildings. So people now have a real understanding of our industry and the important role that facilities managers play. The Association spent a lot of time during the early part of the pandemic helping government understand what our industry was doing, what they were capable of, and how they could assist in managing and recovering from COVID’s impact on the operation of buildings and facilities. That placed us in a powerful position to be part of the government decision-making process. “FMA is not a big team,but we have a clear mandate to represent the interests of the industry to government and other decision-makers. We have people who assist us in research – both paid staff and members who volunteer to assist us in compiling research and understanding technical issues. We also work with key members, who are also industry leaders, to be involved in the advocacy process with government. 6 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 06, ISSUE 04