Business Certification

The 5 Pillars of AUSactive Business Certification

Professionalism
The Professionalism pillar ensures that service delivery is professional, effective and appropriate to the client's needs.

Exercise and active health businesses deliver a range of services and experiences to a diverse client base. They, therefore, require a range of competent professional staff with the appropriate combination of education, technical expertise and hands-on experience within certain fields including management, exercise programming and delivery, customer service, sales, marketing, administration and other key roles.

Safety
Safety and emergency response policies and practices are an integral part of a sound risk management system. Collectively, these policies and practices are designed to help ensure that a business's ability to respond to untoward events provides the maximum level of safety for clients and staff.

Several risks and safety hazards are apparent in areas where clients are undertaking exercise. These include, but are not limited to, health risks due to overexertion, injury, equipment hazards, dehydration and trip hazards. An important element of risk management is to ensure that adequate client monitoring and supervision is performed in exercise areas at all times. This type of monitoring and supervision can be undertaken by staff and/or some means of electronic surveillance that includes a safety alert system.

Clean, hygienic and well-maintained facilities and equipment are an important element of effective risk management. This provides a safer and more enjoyable environment for all clients and staff and reduces the risk of accidents and injuries occurring.

Customer Care
A contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more people. Although contracts can be oral, even for relatively straightforward arrangements, a written contract is superior. When entering into a contract with a client, the terms and conditions of the contract should be fully and clearly explained to the client prior to the signing in order to minimise misunderstandings and disputes. Unfair contract terms provisions introduced in July 2010 become part of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) on 1 January 2011. The law introduces national unfair contract terms, improving protection for consumers by removing unfair terms in standard form consumer contracts.

Information Privacy
Businesses enter into a relationship with their customers that allows them to gain access to private and personal information, such as information relating to a client's health and financial position. Health and other personal information are sensitive and require robust management to satisfy legal requirements in relation to privacy as well as establish trust between clients and program providers.

Knowledge and People
A capable workforce with the required skills and experience will contribute to the delivery of high quality programs and services. Providers must identify and then ensure that their staff and contractors hold the appropriate skills, attributes, experience, qualifications and other credentials to provide safe, targeted, effective and high quality programs and services. In addition, organisations need to ensure employees are able to uphold the organisation's values.

The provision of safe, quality programs rely on the skills, experience and knowledge of the people delivering the program. There are risks involved in staff providing advice and programs for which they are not qualified to do so.