Stepping up

Parlour is delighted to continue Stepping Up in 2024. This is an event and editorial collaboration with the Association of Consulting Architects and the Champions of Change Architecture Group.

Stepping Up is for all those interested in creating long-term change – including developing and implementing workplace policies and protocols and reshaping organisational cultures and habits to better support equity. Stepping Up offers the opportunity to build knowledge and to facilitate exchanges of experiences, ideas and expertise between practices of different sizes, scales and experiences.

The Champions of Change Architecture Group have spent seven years developing strategies, resources and policies to help advance gender equity within some of Australia’s largest architectural practices. This is a work in progress – many gains have been made, but progress is uneven and there is still much work to do. The group is now keen to share the resources developed to date, along with experiences of implementing these.

What are the roles and obligations of practice leaders? What progress has been made? How has this been achieved? What challenges and barriers have been encountered? How have they been navigated? What can these large practices learn from the experiences of others in the industry? Join us as we canvas these and many other questions through lively, provocative, honest conversations.

Each month explores a specific topic through a set of articles and an online conversation.

Topics

CPD

One hour of formal CPD is be available for each session, on completion of the CPD questions.

Once the questions are completed, you will receive an email with your responses. This provides the evidence of attendance and completion for the session. Please keep the response email for your records. A separate certificate will not be issued.

Learning objectives

The learning objectives for the series are as follows:

• To increase understanding of the factors that contribute to gender inequity within architecture and strategies for addressing these.
• To increase understanding of the roles practice and professional leaders can play in improving gender equity, and to learn from the discussion of experiences gained, challenges met and progress made.
• To understand how gender equity issues have been tackled by practices of different scales and types.
• To gain increased knowledge of developing and implementing workplace policies and protocols to support equity.
• To gain increased knowledge of reshaping organisational cultures and habits with the aim of better supporting equity.
• To gain increased knowledge of how to support the career development of staff within architectural practices, with a focus on equity.

These are relevant to the practice management competencies set out in the 2015 National Competency Standard for Architects.

These relate to the Professionalism Capability in the 2021 National Competency Standard for Architects:

“Professionalism encompasses the capacity to understand and enact the role and responsibilities of architects within evolving architectural, social, cultural, ethical, legal, technical and business contexts. This includes understanding community values and obligations around equity, diversity, accessibility and inclusion, embedding these within the provision of architectural services, and understanding how they impact Country, colleagues, clients, stakeholders and broader communities. At its core, this capability involves maintaining and developing professional competency over the course of a career in architecture.”

Some sessions will also relate to the other capabilities of Communication and Environmental Practice. 

Stepping Up relates to the Practice Management and Professional Conduct Unit of Competency in the 2021 NSCA.

“This unit of competency encompasses a holistic understanding of the organisation of the profession, practice and business of architecture, with the objective of providing value through sustainable, timely and effective professional services in accordance with the ethical and legal obligations of an architect to clients, colleagues, employees and to broader communities.” 

Book for an upcoming session

Book for events each month, or for the whole series below. Tickets are per person.

Parlour Collective / ACA members – $25 per seat
General ticket – $40 per seat
Concession – $11 (students, part-timers and anyone else who needs it) per seat

We operate on an honesty system – select the ticket type that aligns with your circumstances. If you haven’t yet joined the Parlour Collective, join now to access discount pricing and many other benefits, and to support Parlour’s ongoing work! Any proceeds over and above the costs of delivering the Stepping Up program will be set aside for future equity projects led by Parlour.

Bookings for all 2024 sessions can be made below. If you would like to book multiple sessions, select the first session and head to the checkout. Then, in the pop-up window, select ‘Buy more tickets’ to add more sessions before making payment.

This page was updated on 19 February 2024.