who is Australian Flooring Industry Alliance?

Collaborative Alliance (All Flooring)

In February 2017, a collaborative effort between the Australasian Timber Flooring Association (ATFA), Australian Resilient Flooring Association (ARFA), Tile and Tilers Industry Association (TTIA), and the Carpet Institute of Australia Limited (CIAL), was established to provide a united voice for the $20 billion flooring industry. This organisation became known as the Australian Flooring Industry Alliance (AFIA).

Each participating association is represented by their chair or president and CEO, and, on the back of my involvement in the technical advisory committee and efforts to revise the flooring qualification, I was invited to join this alliance as a representative for the resin flooring sector.

The aim of the alliance is to provide collaborative action addressing such issues as installer skill shortages, quality vocational training, regulation and government policy, as well as industry standards and other key issues affecting the industry and their members.

Video Transcription:

So I got asked a blunt question today, who or what is this AFIA that you keep talking about, Jack, and why should I care, quite frankly?

I don't mind the blunt, straightforward questions because it means that I haven't actually answered that question before.

What is the AFIA (Australian Flooring Industry Alliance)?

So AFIA stands for the Australian Flooring Industry Alliance. It is an alliance between all the flooring sectors in Australia, obviously, and that includes the Carpet Institute, the Vinyl Council, Australian Timber Flooring Association, the Tile and Tiling Industry Association.

I was invited to sit on AFIA representing the resin flooring industry until we have an actual association.

So why is that even important? The importance to you is that you actually have a number of bodies that are all working for a common cause, and the common cause there is to improve the flooring sector as a whole, how to raise the profile, how to get uniform approaches to education, to the qualification and so forth around the country.

And that's critically important if we're to have a future as an industry, if we're to attract people into our industry as a whole and keep them there and build a career.

So we have a qualification, we have an alliance that is actually working all together to communicate both with state and federal governments, and that's why it is important to you.

So I do so on a voluntary basis. In fact, I pay to be a member. I fly around the country to sit at the meetings, and I hope that I can represent the resin flooring sector until we have enough leaders that have stepped up and formed this association in this country.

So I'm Resin Jack. As always, take care and keep smiling.