VK7LDC posted:
My understanding though is that the WIA is simply providing an admin service with respect to exams and licensing, which could pretty much be fully automated with little cost or effort. Happy to be corrected on this if there are tasks I'm missing.
The WIA does provide " . . . an admin service with respect to exams and licensing . . .", but that statement misses the detail involved in the production of exam papers, all the necessary recording of candidates, events and results, the processing of Certificate of Proficiency and licence applications, not to mention callsign recommendations, together with all the essential accounting, reporting, privacy and security requirements set out by the ACMA under the Commonwealth Deed that governs provision of this service. Charges for every aspect of the exam and licensing service are audited annually by a team of independent Commonwealth auditors, who report to the ACMA.
That adverb - "simply" - doesn't cover it.
To get a handle on examination and licensing costs, I recommend that you take a scroll through the President's Blog on the WIA website, here:
http://www.wia.org.au/joinwia/wia/presidentsblog/
I suggest your first port of call would best be
January 2012 - Cost recovery and the WIA’s charges, written by then-President Michael Owen VK3KI (SK). It covers the ground in some detail. The upshot is, that the WIA has to
prove to the satisfaction of the Commonwealth auditing team that the charges made only recover the reasonable costs involved. Vanishingly few small service businesses are subject to the stringent and exacting obligations of the ACMA Deed's requirements.
Having completed that exercise, I recommend you scroll up the page to January 2014, written by President Phil Wait VK2ASD, where you will find hope for the future under the heading
Future dreaming. Better yet, for the benefit of all readers, let me quote:
The Foundation licence and the amateur licence examinations system are now nine years old. While a review of the Foundation licence examination syllabus and licence conditions has been progressing for some time, the current examinations system has been in place generally without change.
While it has served the Institute and the Australian radio amateur community well to date, I know that many amateurs and would-be amateurs and assessors consider it over-burdened with procedure and paperwork. The WIA must ensure a robust audit trail of actions and responses, all meeting expectations and requirements of the ACMA and the Commonwealth Government. However, the WIA Board and our RTO believes the process can be improved significantly by placing much of the administration component on-line. This would speed the processing of materials, reduce costs and also avoid instances where the paperwork is filled out incorrectly and needs to be returned by post to the assessor.
What if? What if . . . a candidate could sit the licence examination and receive, if successful, a Certificate of Proficiency, their licence and a callsign. We are currently working on reaching that goal.
The exam service, don't forget is supported by an army of more than 200 volunteers, who give freely of their time and effort to assist keen people to get into this remarkable divertissement / hobby / obsession / pastime / pursuit . . .
.
