The ACA Business Concierge: A Faster Path to the Knowledge Architects Already Rely On
If you run an architectural practice, you’ll know that the trickiest questions often appear between the big moments. You might be preparing to hire your first staff member and suddenly realise you’re not entirely sure which Award classifications apply. Or you’re reviewing pay rates and want to make certain you’re working with the most current figures. Or perhaps a team member has come to you with an unusual workplace request — one you’ve never encountered in all your years of practice — and you need to understand the implications before responding.
These are the quiet pressure points of practice leadership. They’re the questions that keep a studio running smoothly, yet they’re never discussed in the glossy magazines, and rarely raised at architect forums. We talk endlessly about design, cities, procurement pathways and a hundred other things — but the nuts and bolts of running a practice often sit in the background, quietly shaping the success and stability of every studio.
For decades, the Association of Consulting Architects Australia (ACA) has been the place architects turn for clarity on these matters. Their industrial relations guidance, business resources and practical tools have underpinned architectural practice across Australia. They’ve long been the steady hand behind the scenes, helping practices navigate everything from employment obligations to contracts to wellbeing.
That hasn’t changed.
What has changed is how quickly practice leaders can now access that trusted knowledge.
The new ACA Business Concierge, powered by Spec Rep Help Desk’s underlying technology, gives ACA members a more direct, faster and more intuitive route to the information they already rely on. No digging. No guesswork. Just quicker access to authoritative ACA guidance.
Meeting architects where their questions actually happen
Running a practice today carries a level of operational complexity that seems to grow each year. Award compliance, contract obligations, HR frameworks, flexible work requests, wellbeing considerations, record-keeping — and that’s all before you open Revit for the day.
The information to support this work has long existed — and the ACA has spent years developing, refining and expanding it. The challenge has always been that practice leaders rarely have time to go hunting for answers while projects are moving, emails are flying in and the phone won’t stop ringing.
The Business Concierge sits precisely in that gap.
It doesn’t replace the ACA’s expertise — it amplifies access to it.
Members can type a question in plain language and receive guidance rooted in ACA’s substantial knowledge base. It’s still the ACA’s content, still their expertise, still their professional standards — simply delivered with the speed required in a contemporary studio environment.
This approach recognises something fundamental about architectural practice: our risk doesn’t come from a lack of information; it comes from how long it takes to find it.
By reducing the friction, we reduce the risk.
A partnership built on clarity, confidence and shared purpose
At Spec Rep Help Desk, our mission has always been straightforward:
provide architects with industry-specific knowledge that reduces risk and reduces the time spent searching for answers.
We built our platform for the realities of architectural work — not generic business advice, not broad corporate workflows, but the specific pressures of design practice and documentation.
Partnering with the ACA was a natural evolution of that mission. The ACA brings decades of respected expertise, deep understanding of practice, and a commitment to improving the business side of architecture. We bring the technology that helps surface that expertise more quickly, intuitively and anonymously.
That last part matters.
The questions that keep a practice running are often the ones leaders are hesitant to ask publicly:
Am I applying this Award classification correctly?
Is this request reasonable?
Has this clause changed since last year?
Are we accidentally underpaying or overcomplying?
The Business Concierge creates a safe, anonymous space for practice leaders to ask those questions and be guided toward the right ACA resources.
Nothing replaces professional or legal advice, and the tool doesn’t pretend to. But it does give practice leaders a clearer starting point — and clarity is a powerful thing.
Supporting architects where it matters most
In architecture, it’s often the hidden administrative decisions — not the celebrated design moments — that determine whether a practice thrives or struggles. Getting the business side right isn’t glamorous, but it protects staff, reduces risk and ultimately strengthens the quality of the work we do.
The ACA Business Concierge helps on this front by giving architects faster access to reliable information, freeing up precious time for leadership, mentoring and design — the work that genuinely moves projects and people forward.
The ACA has supported the profession for decades with consistent, authoritative business guidance. With the introduction of the Business Concierge, that same support is simply easier to reach, more responsive to the flow of practice, and better aligned with the realities of architectural leadership today.
We’re proud to play a part in this next step — and proud to help architects gain faster, clearer access to the knowledge that keeps their practices stable, fair and resilient.