Annual Report 2012 - The Australian Property Institute

The Australian Property Institute Annual Report | 2012Western Australian DivisionI have great pleasure in presenting the 81st annual report ofThe Australian Property Institute (Inc) Western Australian Division.For many reasons, 2012 has been a significantyear for the Australian Property Institute. It hasseen the WA Division deliver its 11th straight profit,witnessed yet another rise in our cash reserves,and marked one of the most important changes indecades with the move to 215 Hay Street Subiaco.In the 1980s, API Western Australian Divisionalmembers showed excellent foresight when theycontributed their own funds toward the purchaseof our Charles Street premises, envisaging thatthe API would need its own property if we were toserve the membership well.They were right and we did — so for 30 yearswe used 27 Charles Street as a base to providethe training and services our membership required.But in 2012, the Divisional Council again stood ata critical moment and looked to the future, and wesaw the need for a change.The city has consolidated, there are greaterdemands on our members than ever beforeand there are challenges that membershiporganisations such as API need to face. So whenthe opportunity arose to co-locate with REIWA, wetook it and I believe this decision will have positiveramifications for many years to come.We now have the opportunity to retainCharles Street as a flexible asset of the divisionalmembership, in the knowledge that there are bigplans for South Perth in the future.We have also been able to join with REIWA,the Planning Institute of Australia and StrataCommunities WA in a single building for the firsttime. This gives us the chance to bring the keyrepresentative groups for property professionalstogether, in one central, visible location, which canonly strengthen the work we do.The move has been part of our concertedeffort to elevate the profile of the Institute andto expand the services we can offer both toconsumers and members.Already, we can see the benefits of the closerworking relationship through API Pricefinder, anapp developed in collaboration with REIWA thatwill become the preferred data system for all APImembers in Western Australia.With the economy and property marketrecovering in 2012, we also took advantage ofthe improved sentiment to expand the servicewe provide to our members through our CPDProgram.By developing the program of events and bybuying in the expertise we needed to promotethem properly, we have increased our turnoutamong members and a wide cross-section ofthe business community – who see value in theexcellence and expertise on offer.Lastly, 2012 was another year in which ourCouncillors, staff and volunteers continued in theirtireless work.40