ARTA Membership
ARTA currently has four membership types for qualified (or studying) Recreational Therapists, Leisure and Health Professionals or Recreational Therapy Assistants/ Lifestyle Coordinators/ Activity Officers and others interested in the field who hold a degree. All Full-Memberships are qualification-based. Experience will support and enhance your membership application, but it cannot replace any required minimum education and training. Life Memberships are honoured and recognised by ARTA, but these categories are closed to new members.
Many years of deliberation, consultation and research by successive Board’s, ARTA members and other stakeholders have gone into the establishment of these Membership types – and there will be further developments in the future no doubt, as the profession grows and changes into the future. Simple policy documents have been developed around each of these membership types.
How do I become a member?
To gain membership you will need to hold, or to be working towards a qualification in leisure, recreation and health. Only members with a degree qualification will be recognised as a Certified Recreational Therapist.
Recreational Therapy Assistants or Recreation Coordinators (or similar titles) require at a minimum a Cert IV in Leisure & Health.
Members must complete 20 hours of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) annually to maintain their membership.
Why join ARTA?
Membership benefits include:
- Being part of the peak professional body
- Monthly newsletters to keep informed about progress or changes in the industry, training opportunities and employment options
- Professional networking opportunities through network groups both in person and online
- Members only access to the website with resources and information to support practice
- Opportunities to contribute to a growing body of knowledge
- National conference with evidence based research and practice at discounted rates
- Award for Excellence presented annually
- ARTA merchandise available to promote the profession
- Discounted industry specific education provided in a number of formats to meet member needs
- Face to face workshops
- Online workshops
- Hour to empower sessions
- Online learning platform
- Communities of practice to assist in influencing contemporary areas of practice and developing the industry
View and download the official ARTA Information brochure here
To renew, you will need to login.
Membership Renewal Steps:
2 yearly and monthly payments available now - as well as annual - even easier!
- Log in to website as a member and go to the My Membership Tab at the top.
- Then check out your subscriptions - pay your membership fee online
- Upload your CPD under My CPD tab
ARTA Memberships

Certified Member
A member must hold an accepted university qualification as specified and defined by the ARTA Board and in the current policy. ARTA recognises only these members as Recreational Therapists.
The degree confirms the holder has knowledge in health, recreation and leisure and has met the competencies expected in terms of knowledge application as assessed in their three years at university. These competencies include assessing individual client’s needs using various assessment tools based on the client needs and goals; using professional judgement guided by laws, ethics and organisational requirements; identifying goals with clients and developing an intervention plan or program to meet the identified goals; measuring and evaluating the intervention based on the outcomes and expectations of the intervention. Activities are designed to support, challenge and enhance the psychological, spiritual, social, emotional and physical well-being of individuals.

Recognised Certified Member
This membership category is completed through an application process where members who demonstrate knowledge and competencies equivalent to those with a degree will be recognised as such.
To be eligible for this membership category at least five years of clinical experience is required.

Associate Member - Diploma
This membership category is for members that hold a diploma qualification in leisure, recreation and health. A member must hold an accepted vocational level Diploma qualification as specified and defined by the ARTA Board and in the current policy.
In aged care, a person holding this qualification can coordinate the recreation service and performance manage staff but do not have training in interpreting and analysing results from different assessment tools to most effectively meet individual client’s needs.

Associate Member - Certificate IV
This membership category is for members who have completed all of the subjects in a Certificate IV. A member must hold an accepted vocational level Cert IV qualification as specified and defined by the ARTA Board and in the current policy.
The role is to essentially assist with the delivery of the recreation program in a supported capacity as opposed to running the program themselves. ARTA recognises these members work under a variety of titles including RT Assistant, Therapeutic Recreation Assistant, Leisure and Health Support Worker, Recreational Activities Officer and many more. ARTA advises that they do not work under the title of Recreational Therapist, in keeping with other allied health professions which require a university qualification.

Associate Member - Student
Student members are welcomed into ARTA. Membership is at a discounted rate and students have the opportunity to be mentored by experienced members in specialised areas the
students choose to develop in.

Affiliate Member
There are a range of affiliate memberships for those not working directly in recreational therapy in Australia. This includes retired members, international members and academic affiliates. Please contact the office for further information.

Life Member
ARTA recognises and honours the Life Memberships registered with ARTA in 2009. These members are Full ARTA Members who have been honoured with Life Membership status by the state bodies in existence before 2009 at the commencement of the national body. These members have contributed enormously to the development and eventual creation of the national body over decades of extraordinary voluntary work to better the profession. They have been honoured with individual Certificates of Life Membership from ARTA.
Professional Development
One of the primary roles of a professional association is to ensure that practicing professionals are continually updating knowledge and skills to ensure that their practice is embracing current trends.
Degree, Diploma and Certificate IV qualified members are required to complete 20 hours of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) each year to maintain their membership. Student, Affiliate and Life Members are not required to fulfil this requirement. At the end of each financial year, all Full Members must ensure they hold a list of their professional development for that financial year in summary, along with copies of relevant certificates, transcripts or other evidence to show that they have fulfilled their professional development obligation and sign a statement to that
effect. (CPD Policy).
Download the Professional Development Guide Here
Download the Professional Development Summary Sheet Here
(you will need this completed each year at 30th June to renew your membership).
Have a question? Check out Frequently Asked Questions below. Still have a question? Contact the office on enquiries@recreationaltherapy.au or phone 02 9887 5035
Professional development is mandatory for ARTA Membership – random audits are carried out - keep evidence of your CPD for 12 months in case you are selected for audit.
ARTA Professional Development FAQs– Let us explain!
Quite a few members have felt confused, misinformed or even intimidated by ARTA’s requirement for 20 CPD hours per year – this is a “must read” article to explain more…