French certifications are once again being accepted by ADAS for crossovers and for entry onto further training at ADAS schools.
ADAS Updates
In ADAS news, we share an update about our annual ADAS schools conference, and share a farewell message from Amanda Sordes, who has resigned as ADAS Executive Director.
Farewell from Amanda Sordes, Executive Director 2020-2026
Dear ADAS community,
After four years as a Board Member and six years as an Executive Director, it is time for me to bid farewell to ADAS and move back to France (my home country) to be closer to my parents. In May 2020, I was handed a mature and well-run organisation, which was recognised and valued across the world. As a result, and despite the challenges due to the COVID pandemic in my first couple of years, it was easy for me to build on Paul Butler and Rob Gatt’s legacy and continue solidifying ADAS’ reputation as the world leading certification scheme.
Supported by a passionate and dedicated team, for which I am incredibly grateful, we kept safety as a primary focus in every aspect of the work we do. Thanks to an incredibly talented and experienced pool of ADAS instructors, we continued training divers and hyperbaric workers that could keep themselves and their teammates safe – and were ready for the many challenges and rewards that our industry brings.
But I also aimed to introduce more modern perspectives to ADAS. Over the last six years, ADAS launched a mentoring programme for women divers; embedded interpersonal skills assessment in all courses; launched a Scholarship Scheme for Indigenous people in Australia and Aotearoa / New Zealand; helped bring wellbeing and mental fitness on the international stage; and developed training pathways for booming sectors of the hyperbaric industry, such as tunnelling and clinical chamber operations.
I have enjoyed my time at the helm of ADAS immensely. While saying goodbye brings a flood of mixed emotions, I am certain that ADAS is in excellent hands with its future Executive Director – who will be introduced to you all in the next ADAS newsletter.
Au revoir !
Amanda
ADAS Updates
Internal and External Stakeholder Engagement and Participation
- ADAS Board of Directors: one online meeting May 2026, one face to face meeting August 2026
- Instructor Training Courses: one face to face course held in Lismore, NSW, and one online course.
Training Materials Update
- Updating online exams: Continued work on the Part 3 exam; creation of Hyperbaric Worker and Lock Operator exams
- Published tunnelling assessment materials
Quality assurance May-August 2026
- Desktop audits: 2 finalised
- These are audits of completed student training records against ADAS course requirements to ensure compliance with ADAS and AS 2815
- Phone and email post-course surveys: 153 students contacted; 37 responses received
- Post-course surveys: All students are contacted after their training is completed to allow them to provide feedback on ADAS courses, trainers, and training facilities
ADAS Accredited Training Establishment (ATE) support
- School audits completed: 2
- School accreditations / reaccreditations / extension to scope applications: 2 x applications under review
ATE Conference 2026
The annual face to face conference was held over two days in Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Highlights included:
- Four working groups focused on refining training and assessment requirements in onshore diving, offshore diving, scientific diving, and hyperbaric tunnelling
- Introduction of the ADAS Indigenous Scholarship Scheme, including a cultural safety presentation from Fire and Wattle https://www.fireandwattle.com.au/
- Guest speaker Armin Sidali, of ASK Hyperbaric, gave a fascinating presentation on recent developments in the hyperbaric tunnelling industry, discussing scenarios where a range of strategies and equipment have been utilised to deliver project outcomes.
Related Posts
