Combating forgeries

Twelve incidents of forged and invalid ADAS certifications have been detected by ADAS in the previous 12 months both directly through ADAS and through information sharing with between international agencies.

As a member of the International Diving Regulators and Certifiers Forum (IDRCF) ADAS has information sharing arrangements with agencies across the world and alerts IDRCF members to all instances of forgery.

Some holders of forged certifications have recently claimed they engaged a third party agent to complete their renewal, which was not delivered on as promised. ADAS strongly encourages all card holders to conduct their own renewals and not rely on third party providers.

Forgery of certifications is a long-standing problem in hyperbaric industries, putting workers and employers at increased risk of harm from inadequately trained individuals. Employers are reminded to always check both the front and back of ADAS license cards to confirm the qualifications held by the card holder, and are strongly encouraged to verify cards with ADAS.

Verification requests can be emailed directly to ADAS along with the following details of the card holder:

• Full name
• Date of birth
• ADAS number
• Scanned front and back of ADAS card

Please note that for privacy reasons, ADAS only provides verification to personnel from diving contractors, and the email request needs to be sent from a business email address and show a business signature block.

Verification requests can be emailed to: enquiries@adas.org.au

ADAS takes all incidents of fraud extremely seriously, and reports forgeries to the Australian Federal Police.

Read more about ADAS’s response to forgeries and the actions taken here:

• ADAS Forgeries information
• ADAS News December 2023 – Forgeries on the Rise
• ADAS News April 2022 – Increase in Forgeries