Increase in Forgeries

Forgeries of official certificates and licences has increased in the last year, ADAS takes this very seriously and has processes in place to ensure all submissions are genuine.

Unfortunately, forgery of documentation has been a long-standing issue for ADAS and also for contractors and training providers around the world.  This is not only a legal issue, but also a potentially dangerous problem when it comes to diving teams and team-members having to rely on others to keep them safe on the job.

The types of forged certificates and licences ADAS has received in the past year include, but aren’t limited to, diving medicals; first aid certificates; commercial diver licences; and diver/supervisor logbooks.

These forgeries have been submitted to ADAS as part of renewal or crossover applications, and have also been submitted to ADAS training establishments as part of training pre-requisites.

Every non-ADAS certificate or licence that is submitted to ADAS or the ADAS training schools, is verified by contacting the issuing organisation and requesting confirmation of the person’s identity and qualification that is shown on the documentation.  Happily, the vast majority of responses to these verification requests are positive.  Any time ADAS receives confirmation that a document is not valid, that information is then shared with ADAS’ international counterparts and international regulators.

This issue not only affects ADAS and other training organisations, but also diving contractors – some of whom have received forged ADAS cards in the past.  To assist in identifying forgeries, ADAS is able to verify the validity of ADAS licences and welcomes enquiries from diving contractors to verify the certification and qualifications of team members.  It’s important to note that there are procedures in place to protect the identity of ADAS members and to ensure that verification requests are from genuine contractors.

In cases where forged ADAS cards and certifications are identified, and there is no doubt it was a purposeful act of fraud, the forgery is then reported to the Australian Federal Police.  Any international regulators who are involved, such as the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore,  are also provided details and encouraged to report the forgery to local authorities.

Go to the Forgeries page of the ADAS website for more information about ADAS related forgeries, and to the Contact Us page if you wish to verify an ADAS issued card or certificate.