# Invitation to become a founding member

**Australian Landscape Architecture Federation** — open metadata standard for Australian landscape practice.

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## What you're being invited to

To help launch a **community-owned, open standard** for describing Australian landscape projects — plants, site context, sustainability, and Connection to Country — so practices, universities, and councils can share data without lock-in.

This is **not** a company and joining it does **not** affect your independence. You keep your staff, clients, fees, designs, and software choices. The federation only governs the shared, open schema.

## What founding members get

- A **vote** on the schema and how the federation is run (see the [Charter](./CHARTER.md)).
- Early input into the v1 fields your practice actually uses.
- Recognition as a **founding member** when the standard launches publicly.
- Free, perpetual licence to use and implement the schema.

## What founding members commit to

- Nominating one representative for consultation (and Council, if your class holds a seat).
- Reviewing the draft Charter and v1 schema.
- Acting in good faith and disclosing conflicts.
- **No financial commitment** to begin. The standard is free; early infrastructure is minimal.

## How it's governed (one paragraph)

A **Council** of member representatives votes on changes. Power is **split**: the federation controls only the open schema, badge, and advocacy; everything else stays with you. An **independent arbitrator** settles any dispute by reading the Charter. Anything touching Connection to Country needs **First Nations advisory sign-off**. Full detail: [CHARTER.md](./CHARTER.md).

## Legal form (no new company)

The federation will **start as an unincorporated working group** governed by the Charter — no company, no registration. It will only step up to an **incorporated association** (still not a company) later, and only if it needs to hold assets, employ people, or take grants. See [LEGAL_STRUCTURE_OPTIONS.md](./LEGAL_STRUCTURE_OPTIONS.md).

## Who we're inviting first

- Private landscape architecture practices (mixed states/territories)
- University LA programs (e.g. RMIT, Melbourne, UNSW)
- Councils and environmental / research bodies
- Traditional Owner organisations / protocol authorities (advisory + protocol authority)

Software vendors (including **The Landscape Archive**) participate as **implementation partners** with **no vote** — the standard stays neutral.

## To accept

1. Read the [Charter](./CHARTER.md) and [legal options memo](./LEGAL_STRUCTURE_OPTIONS.md).
2. Reply with your organisation name, member class, and nominated representative.
3. We'll confirm your founding-member listing and share the v1 schema review.

Contact: admin@landscapearchive.com.au (interim coordinator during launch)

> The Landscape Archive is coordinating the launch as a founding implementation partner and holds no voting seat. The intent is to hand stewardship of the standard to the member Council.