The Question Every Association Leader Must Answer
As artificial intelligence advances across Australia’s economy, reshaping work, productivity and the skills required for success, the question is no longer whether AI will impact your profession - it's whether your members will be ready when it does.
Australia’s AI transition: adoption outpacing capability
Jobs and Skills Australia’s Our GenAI Transition report provides the most comprehensive picture yet of how AI will affect the national workforce. Released in August 2025, it confirms that while AI will augment rather than replace most professional roles, those who adapt fastest will gain a significant advantage. It also highlights that it is tasks, not entire roles, that are most affected.
However, capability is lagging behind adoption.
The University of Melbourne and KPMG’s Trust, Attitudes and Use of AI study found that half of Australians now use AI tools regularly, yet only one in four have received formal training. Just two in five say they truly understand how AI works, and most remain cautious about trusting it. Almost four in five Australians fear AI will eventually replace jobs in their area.
This imbalance, between usage and understanding, represents a major risk for Australia’s professional workforce, and for the associations who represent them.
Why literacy matters more than adoption
Across every major study, one message is clear: AI literacy is now a core competency for the modern professional.
Workers with even basic AI training are more productive, more innovative and more confident in their use of technology.
As recent developments highlight, those without literacy face greater risks, from misinformation and privacy breaches to professional liability arising from unverified outputs. They also risk losing relevance in the workforce of the future.
Despite this, research reveals that only 52% have had training in responsible AI use, and only two in five report clear workplace policies around AI use. Many are using public AI tools without oversight, with nearly half admitting to loading confidential company information into public AI tools.
The strategic opportunity for associations
For professional associations, this creates both a challenge and a mandate. As recent events have demonstrated, members who lack AI literacy risk using generative tools inappropriately, exposing themselves, and their profession, to ethical and reputational risks. Those who learn to use AI effectively will drive innovation, efficiency and value creation across their industries.
Ensuring members can use AI competently and ethically is now part of every association’s duty of care - to their members, their profession, and the public.
Building capability through education and standards
Embedding AI capability into professional standards, CPD frameworks and codes of practice offers a practical path forward.
Initial assessments by leading associations including Engineers Australia, ADMA and The Research Society already demonstrate how association-led research and education can build capability and trust.
In the engineering profession, for example, a report by Engineers Australia found that 66 per cent of engineers report receiving no AI training at work, and most say learning is self-directed. The association has responded by integrating AI training into professional standards and CPD programs, showing how research can translate into systemic capability building.
In marketing, ADMA’s AI, Talent and Trust report revealed high levels of adoption but equally high concern around data privacy, bias and originality.
My own professional body, The Research Society, is also helping members through the transition. As well as offering targeted professional development to help researchers build their AI skills and knowledge, they recently released AI Guidelines to ensure members’ AI use is aligned with its existing Code of Professional Behaviour.
These examples reinforce that professional associations are not just witnesses to AI change, they are critical enablers of responsible adoption.
Why associations must lead
Professional associations occupy a unique position in addressing this challenge.
Unlike individual employers focused on immediate operational needs, associations have a broader strategic role. They hold the trust, perspective and authority to close systemic skills gaps. Jobs and Skills Australia has called for a ‘whole-of-population digital and AI capability uplift’, urging governments, education providers, employers and industry bodies to act together.
The research also reinforces the need for regular data collection and reporting to monitor the AI transition.
Associations are ideally positioned to contribute to this effort. By collecting data, tracking adoption, and designing the targeted professional learning that industries need.
Assessing your member AI readiness
To support this, Survey Matters has developed a comprehensive AI Skills Readiness Index, specifically designed for professional and industry associations. Built on ANZCO / OSCA classifications and designed to be tailored to individual professions and industries, the assessment provides association-wide strategic insights and benchmarking capabilities.
The tool delivers association leadership the strategic intelligence needed to understand their members current AI readiness, guide safe and ethical AI adoption and support professional skills development effectively. Annual tracking capabilities ensure associations can monitor progress and adapt to evolving technology and education needs.
A strategic plan for readiness
Associations that understand where their members are on the AI journey can anticipate needs, identify opportunities and strengthen their relevance. Assessing readiness provides the intelligence needed to design training, support members and protect the profession or industry.
The AI Skills Readiness Index captures:
current adoption and usage patterns
profession specific tasks and roles most affected by AI
individual knowledge, skills and confidence level
skills gaps and individual AI education needs
members’ expectations for AI guidance and education
Leading the profession through transformation
The window for leadership is open - but not indefinitely.
Associations that act now to assess readiness, define ethical frameworks and embed AI education will become indispensable partners in professional growth. Those that wait risk losing relevance as other providers step in.
As recent events keep demonstrating, AI literacy is fast becoming inseparable from professional competence. Associations have the reach and responsibility to ensure no member is left behind.
The AI revolution is already accelerating. Will your association guide the journey - or will your members navigate it alone?
Find out more about the Survey Matters AI Skills Readiness Index
The AI Skills Readiness Index is specifically designed for professional and industry associations. Built on ANZCO / OSCA classifications and designed to be tailored to individual professions and industries specific skill and task exposure, the tool provides association-wide strategic insights, thought leadership and benchmarking capabilities.
To register you interest in receiving more information about the AI Skills Readiness Index, please click here. Alternatively, please contact me via rsullivan@surveymatters.com.au to discuss how conducting an AI Skills Readiness Assessment can strengthen your member value proposition.