What is an affiliate? | Companion Card

An affiliate is an organisation, event or venue that charges a fee and officially registers to participate in the Companion Card program.

In summary, affiliates agree to:

issue one ticket, at no charge, to cardholders who have bought a ticket and require attendant care
display the Companion Card logo in a prominent position and/or in promotional material, where possible
abide by the Affiliate Terms and Conditions.

The card has been developed as a tool to assist business and community sectors to comply with existing disability anti-discrimination legislation. It is not a discount scheme, concession or benefit. It allows for fairer ticketing practices for customers that require substantial attendant care to be able to attend the venue or event.

Why become an affiliate?

“Some think about the Companion Card as ‘losing one seat’, but without it the new customer wouldn't otherwise be there, occupying a seat.”

Susan Halliday

Former Acting Federal Disability Discrimination Commissioner 1999 - 2000

Companion Card Venue Forum, 6th December 2000

The Companion Card acceptance is a recognition that removing or reducing discrimination is a shared responsibility. It is an easy way for your organisation, which charges an admission or participation fee, to comply with some of your obligations under disability anti-discrimination legislation.

By becoming an affiliate you’re registering your business or organisation to support people with a significant or profound, permanent disability. These are people who have proven they are unable to access most community activities or venues without high-level attendant care support.  

Some of the benefits of becoming an affiliate are:

It presents a positive public image for your organisation or business.
You’ll be meeting your social responsibility by incorporating the human rights of people with a disability into your ticketing policies and practices.
You’ll have access to an additional, untapped market.
You’ll have evidence your organisation has taken some steps to remove discriminatory policies or practices.

Venue and activity owners and operators are already required to comply with existing disability anti-discrimination legislation.

Who should be an affiliate?

Victorian-based industries, including those with national operations or outlets, are eligible to become affiliates. The program has a focus on recreation, leisure, social and cultural venues and events but is open to participation by all industries.

Even if your organisation is not directly involved in issuing tickets or monitoring admissions, you can still affiliate with the card program or its terms and conditions. For example, if you’re a venue owner you might make it a condition of venue use. Or if you’re a funding body you might make it a condition that all grant recipients comply with the program.

Who is issued a Companion Card?

The potential for misuse of the card has been minimised by a robust application process that protects affiliates. Card applicants must meet strict eligibility criteria developed by the Victorian Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. Applicants agree to the Companion Card Cardholder Terms and Conditions, which outline entitlements, obligations and appropriate use of the card.

Some features of this robust process includes:

1. All applicants must have a relevant professional sign their application form to declare the information on the application form is correct. The professionals that can sign the card application form are drawn from a small group of specialist health professionals deemed to be suitable to assess applicants against the eligibility card requirements.

2. It is an offence under the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), for the applicant or health professional to provide false or misleading information in an application.

3. All applications are verified.

4. Companion Cards are printed with an expiry date on the bottom right hand corner (excluding cards from New South Wales). After this period, all cardholders will need to renew their card. The renewal period is based on the:

physical life expectancy (wear and tear) of the card
requirement for photographs to remain reflective of the cardholder’s appearance
potential for change in the support requirements for some cardholders.

Card security

The Companion Card has been designed with a number of security features. It uses the same polymer technology used for Australia’s “plastic” banknotes, which makes it virtually impossible to accurately reproduce. The Companion Card program was the first in Australia to utilise this technology to provide advanced forgery protection for a card intended for public circulation.

As an affiliate you can use the security features to verify cardholder information when taking telephone bookings and distributing tickets. You can also choose if, or how, you wish to incorporate these security features into your ticketing policies and practices. Full details of security features are provided to you when you affiliate.