The History: At 5pm on November the 11th 2021, the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP) officially closed its doors and went into voluntary administration. At the time of closure, the AIPP was not in financial arrears and was not insolvent, but was (and had been) hemorrhaging money for many years due in significant part to continually declining membership. At the time, the board made a unanimous decision to place the AIPP into voluntary liquidation to avoid trading while insolvent. I wrote extensively about this decision HERE on my blog. While this is interesting background reading on why and how the AIPP was placed into administration, it is far from the full story today.
The Challenge: The voluntary administration of the AIPP was subsequently challenged in court by a small but vocal number of members (past and present at the time of closure) who wished to see the AIPP continue under new leadership and with a new model (presumably one that would run much leaner without the historic overheads of the organisation that ultimately fatally crippled it). This process was both expensive and time-consuming, with much of the AIPP’s surplus funds (circa $70,000 AUD) at the time of closure being eaten away by the administrator’s legal and associated fees and costs.
The Outcome: Ultimately, the legal challenge was successful, and the AIPP was removed from administration. The old board members (myself included) elected to immediately resign and stand down. Since the few challenging members failed (in our view) to present convincing evidence that a resurrection of the institute would be financially successful, we saw no reason to continue as directors. Directors are financially liable and accountable should the company continue trading into insolvency, and none of us wished to place our own personal assets at risk (who would?). A new board was convened at the court’s direction (primarily from the challenging members), and the surplus funds (minus costs) from the AIPP’s administration were returned to the re-formed institute.
Status Today: Fast forward to today, the end of May 2026, and there has been precious little correspondence from the new board to AIPP members regarding the ongoing prospects, organisation structure and benefits of membership. No plan for future growth has been made public (yet), and there has been no correspondence regarding future membership costs. Over the last six+ months, I have been aware of several small, organised, informal gatherings in both Victoria and NSW, but nothing that would officially indicate that the AIPP is back in full force or has regained any of its prior industry standing or commitment to governance, accreditation and advocacy.
The Loss of APPA: One of the greatest disappointments for many with the closing of the AIPP was the loss of APPA – The Australian Professional Photography Awards. These were, if you will pardon the pun, an institution amongst a large percentage of members and were eagerly anticipated every year. Not only was it an opportunity to have your printed (not digital) work judged by experienced peers, but also to accumulate honours points towards your Affiliate, Master Photographer, and ultimately Grand Master of Photography. All of which were (and still are) highly coveted titles amongst photographers.
The Achilles heel of the APPA awards was always its financial overheads. Expensive venue hire, interstate and international travel for judges, accommodation, food, electronic hardware, software and the list went on. Much of the event was organised and run by unpaid volunteers, but they still needed to be housed, fed, and transported. Then there was the gala dinner. Another expensive event that rarely covered its costs. APPA has historically cost the AIPP over $200,000 annually to run, with many years resulting in a significant loss to the institute. This was unsustainable.
A New Twist: A new and interesting twist to this story has emerged this month in a member-circulated email from the current AIPP board offering members (myself included) who were financial at the time the AIPP went into administration an opportunity to continue accruing points toward their Affiliate, Master of Photography and Grand Master of Photography honours through the newly formed Australian Photographic Prize. The Australian Photographic Prize rose from the ashes of the APPA awards and was first run in 2022. I wrote about the formation of this award HERE.
The Catch: This invitation to accrue points comes with a couple of very notable caveats. The first of which is that you can only enter if you were a financial member of the AIPP when it went into voluntary administration. The second notable caveat is an additional $55.00 AUD fee if you wish to accrue points towards your honours (to be paid directly to the reborn AIPP). This is in addition to the cost of entering the Australian Photographic Prize (which in itself is not cheap, starting at $35 per entry – bundles are available). If we crunch some quick numbers and enter six images into the APP, that would come to $210. If you wanted those six images to be eligible for points toward your honours, you would need to pay the AIPP an additional $55, bringing your entry fee to $265. Not outrageous, but not cheap either. But the clincher is that you are also agreeing to become a new AIPP financial member this September, but no cost has been published for this membership to date.
AIPP members who lament the loss of APPA (there are many, myself included) will no doubt relish the opportunity to continue accruing points toward their honours and will probably (maybe?) pay the additional non-refundable $55 to ensure their points count. By doing so, they also agree (at least in principle) to pay their membership dues by the 1st of September, 2026, for those points to count. The cost of AIPP membership has yet (to my knowledge) to be formally announced anywhere.
The Opportunity: There is an opportunity now for the AIPP to refinance its operations through renewed memberships. The number of entrants to the Australian Photographic Prize this year who choose to take up the AIPP offer of a $55 fee in exchange for accruing honours points on their APP entries will strongly signal to the new board how many members intend to become financial when memberships open this July. A small showing of financial AIPP entrants willing to part with their $55 will not bode well for the AIPP’s currently fragile future. A strong showing of entrants, though, may just reinvigorate the institute and give it the cash and membership injection it desperately needs to once again become the industry body this country sorely needs.
Author: Joshua Holko, AIPP Master of Photography with Gold Bar – M. Photog I
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