COVID-19 Update

The Gemmological Association of Australia recognises that we must protect our students, members and teachers during COVID-19 and subsequently we have been faced with a number of challenges in 2020.

As face to face classes were not an option, both the Gem-Ed Committee and the GAA Federal Council met to review education needs for the remainder of 2020.  All Division education teams were put to rearranging schedules and timetables, quickly evaluating the available learning platforms, deciding which process to follow that suited their particular Division requirements and capabilities.

Our Gemmology 1 students were offered to undertake a special modified version of Flexi mode study, however it was with great reluctance that we advised that there was a decision not to continue Gemmology 2 in 2020 as we were particularly hindered by not being able to let our students see, touch and test gemstones.

The 2020 GAA Federal Conference due to be held in Perth, Western Australia in May was cancelled and replaced with an eConference comprising of online meetings over a number of weeks in May and June with the AGM also going online on 15th June 2020.