The ACIA Certification Pathway
ACIA certifications follow a structured progression. Each level builds on the last — you can’t skip ahead, and that’s by design. The pathway ensures every guide who comes out the other side has earned their qualification through real experience and demonstrated competence, not just time served.
Each qualification has two components: a Training Course and an Assessment. Training courses build your knowledge and skills. Assessments verify you can apply them to the required standard.
LEVEL ONE
Top Rope / Abseil Guide (TPG)
The entry point. Covers the fundamentals of guiding clients on top-rope systems in outdoor environments. The starting point for anyone new to formal guiding.
LEVEL Two
Sport climbing Instructor (SCI)
Builds on TRG with sport climbing instruction, introducing lead climbing in bolted outdoor environments.
LEVEL Three
single pitch guide (Spg)
Extends into trad climbing environments, anchor building on natural gear, and managing clients on single pitch routes.
build a career of adventure, learning and connection
Guiding offers an extraordinary opportunity to inspire others, share your expertise, and make a meaningful impact while adventuring in the great outdoors. As a guide, you’ll develop unparalleled skills, create life-changing experiences for others, and join a community of professionals who are committed to safety, education, and the profound connection between humans and nature.
Years of experience working with school groups and dependent groups
Highly qualified and passionate instructor trainer-assessors
Flexible programs tailored to your educational goals
Commitment to safety and environmental responsibility
Really great “office” to work at!
Common Questions
What does “approved course provider” mean?
Approved Course Providers have been appointed by the ACIA based on their expertise and experience of delivering climbing programmes across all levels.
All courses are run by a course director who is a current ITA (Instructor trainer / assessor), additional staff are ITA’s or highly experienced, fully qualified CI’s working toward ITA status.
Will the course/assessment run if there aren’t enough participants?
Courses have a minimum (and maximum) number to make them viable. Any course that doesn’t reach its minimum number of applicants may be postponed. In this case all applicants will be notified and any fees paid will be returned or applied to a future course.
Which Course should I do?
Please see the ACIA website at https://acia.com.au/courses/ to identify the course most appropriate for you.
We are a school and want you to train our staff to operate our indoor wall
Please see the Consulting page for this.
I have taken my beginner friends climbing lots of times, why do I need to do a course?
This is a common question we hear from experienced climbers. There are two sides to being a great guide – the technical skills (ropes, knots, problem solving through rescues), and the “soft-skills” or being able to think like – and often for – your clients or participants. Climbers, even experienced climbers, are often good at one or the other, but it takes training to become good at both.
Can I pay a deposit and the balance later?
We collect a $100 deposit to reserve a space on any given course. The deposit is transferable to different courses as long as it meets our Terms & Conditions.
Is the deposit refundable?
Please see Terms & Conditions.
Can I work for The Climbing Company after I am qualified?
Please see the Employment page for information about working for The Climbing Company.
I heard you don’t teach trad anchor placements during the top-rope guide training courses or assessments. Is this true?
No it is not. A committee discussion caused some confusion a while back. The Climbing Company definitely teaches students how trad gear works… and we certainly place trad gear very often when building our anchors, at least here in Victoria!
available courses
Sport Climbing Instructor Assessment
Participants on SCI courses must have progressed through an entry level qualification; they need to have significant broad…
Sport Climbing Instructor Training
Participants on SCI courses must have progressed through an entry level qualification; they need to have significant broad…
Climbing Instructor Assessment
Participants on CI courses must have progressed through the previous levels, they need to have significant broad personal…
Climbing Instructor Training
Participants on CI courses must have progressed through the previous levels, they need to have significant broad personal…
Multi Pitch Guide Assessment
Participants on MPG courses must have progressed through the previous levels, they need to be personally experienced and…
Multi Pitch Guide Training
Participants on MPG courses must have progressed through the previous levels, they need to be personally experienced and…
Single Pitch Guide Assessment
The scheme can be entered at this level by those who are experienced and competent at climbing and…
Single Pitch Guide Training
The scheme can be entered at this level by those who are experienced and competent at climbing and…
Top-Rope Guide Assessment
The scheme can be entered at this level, TRG is a foundation level qualification that covers the skills…
Top-Rope Guide Training
The scheme can be entered at this level, TRG is a foundation level qualification that covers the skills…
Do I need to do The courses and Assessments in order?
More information on this can be found on the ACIA website, but in general here’s a run down for two common situations:
Situation 1: You are building a career in outdoor education and plan to have rock-climbing as ONE of the sports you will facilitate.
- In this case you want to do the Top-Rope Guide Training and Assessment Courses in order.
Situation 2: You are a rock-climber and you have lots of experience (2+ years usually) leading on trad gear and want to work for one of the guiding operations (such as us!).
- Since you already lead-climb on trad gear, you can do the Single Pitch Guide Training Course, optionally followed by the Multi-Pitch Guide Training Course.
- You will need to have completed your Single-Pitch Guide Assessment and the Multi Pitch Guide Training Course before you will be allowed to attend the Climbing Instructor Training Course.
- At this stage you can attend the Climbing Instructor Training Course and the Multi-Pitch Guide Assessment (in either order) and finally the Climbing Instructor Assessment.
In other words, all training courses must be completed in order, and all assessments must be completed in order, with the Climbing Instructor Training Course being the only one with a pre-requisite qualification needed to attend.
Unless you have an equivalent qualification from another standards-issuing body you cannot skip training or assessment courses.
The process to become a qualified Climbing Instructor will generally take an experienced recreational climber a minimum of 2 years to complete, given the interim training and experience-building requirements at each level.