Organisation and Business Affiliation

What is an Affiliate?

Affiliates can be businesses, organisations, events or activities that officially register to support the Companion Card program. Affiliates agree to:

issue a companion ticket at no charge to cardholders from any state or territory who require a companion to provide attendant care support
display the Companion Card logo in a prominent position and/or in promotional material where possible, and
accept the Companion Card Affiliate Terms & Conditions.

Why affiliate?

To enhance a positive public image.
To support the social inclusion of people with disabilities through fair ticketing.
To increase customer base and encourage repeat business.
To assist in meeting some of the obligations under anti discrimination legislation.
To be promoted as an Affiliate on the Affiliate List on this website.

Who should affiliate?

Any business, organisation, event or activity that charges an admission or participation fee should affiliate. The Companion Card program has been developed with an initial focus on recreation, leisure, social and cultural venues and events, but is open to other willing participants. We would welcome your enquiry.

The disability anti discrimination legislation, applies to all organisations and businesses regardless of their size, or the type of service provided. It may, therefore, be beneficial for organisations to affiliate with the Companion Card even if they are not directly involved in issuing tickets or monitoring admissions, for example, venue owners or funding bodies.

Becoming an Affiliate

Simply complete the Affiliation Application form available from this website or contact Natasha Paling at natasha.paling@nds.org.au or on (08) 8354 0084 to arrange for her to come and speak with you about Companion Card affiliation.

Card security

The Companion Card incorporates the same polymer technology used to produce Australian ‘plastic’ banknotes. The technology makes the card virtually impossible to accurately reproduce and provides advanced forgery protection for a card that is intended for public circulation.

Companion Cards are printed with an expiry date on the bottom right hand corner. After this period the cardholder will need to renew their Card.

The Card has been designed with a number of other security features. Affiliates will be able to use the features to verify cardholder information when taking telephone bookings and distributing tickets. Full details of these features will be provided to organisations when they affiliate.

Promotional and support materials

On registration with the Companion Card program, you will receive promotional materials to assist your organisation to implement and communicate your acceptance of the Companion Card. You will receive

Companion Card Accepted Here stickers
a security features leaflet which outlines how you can validate a Card’s authenticity
Companion Card Cardholder brochures

and you will have access to electronic logos.

You can also link to this web site to provide information about the program to your customers.

What to do if you see a Companion Card

If a Companion Card is presented at your organisation it is because the cardholder is a person who, due to their disability, requires attendant care type support from a companion in order to participate at your venue or event.

Legislation requires that you do not discriminate against people with a disability because of their need for attendant care support from a companion. By charging two admission fees to the cardholder you may be accused of discriminatory ticketing practices.

Recognising the Companion Card and providing a second ticket for the cardholder's companion, at no charge, is one way to comply with part of the existing anti discrimination legislation. You may also like to consider becoming an Affiliate.

The Companion Card® is co-managed by the South Australian Government Department for Communities and Social Inclusion and National Disability Services South Australian Division. The Companion Card® is a registered trademark owned by the State of Victoria. © Copyright State of Victoria