International Mentoring Program

The CPA Australia International Mentoring Program connects members outside of their organisation and potentially industry and provides them with an opportunity to share their career knowledge and experience with another member. Mentoring is one of the most popular and successful ways for individuals to grow professionally and enhance their skills.

By applying for the Mentoring Program, you agree to your personal information being collected and handled in accordance with CPA Australia's Privacy Policy and Statement.

How are participants matched?

Both mentors and mentees are required to complete a detailed application form. All information provided will be reviewed by the Mentor Program Team to identify suitable pairs based on their goals and experience. Successful members will be advised no later than Friday 9 June.

Note: due to anticipated demand, unfortunately we may not be able to provide all applications with a mentor/mentee. Members who are not successfully matched will still be able to participate in future programs.

Members report high satisfaction rates

Outcomes of the 2022 program

More than 150 pairs of mentors and mentees participated in the CPA Australia International Mentoring Program in 2022, with an overwhelming percentage reporting high satisfaction with their experience. Based on feedback provided for the program, 95 per cent saying they would recommend the program to fellow CPAs. Similarly, 98 per cent of mentees achieved some or all goals or achieved outcomes they did not expect, and 95 per cent would recommend the program to fellow CPAs.

Hear what past participants have to say about our Mentoring Program

Hello, I'm Jeff Chan. I'm very honoured to be in the mentoring program.

This is a program with CPA Australia and has been for some years. So I've joined it for three or four years already. In the mentoring program, I always find myself to be learning rather than teaching or giving, because I learned a lot actually from my mentees in the past and also in the current year. They are in the new generation and they are having new generation thinking as compared to my sort of older generation thinking. But I always find a very interesting side of people. And working together or eating or drinking together is an experience that I always treasure.

Through our discussions, through our chats during lunch or during dinner, is something that, you can experience and also learn from not just the technical side of the particular people's expertise, but also with the emotions or with the connections with life that you can feel together rather than just being alone. So this comradeship and this fellowship together is something that I always treasure. I hope I can give more to my mentees and this is something that I would like to spend my time in my sort of second half of my life.

I've actually worked for a long time already and I recently got my CPA Australia, and when someone called me up for this programme, I thought it is a good opportunity because I've been working for over 20 years and I've never had a mentor, a proper mentor in my life. And I always wanted a mentor, proper, that is not from my work because sometimes when you work in a company, have the same mentor in the same company, it kind of got a funny dynamic, right? The conflict of interest is different.

So when CPA Australia have this programme, I thought it's a very good opportunity to, number one, get to know more people in CPA Australia and is a good and big community. Number two is for me to have access to someone's experience and can give me some guidance in terms of career, I think it's going to be very invaluable, right? So, that's why I joined.

So the programme has matched me with someone very experienced, Jeffrey and he's is fantastic mentor. So I feel very lucky because Jeffrey, he's got a lot of experience as a CFO in the industry and all this stuff. And he used to be the president in Hong Kong and also he is someone that is very young, I feel. He always got new ideas, he's always looking for new challenges. He always connect new things and he's into new industries like NTF and all that stuff. I actually learned a lot more from him on the newer stuff as well as the older stuff.

So, he's not a traditional mentor that I thought would be, but also very energetic and always trying to get into new things. So I felt very lucky to got matched with him and we get along extremely well and when we meet, we don't just talk about work, we talk about life, we talk about how do I position myself for the future. So the relationship got actually deeper very quickly. So I felt very lucky.

Who is eligible for the International Mentoring Program?

All mentee applicants must:

Be a current member of CPA Australia, residing in one of the following locations:

Hong Kong
Malaysia
Singapore
Beijing
Shanghai
Europe
Guangzhou
Ho Chi Minh
Hanoi
Jakarta

Have experience in the accounting profession after completing the CPA Program; OR if you are an Associate Member, you must have successfully completed 1 CPA Program Subject in the last 12 months;
Be willing to proactively connect with your mentor and take ownership of the relationship;
Have clear goals that you wish to achieve through participation in the program before applying;
Be willing to commit time each month to meet with your mentor; and
Be willing to attend a pre-application review with a CPA Australia representative.

All mentor applicants must:

Be a current member of CPA Australia, residing in one of the following locations:

Hong Kong
Malaysia
Singapore
Beijing
Shanghai
Europe
Guangzhou
Ho Chi Minh
Hanoi
Jakarta

Have a minimum of six years’ experience in the accounting profession after completing the CPA Program; and
Be willing to commit time each month to meet with your mentee.

What are the program’s expectations?

While CPA Australia will provide the structure and support throughout the program, it is ultimately up to the mentoring pair to get the best from their mentoring relationship.

Mentees must:

be committed to scheduling and meeting with your mentor at least once a month from June to December 2023
complete the relevant training and attendance at program events
set a clear agenda and objectives for your mentoring sessions
seek your mentor’s guidance, not answers.

Mentors must:

be committed to meeting with your mentee at least once a month from June to December 2023
complete the relevant training and attendance at program events
assist your mentee where possible in setting goals and objectives to develop them professionally and personally.
provide advice, support and guidance to your mentee, not answers.

In applying for and entering the CPA Australia International Mentoring Program, it is understood that you adhere to CPA Australia’s Code of Conduct, and CPA Australia’s General website terms.

Your information will be handled in accordance with the CPA Australia Privacy policy.

In applying for, and participating in, the CPA Australia International Mentoring Program (“Mentoring Program”), as either a mentee or mentor, you agree to adhere to this code of conduct (Code of Conduct) at all times. Failure to do so may result in your participation in the Mentoring Program being terminated and further action being taken as CPA Australia deems necessary.
As a Mentor and/or Mentee (together, “Participants”) you confirm/agree that:
- You will submit true and accurate information to participate in the Mentoring Program as part of your application and throughout the duration of the Mentoring Program.
- You are a current CPA Australia member and will remain so throughout the six (6) month duration of the Mentoring Program. Note - if you are applying as mentee and are an Associate Member you must have successfully completed 1 CPA Program Subject in the last 12 months, prior to the date of the application to participate in the Mentoring Program.
- Discrimination of Participants based on age, gender, ethnicity, or any other prohibited grounds of discrimination will not be tolerated.
- You will enter into the mentoring relationship with a commitment to assist each other to develop and learn in a subjective, fair and respectful environment.
- No bullying, abuse or misconduct will be tolerated and failure to abide by this will result in termination from the Mentoring Program and further action may be taken if deemed necessary.
- You are bound by strict confidentiality when discussing matters, sharing documents or other such information throughout the Mentoring Program. Failure to do so may result in termination from the Mentoring Program and further action may be taken if necessary. Please contact [email protected] should you believe that you are unable to uphold this requirement.
- You must avoid any exploitation of the mentoring relationship.
- You will comply with your terms of your employment (if applicable) including any confidentiality obligations, including that you will not disclose any confidential information regarding your employer and/or their clients.
- Once the Mentoring Program has ceased, you are no longer a recognised mentor/mentee combination in the Mentoring Program but may continue to remain in contact, only by mutual agreement.
- You understand that the value of the mentor/mentee relationship is a joint responsibility and acknowledge that time is required to be set aside to foster the relationship.
- The online training module must be completed by 30 June 2023 in order to participate in the Mentoring Program. Failure to complete the training module by the due date will result in termination of your participation in the program.
- A total of eight (8) hours is the minimum commitment required to engage in the Mentoring Program.
- You must notify [email protected] and your mentor/mentee as soon as possible should you be unable to continue in the Mentoring Program.
- CPA Australia will not be liable for any loss or damage including, direct or indirect, loss, expense, damage, personal injury or death (whether or not arising from any person’s negligence) in connection with the Mentoring Program.
- CPA Australia accepts no responsibility for any tax implications from your participation in the Mentoring Program.
- You will be required to manually add your CPD Points into your CPD diary at the successful completion of the Mentoring Program.
In addition to the requirements set out in 1 above, as the Mentor you also confirm/agree that:
- you will allocate time to meet with the mentee that you have been paired with to share ideas, knowledge and experiences with to support them in achieving their program goals
- you will respond to your mentee as soon as practicable after initial contact is made by the mentee, ideally within one (1) week
In addition to the requirements set out in 1 above, as the Mentee you also confirm/agree that:
- the Mentoring Program is not be used to sign off “Your experience” requirement for the CPA Program
- the Mentoring Program is not to be used to seek employment at your mentors’ place of work
- upon receiving confirmation of a match, you will make initial contact with your mentor. Failure to do so within four (4) weeks will result termination from the Mentoring Program and your place in the program will be given to assigned to another mentee.
Further questions regarding the Mentoring Program or any matters related to mentoring, please contact [email protected]

Your personal information will be handled as outlined in the CPA Australia Privacy Policy.