In 1981 the Australian Tunnelling Association became the Australian Underground Construction and Tunnelling Association (AUCTA), operating as a technical society sponsored by Engineers Australia and AusIMM under status approved by the Councils of both organisations. In 2005 a New Zealand Chapter of the Technical Society was formed, and to better reflect its international membership, AUCTA changed its name to the Australasian Tunnelling Society (ATS)[2].[citation needed]
