FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR THE CHC COMMUNITY SERVICES AND HLT HEALTH TRAINING PACKAGES

Transcription

1 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR THE CHC COMMUNITY SERVICES AND HLT HEALTH TRAINING PACKAGES Release 1.0 November 2015

2 Contents Questions from RTOs 2 Questions from students 14 Questions from Employers 16 Questions from RTOs The Certificate IV has a requirement for 80 hours of work. The Diploma has 160 hours of work but includes units of competency that say 80 hours as those units are in both qualifications. What is the relationship between these two sets of hours? Does this mean that the RTO must provide 240 hours of work placement? No. In the example given, the RTO would need to provide a total of 160 hours of work placement as this is the highest number of hours specified. The specification of hours is in the performance evidence of the assessment requirements of relevant units. performed the activities outlined in the performance criteria of this unit during a period of at least X hours of work Note the emphasis on the word during. It does not say for a total of or for at least If a qualification has units within it that require differing numbers of hours, the student will need to complete the highest number of hours. For instance a qualification, depending on the electives chosen may have some units that require 80 hours, some that require 120 hours and a core unit that requires 240 hours. In order to satisfactorily complete all the requirements for the qualification the individual will need to undertake a total of 240 hours. Within those 240 hours they will be able to demonstrate that they have: performed the activities outlined in the performance criteria of this unit during a period of at least X hours of work In terms of providing evidence of this they will need a log book, a diary, timesheets or some other time based evidence they have been performing the activities. As with any other assessment evidence, it will need to meet the rules of evidence. Units of competency in themselves rarely describe a person s whole job, but rather functions within the job. The developers have written the units in this way so that candidates gain work experience in the whole job, and can use that work experience as part of the performance evidence for individual units of competency. Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 2

3 It is desirable that an individual use the same 240 hours as evidence for multiple units. In that way it is treated the same as any other piece of evidence that may be required for more than one unit. The qualification says 200 hours of work is required and the core includes multiple units that require 200 hours of work. What does this mean? Does the RTO have to provide 200 hours of work placement for each unit? See the answer above. 200 hours of work placement in total will need to be completed for the qualification. I have completed a Certificate IV which has a requirement for 80 hours of work. I now want to do a Diploma which has 160 hours of work but includes units of competency that say 80 hours as those units are in both qualifications. Am I able to count the 80 hours of work completed in my Certificate IV to the 160 hours required for the Diploma? A: Ultimately, the assessor must apply professional judgement to ensure that both the requirements of units of competency and the rules of evidence are met. That professional judgement must also be able to be substantiated. Using the example above, for a student that has completed 80 hours of work in a Certificate IV and now enrolled in a Diploma which requires 160 hours of work, it is possible to use the hours of work previously completed in the lower AQF level qualification as evidence for the work hours required in the higher AQF level qualification. To do this an RTO must consider the evidence gathered during the 80 hours of work (completed during the Certificate IV) and ensure that some evidence relates directly to units in the Diploma which specify the higher number of hours (not just those units listed in both qualifications which specify the lower number of hours as this should be a credit transfer). The best way to do this is to undertake a mapping exercise which clearly demonstrates the relationship between the evidence gathered and the unit(s) in the Diploma. It is important to note that any evidence used meets the rules of evidence. Continuing with the example above; if a judgement is made that the evidence gathered during the 80 hours of work is valid and can be mapped as valid evidence to the unit(s) specifying 160 hours then the 80 hours of work can be used and the candidate may only have to complete the remaining hours of work required for the Diploma qualification (potentially an additional 80 hours). The RTO cannot just blindly reduce workplace hours for higher AQF level qualifications if using previous work hours completed in lower AQF level qualifications, the RTO must map the evidence. It must also be noted that the student has not reduced the number of hours completed for the qualification, they have still completed 160 hours work and have valid evidence across this period. Much like an RPL process, previous work hours have contributed as evidence. Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 3

4 One final consideration is that the tasks being described in the units of higher level qualifications can be quite complex. A student must have enough time in the workplace to have properly performed the activities outlined in the performance criteria as well as met the volume and frequency requirements as specified in the performance evidence, which in some cases may take longer than the minimum number of hours stipulated for the qualification. For example, if a student has completed 80 hours work placement for a Certificate IV and there is valid evidence that may contribute to the 160 hours of work required for a Diploma, the RTO will need to determine if the student can be assessed for rest of the Diploma in the remaining 80 hours or if the student will require more than just 80 hours to meet the assessment requirements of all of the units of competency in the qualification. My RTO is small and regional and we have limited access to workplaces. How will we be able to meet the workplace hours requirement? There is no requirement that the workplace hours are in only one workplace or in any particular location. The industry stakeholders have determined that they do not consider an individual to be workplace competent until they have completed all assessment requirements including specified hours in the workplace. Rural and regional training organisations will probably need to either stagger work placements, (one student on placement each week for example) rather than send everyone to placements at the same time or identify potential workplaces where students are required to commute to or stay away from home to undertake the required work placements. Other strategies may include coordination of work placements timings through networking with other RTO s in the same region. Providing additional support and facilitation to employers offering the work placement is also very important. My RTO delivers online. How can we meet the workplace hours requirement? See the answer above. The online RTO will need to negotiate with the student and appropriate workplaces how they will undertake the placement and how evidence will be gathered. If there is a requirement for demonstration of skills in the workplace as part of the assessment, there will need to be a relationship between the RTO assessor and the workplace. Co-assessment can occur when a qualified assessor does not have the subject matter expertise to make a judgement about competency of a candidate or the assessor is unable to be present in the workplace at the time of assessment. Co-assessment of a candidate can be undertaken by a third party person who has the industry expertise partnering with a qualified assessor, both viewing the assessment directly (through observation in the workplace or via video). The assessor can sign off on the competency of the candidate having made their judgement in consultation with the third party industry expert who will sign off as the co-assessor for the assessment process. Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 4

5 What happens if a student enrolls in a single unit with a requirement for work placement hours? Do they need to do all the hours required by the individual unit? Yes as the number of hours are a requirement of the unit. These hours can be shared with other units, but an individual completing only one unit will need to meet all the evidence requirements of that unit, including the requirements for hours of work. Other activities may be undertaken during the work placement hours, however, it is important that sufficient evidence is collected to ensure competence of the candidate in the unit, and that the assessment requirements and the rules of evidence are met. Often an individual undertaking a single unit will already be in the workforce, and will therefore be able to use their current job as evidence. In terms of providing evidence of this they will need a log book, a diary, timesheets or some other time based evidence they have been performing the activities. Assessment requirements often refer to the workplace. How is the workplace defined? The standard definition of workplace is a place where people work ; it s the location where a person must be able to perform the duties required of his/her job role and/or responsibilities. There is no specification that the work must be paid work. The diversity of work in health and community services means that the workplace will look very different depending on the sector: in Home and Community Care or Disability, the workplace may be the person s home in Children s Services, the workplace is defined as a regulated education and care service in Australia, and this is explicitly stated in the assessment requirements of relevant units. Can a student use hours completed in a simulated environment towards the work hours required for a qualification (as specified in the assessment requirements of units of competency)? No, where a unit specifies the requirement of hours, these must be completed in a workplace. A simulated environment can be used for training purposes however hours of work must be completed in a workplace. See above for definition of workplace There seems to be the requirement for a lot of assessment to be done in the workplace, when is assessment in a simulated environment allowed? A simulated environment is a great training environment however not always appropriate for assessment. Industry had concerns about a student s ability to properly apply skills and knowledge in the workplace and as a result a number of units will specify that assessment must be undertaken in the workplace. Best practice assessment would always be in the workplace however this is not Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 5

6 always achievable. The assessment conditions will specify the conditions under which assessment can take place, where assessment can be undertaken is one of these. CS&HISC has consulted with industry to determine these conditions, a further explanation of the statements used in the assessment conditions can be found in the following Companion Volumes - CHC Assessment Strategies Guide and HLT Assessment Strategies Guide. What are the requirements to be a trainer and/or assessor in the VET sector? This is a regulatory question and therefore RTOs should contact their regulatory body. ASQA has issued a Fact Sheet Meeting trainer and assessor requirements. The arrangements outlined in the fact sheet are made in accordance with the provisions of the Standards for Registered Training Organisations As part of the Standards, an RTO s training and assessment may only be delivered by trainers and assessors who have: the vocational competencies at least to the level being delivered and assessed current industry skills directly relevant to the training and assessment being provided, and current knowledge and skills in vocational training and learning that informs their training and assessment. In addition, training and assessment may only be delivered by persons who have: TAE40110 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, or its successor, or a diploma or higher level qualification in adult education. The RTO must also ensure that all trainers and assessors undertake professional development in the fields of: knowledge and practice of vocational training, and learning and assessment, including competency-based training and assessment For RTOs not registered with ASQA please contact the relevant regulatory body Western Australia Training Accreditation Council (WATAC) or Victorian Registering and Qualifications Authority (VRQA). RTOs must always meet the requirements of their Regulator, if in doubt check in with the Regulator to ensure compliance with the regulations. In the assessment conditions of some units it specifies additional assessor requirements, do I need to meet these? In the assessment conditions of all units in CHC and HLT there is the following statement: Assessors must satisfy the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015/AQTF mandatory competency requirements for assessors. Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 6

7 This statement ensures that assessors meet the requirements as specified by their regulatory body (see previous FAQ on trainer/assessor requirements in the VET sector). In some cases industry has agreed that for assessment of some units the assessor should have additional expertise. An example of this is HLTAIN001 Assist with nursing care in an acute care environment where the assessment conditions states that in addition, be a registered nurse with current registration with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Authority (AHPRA). Considering this example, if your RTO does not have an assessor that is a Registered Nurse then you may be able to co-assess (see earlier FAQ which relates to co-assessment). It is essential that any additional assessor requirements are always met. What happened to the AQF number in the units with this new CHC & HLT coding? The CS&HISC approach to the coding of units is: Training Package identifier- three alpha characters: HLT or CHC HLTAID001 Sequential numeric characters, for example 001,002, alpha characters to denote a sector or skill, in this example AID is for first aid alpha and/or numeric characters that comply with the length specified in the AVETMIS standard (no more than 12 characters.) CS&HISC approach is for 3 alpha characters to denote a sector or skill and sequential numeric characters for example 001,002,003. units of competency do not carry an Australian Qualification Framework level indicator, only a qualification carries this AQF indicator. If you have looked at older unit codes that have a qualification identifier for example HLTFA311A the 3 in this code is the identifier number which refers to the AQF level qualification in which this unit was first listed in the Training Package, and does not indicate that this unit has an AQF level. elective units should be selected on their function and importance to the job role. The application of a unit will describe the functional level of the skill. The application might describe the function as being under supervision, works in collaboration with a team, works independently or autonomously. The title of the unit may also describe the functional level of the unit with verbs such as; follow, comply, participate, implement, facilitate or manage. How do I pitch my assessment tools for a unit of competency to the right AQF level? See answer above regarding units having no AQF level. The assessment requirements for a unit are clearly outlined in the unit. The assessment requirement outlines the performance evidence, knowledge evidence and the assessment conditions under which the assessment must take place. Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 7

8 Assessments tools or instruments should not be pitched at any level. Units of competency are purposely written to describe tasks at different levels of complexity, by developing assessments based on the requirements of the unit you will automatically adhere to the complexity of the unit and therefore the right level would be reached. What happened to entry requirements, are all new qualifications direct entry? Most qualifications in the CHC and HLT Training Packages that have been reviewed to the 2012 Standards for Training Packages have had the entry requirements removed. Each qualification reflects a work outcome and is able to stand alone with all skill requirements to achieve that work outcome articulated within the qualification. There are some advanced diploma and graduate diploma level qualifications in the CHC and HLT Training Packages that will still list a qualification as an entry requirement for a higher level qualification. This was necessary to meet registration for that particular regulated profession. What happened to pre-requisites on units of competency? The job of the Training Package is to clearly articulate industry s skill requirements in terms of outcomes, rather than dictate the way that people may achieve those skills in a huge diversity of workplaces and training organisations. In the workplace, people use and combine skills in many and different ways prerequisites can prevent this from happening. The units have been developed to ensure that any essential underpinning skills and knowledge is embedded into the unit. There are a number of cross sector units packaged in qualifications and content is not specific to that industry, how do I deliver these units? In the recent review of the CHC and HLT Training Packages units have been rationalised to support portability of skills. As a result there are a number of cross sector units which are purposely not specific to any industry sector. These unit(s) should be contextualised to the qualification where it is listed, and the task that is being described should be delivered in the context of that industry. For example, there may be a piece of legislation that is relevant to a sector and should be covered as part of the unit, however any modifications must maintain the integrity of the unit. What is the transition period for revised training package components? This is a regulatory question and therefore RTOs should contact their regulatory body. ASQA have issued a General direction Learner Transition information page. The arrangements outlined in the general direction are made in accordance with the provisions of the Standards for Registered Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 8

9 Training Organisations For RTOs not registered with ASQA please contact the relevant regulatory body Western Australia Training Accreditation Council (WATAC) or Victorian Registering and Qualifications Authority (VRQA). RTOs must always meet the requirements of their Regulator, if in doubt check in with the Regulator to ensure compliance with the regulations. What is the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process between old units and new units? A normal RPL process would apply, it could be simpler or more complex depending on the level of change between the old and new unit. What are nominal hours? Nominal hours are used for funding of units and qualifications, however, they are only anticipated hours and it may mean that quality training and assessment will exceed the nominal hours listed in the purchasing guide. Nominal hours are the anticipated number of hours that are deemed necessary to conduct training and assessment. They do not include the hours associated with non-supervised work experience, field work, work placement or private study. Once a new version of a Training Package is endorsed and received by the Victorian government they develop and release the Purchasing Guide. This includes what they have deemed to be the nominal hours for the endorsed qualifications and units. Most other states and territories will generally accept the nominal hours proposed by Victoria but they do have the right to have purchasing hours that differ from the Victorian Purchasing guide. Some qualifications have specialisations, can a student complete more than one specialisation as part of a qualification? Yes. A student is able to complete multiple specialisations and these should be reflected on the testamur. For example, in the Certificate III in Individual Support if a student completes the Ageing; Home and Community specialisations, the qualification should read; Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing, Home and Community). Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 9

10 How is very detailed knowledge assessed? In some areas, industry has determined the need for very detailed specifications around the scope of knowledge required to demonstrate competency (an example of this would be the specification of muscle knowledge in the massage units). You assess detailed knowledge in the same way that you assess any knowledge. The RTO must use assessment activities that clearly allow candidates to demonstrate their knowledge of all the items specified. I work in disability and only ever work with one person, how can I meet the volume and frequency in the assessment requirements? Not all CHCDIS coded units specify that the tasks must be demonstrated in the workplace, for some unit s demonstration in a simulated environment is sufficient. For those units that do require demonstration in the workplace, such as CHCDIS005, the performance evidence states that the task must be undertaken at least once in the workplace, simulation can be used for additional assessments. Does assessment need to be individual or can assessment be undertaken in a group setting? It is the individual who achieves competency, so the assessor must determine that the individual has provided the required evidence. Group activities may contribute to this determination. How much evidence is enough evidence? Assessment requirements provide a level of specification about the volume of evidence required. However, it is the role of assessors to make professional judgments about whether they have sufficient evidence to make a determination about competency at an individual level. How many face-to-face hours of training are required? The training package is silent on hours of training required and the type of training that must be undertaken; focus is on the outcomes that need to be achieved. Training delivery times vary depending on individual needs and the mode of training. The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) provides broad indicators of the volume of learning required for qualifications at different levels. Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 10

11 Why are CHC and HLT Training Package components not equivalent to their predecessors? In this review CS&HISC aligned units and qualifications to the 2012 Standards for Training Packages and updated current sector roles and service delivery models/approaches. This meant that the changes to the units and qualifications are far reaching and significant. All units in the revised CHC and HLT Training Packages are not equivalent to those they supersede. RTOs will especially notice the new Assessment Requirements which stipulate detailed ranges and frequencies that evidence must be provided for. Furthermore, conditions under which assessment must be undertaken are detailed in the revised units and are mandatory not just advice. While units are not equivalent it should be noted that in many cases an RTOs current resources for training may map well to revised units provided the RTOs have kept abreast of current industry roles, service delivery models and terminologies. However, assessment strategies and evidence gathering requirements will not. RTOs will need to map the revised units to their current resources and identify gaps. In some units there is a requirement for clinic hours under the supervision of an assessor. How does this work with RPL (e.g. for a person coming from overseas seeking recognition) This person would still need to meet the requirements as specified in the units of competency. One of the units requires assessment in a simulated environment and then in the workplace. A candidate has recent experience working in industry and is seeking recognition for a qualification. The candidate has only ever worked in industry, do they have to be assessed in a simulated environment? In this instance the assessor would need to use their professional judgement. The intent is that a candidate is first assessed in a simulated environment to ensure that they have skills prior to being assessed in the workplace. If a person has already been working in industry they would not have to show evidence for being assessed in a simulated environment. However they would need to meet the volume and frequency requirements as stipulated in the assessment requirements. For example if the assessment requirements specified that the task be undertaken 3 times, 1 in a simulated environment and 2 in the workplace, the candidate would have to show workplace evidence for three occasions. If we deliver the Certificate III in Individual Support (Home and Community) does a student have to complete all 120 hours in a home and community setting? The requirement for the qualification is a minimum of 120 hours of work as specified in the performance criteria of CHCCCS023 Support independence and wellbeing: Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 11

12 performed the activities outlined in the performance criteria of this unit during a period of at least 120 hours of direct support work in at least one aged care, home and community, disability or community service organisation. This unit of competency was purposely written like this, it says at least one and lists the different organisations - aged care OR home and community OR disability OR community service. The units of competency in the specialisations of the Certificate III in Individual Support do not have hours attached to them but most of the units do require assessment in the workplace. Only units in the core of the packaging rules have work placement hours. Someone doing a Certificate III in Individual Support (Home and Community) specialisation would need to do a minimum of 120 hours of work (they may need longer to be properly assessed in all components, remember this is a minimum). To meet the requirements of the units some assessment will need to be done in a home and community setting, for example the unit CHCHCS001 Provide home and community support services has to be assessed in the workplace and looking at the performance criteria it s about working in someone s home. However, throughout the Training Package development process stakeholders advised that getting all 120 hours of work in just a home and community setting could be difficult, therefore some of those hours could be done in a residential setting hence the wording in CHCCCS023 Support independence and wellbeing and the different organisations where work placement can take place. Therefore other units in the qualification, such as CHCAGE001 Facilitate the empowerment of older people could be assessed in a residential setting. Someone completing the Certificate III in Individual Support (Home and Community) could NOT do all their work placement in a residential setting because they could not complete the tasks required in CHCHCS001 Provide home and community support services. Does a student need to undertake 240 hours of work if we deliver Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing, home and community)? For someone completing the Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing, home and community) they would be required to complete a minimum of 120 hours, not 240 hours. In this case the 120 hours could be split between home and community and residential setting to ensure the student is assessed in all appropriate work environments. Refer to earlier FAQs about work placement hours. If a student has completed the Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing, home and community) and wants to undertake the disability specialisation (which is listed as a skill set) do they need to undertake another 120 hours? If someone had completed the Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing, home and community) and wanted to broaden their skills and knowledge by undertaking the disability specialisation they would not necessarily need to undertake another 120 hours of work in a disability workplace, work hours are not in the units of the Certificate III in Individual Support specialisations. However, some of the CHCDIS coded units do require assessment in the workplace so a student would need to spend Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 12

13 an appropriate amount of time in a disability workplace to ensure they are properly assessed completing the relevant tasks. The assessment conditions in CHCDIV002 Promote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural safety states that In addition, assessment must involve persons approved of by relevant local community elders, what does this mean? The intent of this statement is to ensure that the assessment process for this unit is culturally safe. The requirement to involve community elders (or the person/s approved by the elders) is not for them to actually undertake the assessment but for them to be involved throughout the writing and planning of the assessment tools to ensure that what is developed is culturally appropriate. Aboriginal communities across Australia are diverse and each may use different imagery, language and therefore may interpret things differently, for example language appropriate in one community may not be culturally appropriate in another. Therefore to ensure that the assessment is culturally safe and relevant for that geographical area the unit specifies involvement of local community elders or the person/s they have deemed appropriate. Do I teach a unit at different levels when it appears in qualifications at different AQF levels, for example the same unit in a Certificate III and a Diploma? No you don t. A unit describes a task or set of procedures and they are purposely written to describe tasks/procedures at different levels of complexity. Units need to be trained and assessed as per the requirements stipulated in that unit, not at the level of the qualification it appears in. For example, a support worker, a team leader and a manager may all need to follow hand washing procedures. The hand washing procedure outlined in the unit will not differ across the different roles. Many units appear across different level qualifications. Some examples of common units you will see doing this include: CHCCOM005 Communicate and work in health or community services CHCCOM002 Use communication to build relationships CHCDIV001 Work with diverse people HLTWHS003 Maintain work health and safety HLTWHS002 Follow safe work practices for direct client care HLTWHS001Participate in workplace health and safety CHCLEG001 Work legally and ethically CHCCCS023 Support independence and well being HLTAAP001 Recognise healthy body systems CHCAGE001 Facilitate the empowerment of older people CHCDIS007 Facilitate the empowerment of people with disability CHCADV001 Facilitate the interests and rights of clients Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 13

14 Questions from students If I am undertaking a qualification that has work placement of 100 hours in one of the units, do I have to spend the whole 100 hours on that unit in the workplace? No. Units of competency in themselves rarely describe a person s whole job, but rather functions within the job. The developers have written the units in this way so that candidates gain work experience in the whole job, and can use that work experience as part of the performance evidence for individual units of competency. Can my supervisor sign me off to say that I am competent in the units? It is the responsibility of the Registered Training Organisation to provide qualified assessors and those assessors make the decisions about competency. Your organisation may be asked to help gather some of the evidence required and your supervisor may be able to provide some of that evidence. Unless the supervisor is a qualified RTO assessor and there is a formal agreement between the RTO in which you are enrolled and your supervisor that person will not be able to make the sole decision about whether you have achieved competency in the units. For more information, see the RTO regulator factsheet about Third Party Evidence. Can I satisfy my workplace requirement across a number of organisations? Yes you can. It will be important to keep a log book, a diary, timesheets or some other time based evidence that you have been performing the activities. It will be important to document which activities were performed where. As with any other assessment evidence, it will need to meet the rules of evidence. Can I count past work experience towards my work place requirement? Like all other evidence collected for assessment, the work experience component must meet the rules of evidence. One of those rules is currency. The evidence must be current, meaning either now, or in the recent past. The assessor will need to make a judgment about your evidence and you would also need to show that the work experience you undertook in the past included performing the activities outlined in the performance criteria of the relevant units. Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 14

15 Can I count paid employment towards my work place requirement? Yes. There is no difference in relation to assessment evidence, between volunteer work, paid work, work experience, clinical placements, or work placement. What the assessor is trying to determine is whether you performed the activities outlined in the performance criteria of the relevant units. I want to do multiple specialisations in a qualification but there are not enough electives available in the packaging rules. How can I attain these extra skills? Students can do more units than what is specified in the qualification however they will have to complete them as individual units (separate to the qualification). Most specialisations are also available as skill sets so a student could complete additional specialisations, once the qualification has been completed, by enrolling in the skill set. Do I have to do the electives that the RTO specifies? A student has the right to undertake any elective listed either in the qualification or units which comply with the packaging rules of the qualification. This does not mean that an RTO must offer every elective listed. The RTO may not have qualified trainers able to deliver the elective or it may not be economically viable for the RTO to deliver the elective. If a student wishes to undertake an elective their current RTO does not offer, they are able to find any other RTO that delivers the unit and is willing to train them in that unit. Once they have been deemed competent they would then take their Statement of Attainment to the original RTO for proof of completion of the qualification requirements. The student would be responsible for the discussion with all RTOs involved about the costs and associated fees. This could lead to a greater cost to the student. It may also have implications depending on the funding arrangement for the qualification being undertaken. Will my older qualification be recognised? Individuals who have completed Nationally Recognised Training (NRT) qualifications or units of competency prior to the 2012 Standards for Training Package will not have to automatically update their skills and knowledge. Individuals should seek information from industry as to the qualification or skills and knowledge required for the job role. If the industry requirement is to upgrade skills and knowledge this can be achieved through a Registered Training Organisation (RTO). RTOs are required to recognise an individual s previously obtained NRT qualifications. Individuals should seek recognition of prior learning for the skills and knowledge already achieved against any new requirements in qualifications or units of competency. Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 15

16 Questions from Employers Am I required to pay students who are working in my organisation as part of a work placement organised by the RTO? The short answer is NO, as long as the person is on what FairWork Australia refers to as Vocational Placement. FairWork Australia has produced a factsheet which makes it clear that under the FairWork Act there are conditions which must be met for a person to be recognised as being on a vocational placement. These conditions can be summarised as: must be a placement, arranged by the training provider or student as a course requirement must be no entitlement to pay placement must be done as a requirement of an education or training course placement must be approved (all RTOs that are implementing the requirements of units of competency will meet this as they are approved by their regulator to deliver the program You can choose to pay the student, and if you have people working for you in a casual, part time or full time capacity their work can be used to count towards the assessment requirement for them to undertake a particular number of hours of work experience. What type of insurance is required to cover students in the workplace? Legal and insurance requirements vary between states and territories, and RTOs must undertake their own research to ensure local requirements are met. RTOs and Enterprises must ensure that the student is working in a safe environment and the business will still have a duty of care to the student. Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council 16