What's competency?
Competency is the ability to …

• do the particular required task
• manage several different tasks within a job
• handle irregularities in a routine and respond appropriately to the unexpected
• deal with the responsibilities of the workplace, including working with others

Competency standards are nationally agreed, industry written lists of the competencies that people need, in order to work effectively in the building and construction industry.
Standards are developed in consultation with industry, and are trialled in workplaces to make sure they are accurate. The Training Package bases training and assessment on competency standards, giving businesses confidence that a person is competent to work in the industry.

The range of variables in each standard allows for a wide range of equipment and ways of working. The evidence guide gives the minimum range that can be used to assess a person's competence. Businesses can select the variables that are relevant to the way they do business. To ensure national consistency, the elements and performance criteria can't be changed.

Decide the organisation Responsible for Training / assessment
With traditional apprenticeships, the nearest TAFE usually did the training and assessment. The governments' Apprenticeships program now allows a much wider range of organisations to deliver training and assess people, using a Training Package. Many building and construction industry businesses, private trainers and assessors, and interstate organisations are now registered training organisations.

Choose your registered training organisation (RTO).

Options for businesses / individuals are …

• if you want training and assessment, use any RTO registered for both training and assessment in your area of interest
• if you want assessment only, use an RTO registered to assess only. For example, a person or their employer might believe the person to be fully competent

Options for businesses are …

• form a partnership with an RTO

An RTO …

• is any organisation that has been registered by a State or Territory training authority to deliver training and conduct assessments using a Training Package
• can operate anywhere in Australia
• can issue qualifications that are recognised anywhere in Australia
• must operate in accordance with the national principles, standards and protocols that make up the Australian Recognition Framework

All RTOs are not alike. Their cultures, practices and products vary widely. A partnership requires both organisations to consider what they want out of the relationship (and what they are prepared to put in); and to consider the strengths and weaknesses of their potential partners.

• Try answering the questions below. The ability of a business to answer these questions, and its level of confidence in answering, may give its management a good idea as to whether they should seriously consider registering with a training organisation or not.

Your State or Territory industry training body can help you choose an RTO.

Questions for businesses

• Why is the business investing in training and assessment?
• What does the business want to achieve from their investment?
• What do they expect their level of involvement to be?
• What time, equipment, money and other resources do they intend to contribute … and with what constraints?
• How well set up is the business to make training a part of everyday work, in all the areas in which training is needed?

Consider some of these ways that you might work in partnership with an RTO.

Business RTO Assessment

• Managers, other workers help with the assessment
• Business staff conduct assessments
• RTO assessors conduct assessments or
• RTO coordinates assessment and is responsible for quality

Training

• Business specifies what training happens, and agrees with the RTO when, where and how it happens
• Business handles on-the-job training
• RTO does off-the-job training
• RTO coordinates all training

Qualifications

• RTO issues statements of attainment and qualifications

A person gets a nationally-recognised industry qualification when they are assessed as competent in a group of competency standards in a Training Package. Each competency standard counts toward a specific qualification, at a specific level.

Make this choice by: - looking at the core (mandatory) standards and the choices available from the bigger group of elective standards that make up each qualification. The person and their employer can negotiate with the training organisation to have a training program, and a qualification, made up of their choice of elective standards (plus, of course, the core standards) - estimating the most appropriate certificate level for the person.

Certificate I in Construction

Certificate II in Civil Construction

Certificate III in Civil Construction

• Civil Construction (Pipelaying)
• Civil Construction (Plant)
• Civil Construction (Road Construction & Maintenance)

A new qualification system officially took over at the beginning of 1999 from the old system, which included trade qualifications. 1999 and 2000 are transition years, with the mix of new qualifications and old qualifications differing between States and Territories, according to their rate of implementing the new system.

Consider the differences between certificates when choosing a qualification.

Certificate I

• A vocational education and training in schools qualification
• A person with this qualification can do a limited range of tasks and roles, under direct supervision; has basic practical skills (for example, the ability to use some tools); and can do routine tasks, given clear direction

Certificate II

• Many labourers / trades assistants start at Certificate II
• A person with this qualification has basic operational knowledge in a limited range of areas; can apply defined skills to perform tasks where there is a limited range of options; can follow complex instructions and procedures; can assess and record information from varied sources; can work under general supervision; can apply known solutions to a limited range of predictable problems.

Certificate III

• Trade qualification
• The qualification for a person with significant industry competence

A person with this qualification can demonstrate some relevant theoretical knowledge; has well-developed skills; can interpret available information using discretion and judgement; can work with limited supervision; can solve predictable problems; can take limited responsibility for the work of others

Statement of attainment

• This qualification is for a person who is assessed as competent in some, but not all, of the standards that make up a qualification
• Other registered training organisations will recognise the competencies on the statement of attainment
• The person can keep training, and be assessed, later on, until they are competent in all the standards for the qualification

To choose a qualification ...

• a person and their employer should choose the qualification together
• look for a qualification in an area the person is motivated to work in, and which suits the employer's business needs
• look at other qualifications and their standards, to see if there is something that suits better
• do all the core standards, plus the required number of elective standards. A person can also do electives from other qualifications, but these won't necessarily count toward the main qualification
• the choice of qualification might change after their current competence is assessed .

Training Package qualifications certify that the person is competent to the specified industry competency standards, in everyday working conditions. Under the old apprenticeship system, training organisations often didn't really know what their apprentice was doing on-the-job, and often didn't build it into their organised training. And vice versa for the employer. Training Packages are designed for registered training organisations (RTOs) and businesses that work closely together, with businesses providing planned training on-the-job.

• Consider what type of work experience the person is going to have, in order to be competent to industry standards.
• Negotiate the following things between the RTO, the employer and the person being trained / assessed. Under the governments' Apprenticeships program, all parties are entitled to negotiate these things.

The content

• A person's qualification, and the elective standards within the qualification
• A choice of standards based on the business' need

Where

• On-the-job or off-the job, or a combination of the two

How

• The training methods used
• The specific equipment used

A person should be assessed when they and their assessor think they are competent to the specified competency standards.
A person who is assessed as competent against a standard will be credited with the standard for their qualification.
This means that people with industry competence should be assessed before their training needs are considered. This process is called ‘recognition of prior learning’ or ‘recognition of current competence’.

The assessment decision is made by comparing the EVIDENCE of competence that has been collected with specific CRITERIA in each competency standard. The criteria by which candidates are assessed are specified in the industry competency standards The assessor then decides whether the person is competent, or not yet competent. This is a different approach from some traditional methods, such as pass marks.

• Consider the benefits of an initial assessment.

Initial assessment …

• establishes the person's current competence (which, if they have been in the industry for a long time, may be high)
• Allows the person to have the standards in which they are competent credited to their qualification
• identifies the remaining standards (and the training) they need for their qualification
• prevents wasted time and money training a person in things they are already competent to do
• indicates the best level qualification for them
• reduces the time taken to get a qualification, which can motivate the person
• allows the person to reconsider their choice of qualification, and choose something more suitable

Consider assessing …

• existing workers with industry experience
• workers from other industries who may have skills that apply to this industry
• people who through voluntary work, hobbies or life experience generally are likely to have relevant skills

Assessments are conducted …

• in line with the nationally-endorsed assessment guidelines
• using an Individual training / assessment plan
• using the learning materials for each standard, that suggest an assessment approach and provide activities to gather evidence of the person's competence

Training fills the gap between a person's current competence, and the competence required by industry competency standards.

A qualification does not reflect the time a person has spent doing a training course: it reflects their competence against an industry standard. There are many types of training that can make a person competent.

Training at a training institution

• The traditional type of building and construction training (apprentices)

Training based on regular work

• Skills and knowledge are gained through regular work
• Training might be via courses or programs, or by informal methods

Training arranged by the individual learner

• The trainee organises their own learning, via printed, computer-based or audiovisual materials
• They use work and life experience to become competent

Training based on a combination of the approaches above

• Approaches can be combined to best suit the needs of the employer, trainee and training organization

What's different in training package training?

Training package training is different because ...

• training takes place both on-the-job and off-the job
• training focuses on topics in which the person is not yet competent
• the person trains at their own pace (rather than at a group pace) and finishes the training as soon as they are assessed as competent
• training is based on industry standards, rather than on a training institution's curriculum

Training is conducted …

• in the ways that the trainer, employer and person being trained consider the most appropriate: there are no national guidelines for training methods
• according to the Individual training / assessment plan
• using the learning materials for each standard, that provide information and training activities

Q: I've been a plant operator since I started with my uncle as a teenager back in the early 1990s. I've done scaffolding and concrete work, too. My uncle thinks I should run the business one day, and that I need to get more training. How should I go about it?

1. Decide which Training Package is for you

• Civil Construction
• Local Government (Operational Works)
• Transport & Distribution (Road Transport, Mobile Cranes)

2. Read the industry competency standards

• You need to see which standards you think you are competent in, and others you would like to be competent in

Your qualification will be based on what you saw in step 2

You, your uncle and the RTO will work together to decide where, when and how training and assessment take place

6. Assess the person's competence

• You will gather evidence of your current competence for your assessor, who might decide to collect more evidence