In July 2021, the Department of Education, Skills and Employment commissioned Australian Industry Standards (AIS) to identify common competency requirements for job roles related to disaster recovery. The Additional Activities to support a National Recovery Training Program project (the Project) aimed to support the development and capability of the recovery workforce and increased interoperability across government and non‑government organisations. The Final Report from AIS has now been released.
Underpinning the Project were the findings and recommendations of the 2020 Royal Commission into National Disaster Arrangements and subsequent work. This stressed the importance of a national approach to recovery competencies and training pathways to support interoperability and sharing of human and physical resources across the country.
Through stakeholder consultation, a Skills Audit, and International Benchmarking, the Project identified that:
- There are very few accredited recovery-related vocational competencies and professional development courses globally, and most recovery work relies on grants and funding provided after disaster events. Australia is leading the way in its intentions to build national recovery capability in a proactive, long-term way.
- Current nationally accredited training products meet around half of the competencies required for recovery roles. Additionally, significant gaps exist at mid-tier team leader level and in more specific aspects of recovery work.
- Existing accredited units of competency (referred to in this report as ‘units’) do not meet the need for basic skills in psychological first aid needed by recovery workers working in the community.
- Existing non-accredited training has the potential to inform content development for recommended new units.
The Project’s recommendations are to develop the following training products for inclusion in the Public Safety (PUA) training package:
- Two new qualifications, one at Diploma and one at Advanced Diploma level.
- Seven new skill sets, including two skill sets addressing the fundamentals of recovery which can be used across all areas of recovery work.
- Seven new units, including a unit that supports the application of psychological first aid in a community recovery context.
At its 1 December 2021 meeting, the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) tasked the Public Safety Industry Reference Committee (IRC) to address this identified gap, with the finalised capability matrix to inform training product development by identifying job roles and associated skills needs.
The first tranche of training products was endorsed by the AISC in April 2022. This project is due to be completed by August 2022.