45th Meeting of the Australian Industry and Skills Committee
Training Packages: Project/Policy Issues
Update on MEA Aeroskills Project – Stage 2 (Alignment with CASA Regulations)
The Committee welcomed Mr Russell Burgess, Chair, Aerospace Industry Reference Committee (IRC), who provided an update on the MEA Aeroskills Project – Stage 2 (Alignment with Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) Regulations).
Members noted the significance of this project, particularly with respect to ensuring alignment between CASA regulations with aircraft maintenance qualifications. With this in mind, the AISC welcomed the fact that the first public consultation is scheduled to take place in late April 2022. Members thanked the IRC for their effort in progressing the project to this stage and reiterated the offer to assist in future, if required.
Revisions to the IRC Operating Framework
The Committee agreed revisions to the IRC Operating Framework to include new conflict of interest clauses that will provide clarity around the management of conflicts of interest in IRC decision-making. Members also approved a range of supporting material to assist IRC’s in implementing best practice conflict of interest arrangements.
Update on Review of Mandatory Workplace Requirements (MWR) – Report and Guidelines
Members approved the release of the good practice guide: Mandatory Workplace Requirements – On the Mark: 5 Good Practice Principles (the Guide), which aims to provide consistency and clarity to training product developers when determining, justifying, and drafting MWR for inclusion in training products.
The Guide was commissioned by the AISC Emergency Response Sub-Committee in 2020, following its review of national training products containing MWR. One of the findings of that review was that MWR are often expressed differently within nationally recognised training products, creating challenges around interpretation.
The Guide, which was informed by extensive consultations with stakeholders over the course of 2021, is framed around the application of five good practice principles when developing training products and sets out a series of steps that should be followed in the training product development process.
Members also agreed the Guide be shared with existing key training product development stakeholders, including SSOs and IRCs.
In addition, the Committee agreed to the recommendation to update the Case for Change and Case for Endorsement templates, to ensure requirements and evidence in support of MWR are clear. The new templates should be used for any training products going to the AISC from August 2022 onwards.
CPC Construction Plumbing and Services Training Package – Silica Safety Project
The AISC noted the extremely serious and significant health and safety impacts caused by exposure to crystalline silica and discussed its desire to ensure all workers at risk have access to appropriate, nationally recognised training in this area. In this regard, the Committee noted the IRC’s view that silica safety training should span a wide variety of qualifications as well as stages of the supply chain from manufacturing through to demolition. It also noted the IRC’s view that silica safety training should be a sector wide requirement for the building and construction industry.
While setting minimum training requirements for industry is a matter for licensing bodies and regulators and goes beyond the remit of the AISC, members were satisfied the training products had been developed in accordance with the Training Package Development and Endorsement Process Policy and the IRC Operating Framework, and that there was sufficient evidence of industry support and demand for the project, including from work health safety regulators.
On that basis, the AISC agreed to approve the units as drafted and has also directed the IRC and SSO to include further detailed instructions (in consultation with work health safety regulators) within the Companion Volume to support the safe delivery of training, particularly regarding the clean-up of dust and slurry in workplaces.
Although the proposed units of competency will be housed within three existing qualifications within the Construction, Plumbing and Services (CPS) training package, the AISC agreed they had been drafted in a way that would allow them to be readily contextualised for other occupations and sectors. Should the units be endorsed by Skills Ministers, the AISC strongly recommends that industry clusters in the construction industry (and any other sector where workers are exposed to crystalline silica) should carefully consider the merits of importing these units into relevant qualifications to ensure all affected workers are supported to work safely in this area.
Cases for Endorsement
The Committee considered the following new Cases for Endorsement for referral to Skills Ministers.
| IRC | Details of submission | AISC Decision |
| Construction, Plumbing and Services IRC
CPC Construction Plumbing and Services Training Package – Silica Safety Project |
The Case for Endorsement includes:
|
Approved the training product for endorsement |
| Client Services IRC
CHC Community Services Training Package – Financial Counselling |
The Case for Endorsement includes:
|
Approved the training products for endorsement |
| Education IRC
TAE Training and Education Training Package – Online Learning and Assessment Project |
The Case for Endorsement includes:
|
Approved the training products for endorsement |
| Tourism, Travel and Hospitality IRC
SIT Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Training Package V2.0 – Hospitality and Events |
The Case for Endorsement includes:
|
Approved the training products for endorsement |
| Electricity Supply Transmission, Distribution and Rail IRC
UET Transmission, Distribution and Rail Sector Training Package Release 3.0 |
The Case for Endorsement includes:
Project A: Transmission Structures
|
Approved the training products for endorsement |
| Public Safety IRC
PUA Public Safety Training Package Release 4.0 – National Recovery Training Program |
The Case for Endorsement includes:
|
Approved the training products for endorsement |
Cases for Change
The Committee considered the following Cases for Change projects, which will be expected to meet transition timeframes.
| IRC | Details of submission | AISC Decision | ||
| Public Safety IRC
POL Police Training Package – Police Community, Liaison and Forensic Investigation |
This Case for Change includes:
|
Approved updates to the following three qualifications:
Not approve updates to the following two qualifications:
|
||
| Electricity Supply Transmission, Distribution and Rail IRC
UET Transmission, Distribution and Rail Sector Training Package – Powerline Safety |
This Case for Change includes:
|
Approved to proceed to training package development | ||
Next meeting: The next AISC meeting will be held on Wednesday 1 June 2022.
Download the Communique as a PDF here.