Case for change

With these factors in mind, industry has recommend implementing a strategic approach to reviewing the AHC Training Package. This involves identifying and reviewing units by their sector classification rather than by their listing in qualifications. This approach should significantly increase the speed of review of all qualifications, units of competency and skill sets within the AHC Training Package, while minimising the burden of voluntary support on industry.

The Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) approved this project out of the Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation and Land Management Industry Sector IRC Skills Forecast and Proposed Schedule of Work 2019-2022 (see pages 32-43).

Skills Impact and the Amenity Horticulture, Landscaping, Conservation & Land Management Industry Reference Committee (IRC) will manage this project, consistent with the 2012 Standards for Training Package Development.

Download Project Proposal (see pages 32-43)

Project Plan

In order to ensure qualifications are relevant to the specific and varied demands of this sector, this review will be informed by consultation with geographically and culturally diverse stakeholders. The project will also focus on how to better support skills in field work, particularly in the areas of flora, fauna and ecology.

Project Scope

The purpose of this project is to review units relating to conservation and land management, including the sub-sectors of lands, parks and wildlife; natural area restoration; conservation earthworks and pest management. Relevant units in fire, fauna and explosives will also be reviewed and up to ten new skill sets developed.

Opportunities for stakeholder input

Stakeholder input is appreciated throughout the duration of this project. The documents will be drafted in consultation with Subject Matter Experts and their networks. Opportunities to provide targeted feedback will occur when the draft materials are made available in November 2019, and again for validation of final drafts in January 2020. However, your feedback is welcomed at any time, and will help us in drafting the qualifications, skill set and units. It is important that training provides a skilled and flexible workforce for the future. As such the qualifications, skill sets and units need to reflect real work experience. So, if you work in the sector, Skills Impact would love your input and help. Please feel free to register your interest for project updates and consultation opportunities by following the newsletter subscription link below. Alternatively, please feel free to contact the project manager, William Henderson on 03 9321 3526 or [email protected].

Stakeholder Consultation Process

A list of key stakeholder organisations has been identified for this project. Skills Impact will ensure contact is made with each of these organisations during the development of this project to seek their involvement and their views on the draft qualifications, skill sets and units.

If you are aware of an organisation that you think should be involved, please contact the project team to ensure they are contacted by us.

Of course, all and any interested industry participants are encouraged to engage in the consultation of this project, when the draft qualifications, skill sets and units are available for feedback via this webpage and workshops that take place around Australia. Consultation is not limited to the organisations on this list. This list simply helps us to identify those organisations that, because of their industry role, size or specialty, are likely to have a key interest in the development and outcomes of this project.

Development

With ecosystems being so fragile and complicated, and the challenges they face diverse, today’s conservation and land management workers need to hone an impressive set of skills and build the knowledge to successfully face these challenges.

Subject Matter Experts are being consulted to review the structure of the qualifications. A site visit to the City Council of Glenorchy in Hobart has also taken place, to see firsthand the work of conservation and land management workers in the field, to inform the writing of the qualifications and units of competency. This complements earlier work during the scoping stage when Skills Impact visited several other organisations.

In total, 9 qualifications and 70 units are under review. Feedback so far suggests some qualifications may need to be merged into one qualification with a wider scope. Skills sets and specialisations within the qualifications may be developed to support the specific job roles. This will allow students to access units required for their purposes, tailored to suit different environments and tasks. It would also allow registered training organisations to put the qualification on scope and specialise it to tailor the needs of their local students.

Consultation Workshops – Registrations Open!

The draft qualifications and units will be made available on this webpage for broad stakeholder consultation and feedback in November (under the ‘Drafts Available’ menu above). We welcome your feedback and advice on the draft skills standards in this time. Face-to-face consultation workshops will also take place, with a webinar planned for those unable to attend in person. Registrations for these workshops are now open. Register for a workshop near you by clicking the corresponding link.

Face-to-face consultation workshops

Thursday 7 November, 9.30am – 12pm Hobart – register here

Friday 8 November, 9.30am – 12pm Launceston – register here

Tuesday 12 November, 9.30am – 12pm Adelaide – register here

Wednesday 13 November, 9.30am – 12pm Perth – register here

Thursday 14 November, 9.30am – 12pm Broome – register here

Tuesday 19 November, 9.30am – 12pm Sydney – register here

Wednesday 20 November, 9.30am – 12pm Brisbane – register here

Thursday 21 November, 9.30am – 12pm Melbourne – register here

Tuesday 26 November, 9.30am – 12pm Darwin – register here

Consultation webinar

Thursday 28 November, 9am to 11am AEST – webinar – register here

Friday 29 November, 1pm to 3pm AEST – webinar – register here

Drafts Available

Key Changes

Changes to the documents included the amalgamation of the Certificate IIIs in Conservation Earthworks; Natural Area Restoration; Land, Parks and Wildlife; and Conservation and Land Management into a single new Certificate III in Conservation and Land Management, with streams of study for each sub-sector. There was also space for further streams if recommended, and a generalist qualification can still be attained.

All units were updated to enhance their ecological aspects and to take into account changing environments, giving them flexibility for use in the future.

Twelve additional new units were also added during this stage, to cover skills in marine, fire, natural area restoration, ecology, and sub-sectors, after industry input made the need for these skills apparent.

Final drafts will be made available again for review and validation in March. A summary of the feedback and how it was addressed in the final drafts will also be available.

Qualifications

Units of Competency

Summary of consultation to date

The draft qualifications and units have been drafted in consultation with Subject Matter Experts. They have considered feedback that was received out of Workforce Functional Analysis workshops in August. People working directly in the conservation and land management sectors participated and provided information on the skills and knowledge required for job roles and tasks. Site visits were undertaken to observe these job roles in workplaces, to see firsthand the work of conservation and land management workers in the field. This has informed the writing of the qualifications and units of competency.

As part of broad industry feedback on the documents, feedback was invited on whether the draft units and qualifications reflect the current skills standards and practices of industry, and whether job functions are accurately described. In particular feedback was sought on terminology and whether it encompassed all different unit sectors, while not excluding a specific environment type.

As part of industry consultation on the initial draft documents, the need for additional new units in marine, fire, natural area restoration and ecology sub-sectors became apparent. These were made available for review from mid-December 2019 until 2 February 2020. An additional new unit was made available for initial review and feedback between February 21 and March 18. It captures the skills and knowledge for conducting a site inspection and assessing the condition and recovery potential of the site’s native ecosystem. All additional units have now been updated and are available for further feedback as part of the Validation process.

Thank you to those who provided feedback during these activities.

Validation

Key Changes

Prior to validation, the drafts were revised so that the qualifications better reflect job functions and the range of tasks that conservation and land management workers are required to perform. This included:

• The amalgamation of the Certificate III level qualification into a single new Certificate III in Conservation and Land Management, with streams of study for each sub-sector while maintaining the possibility of a generalist qualification.
• The proposed deletion of the unit AHCNAR201 Carry out natural area restoration works, as industry feedback indicated it does not accurately describe current job roles. It it proposed to be replaced with the new unit AHCECR2XX Perform basic ecological restoration works, which includes the technical detail needed to support skills in ecology, including understanding of environments, how they function and how to conserve them.
• The development of 18 new units of competency including:
  • Six marine units, to address the need for skills to perform conservation and land management activities in a marine environment
  • Six new units in Natural Area Restoration (or Ecological Restoration), which address the need for fieldwork skills, particularly digital skills, site inspections, and skills in restoration, regeneration and reconstruction
  • Four units to address skills for using new technology and processes developed in the area of Lands, Parks and Wildlife, including skills in data, biodiversity monitoring, using a GPS and operating a remotely piloted system
  • New units for identifying flora and fauna, conducting ecological burning, and recognising landforms and soil types
  • Two new skill sets to provide access to skills standards relating to the job task of seed processing and the basics of ranger work.

Summary of consultation to date

Thank you to those stakeholders who provided feedback on the drafts that were made available from 4 November 2019 to 31 January 2020, under the ‘Drafts Available’ stage. During this time, feedback was collected via the online feedback hub, nine national face-to-face consultation workshops, two webinars, by phone call and email. The units were drafted with guidance from Subject Matter Experts, made up of workplace experts and industry.

During broad industry consultation on the initial draft documents it became apparent that there was need for additional new drafts to be developed. These were made available for review in mid-December 2019, until 2 February 2020. These units cover the marine, fire, natural area restoration and ecology sub-sectors. Another additional unit for skills in ecological restoration was made available from 21 February until March 18. All additional units have now been revised to incorporate industry feedback and are available for further feedback as part of the validation process.

A description of how feedback has been considered and applied in these final drafts can be downloaded below. Please click the ‘Download Summary of Feedback, Responses and Actions’ button.

Qualifications & Skill Sets

Units of Competency