Over the next 12 months or so two projects are under way to revise the national qualifications and skills standards that capture skills in sawmilling and timber processing, and responding and assisting during bushfires. The processes to review, update and develop these skills standards is being driven by industry. We encourage your input. Follow the links below for further details.
Responding and Assisting in Bushfires Project
Forestry operators, arborists and other service providers can play an important role in minimising the risk of bushfires and cleaning up after them. They have a responsibility to maintain the appropriate skills in preparation for this work, which can be challenging and unpredictable.
The 2019-2020 bushfires and subsequent Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements highlighted the importance of skills in mechanical thinning, effective communication and awareness of hazards associated with recovery activities.
Consultation will take place throughout this project to identify and address skills gaps for responding to bushfires.
For more information, visit the project page.
Sawmilling and Timber Processing Project
As the sawmilling and engineered wood products sectors deliver environmentally sustainable solutions for building construction, the skills needs of the industry are changing. Updated technical and digital skills are required, as workplaces invest in state-of-the-art equipment to produce innovative products, including cross laminated timber (CLT) and glue laminated timber (GLT).
Industry is driving this project to update qualifications and skills standards for the sawmilling, timber processing and wood manufactured products sectors. They will be revised to include the skills required to optimise output, work with new processes, perform quality control, and meet chain of custody requirements, as well as to operate and monitor automated wood processing technologies and continuous drying kilns.
Consideration will be given to simplifying training delivery by consolidating the qualifications at Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) levels II and III, so that there is one timber and wood processing qualification at each of these levels, with specialisations to allow learners to focus on a particular skill area.
For more information, visit the project page.
