Government Skills Australia is the industry skills council for government and community safety. Government Skills Australia is committed to providing high quality training resources and services to support the recognition of skills and professionalism in government administration, services and operations.
Effective and professional services in government depend on a highly skilled and responsive workforce. These skills are essential components in building the capability of Australia through its advanced and complex economic system and the productivity of industry and community.
Government Skills Australia (GSA) has recently commenced a project to enhance and extend the Local Government Training Package LGA04. This project is part of GSA’s commitment to the continuous improvement of the Training Packages for which the Industry Skills Council has stewardship.
The continuous improvement of Training Packages recognises that Training Packages are the key products that underpin the nation’s vocational education and training (VET) system and have a central role to play in the ongoing skill development of the workforce.
Since the endorsement of the Local Government Training Package in 2004 there have been many changes in the operating environment of the nation’s Councils and Shires. Key among these are the pressures to attract and retain staff in many areas of core business such as planning and environmental health.
There have also been changes to the national VET system since 2004, including the capacity to add high level Vocational Graduate Certificates and Vocational Graduate Diplomas to Training Packages.
It is therefore timely to review the needs of the Local Government sector and undertake enhancements to the Training Package that will provide ongoing support for the sector.
The continuous improvement project is not a wholesale review and redevelopment of the Training Package but it does provide an opportunity for refining the package and to address identified gaps. Within the scope of this current project, GSA will be:
- developing up to 30 new units of
competency - reviewing the packaging rules for
qualifications to provide increased
flexibility - addressing identified needs for smaller ‘packages’ of units of competency,
now referred to as Skill Sets. These
will support specialist areas within Local
Government that perhaps do not require
a full qualification.
The input of Local Government practitioners is of course vital to the success of this project and GSA welcomes interested stakeholders to become involved.
To find out more about this project, and other projects that GSA is working on to assist with the training needs of Local Government, visit the GSA website at
www.governmentskills.com.au or contact the GSA Local Government Industry Liaison Officer, Joan Whelan, on (03) 9349 3911
or joan.whelan@governmentskills.com.au
*Copy supplied by Government Skills Australia
