BUSINESS
TRAINING FOR OPERATIONAL STAFF: THE NATIONAL WATER INDUSTRY TRAINING PACKAGE 2000 Th is package was endorsed in 1999 and is the culmjnation oflong and significant efforts o f many cont rib u tin g organisations to industry and training reform agendas that have been ongoing since the early 1990's. Austra lia now has nationally recognised, tra nspo r ta ble and eq uitabl e q u a Ii f i c a t i o n s b a s e d u p o n t h e achievement of "competencies" that more truly reflect current business needs of modern industry. A revision of this package referred to as the harmonised package is due for endorsement later this year. This new version wi!J include a Certifi cate IV in Water Industry Operations. At least two major Centres are now offering relevant courses for Australian operators.
Rod Arthur, Director and Don Mackay, Principal Teacher, Open Learning Institute of TAFE, recognise Lew Maguire's (right) contribution to Operations training through 30 years.
The Open Learning Institute in Brisbane
The Water Industry Training Centre, Geelong, Victoria
This governm ent educational institution has long been a foc us for training throughou t Q ueensland, under the aegis of Principal T eacher, Don Mackay T he new courses at OLI have been w ritten to comply with th e National Water Industry Training Package 2000 requirements and provide the substance behind the rhetoric of training fo r the nati ona!Jy recognised Certificate II and III in Water Industry Operations. C urrently O LI has chosen to concentrate its development resou rces on the fields of Water and Wastewater T reatment Plant Operation. Gone are the days when a student had to pass a number of subjects to achieve a qu ali fication. Studen ts in today's environment w i!J be expected to dem onstrate "competence" in their field of study as required under the National Training Package guidelines. At OLI, all courses are provided through the distance education mode and can be substantia!Jy completed at their own workplace under superv1S1on of in-house staff and O LI teachers. Further information from Don Mackay, 0 7 3259 4282 email Donald.Mackay@det.qld.gov.a11
T he need for formal operator training was recognised in the 1970s by th e Victorian Branch of the Australian Water and W astewater Association, and with the cooperation of the government authorities of the day a T raining Centre was set up in 1978. It was origina!Jy based in Werribee, close to M elbourne Water's W estern Treatment Plant, but moved to D eakin University in 1996, continuing to provide a structured training program, which is consistent with the N ational Package. "The W ater Industry Training Centre P ty Ltd." was established in 200 1 and now owns the assets of the Governm ent Business Enterprise, and has th ree Directors, John Park, Stephen W ilson and Ken H erbert. The new organisation is a R egistered Training Organisation with authority to deliver the National Water Indust1y Trairung Package. It still operates from the campus of Deakin U niversity, Geelo n g, and offers tra ining both nationally and internationally, available in several delive1y modes which include: • Off-j o b training at the Ce ntre (regul arly scheduled) • Off-job training at regional centres (on request)
• Distance learning modules • On-job competency assessment by an Assessor The basic certificates and uruts of competency are su mmarised in Table 1. Each provider has their own system for running the necessary courses. For example, the Queensland O LI course fo r the technical competency fo r Certificate II , wate r treatmen t is as shown in Table 1.
The course structure fo r the Techrucal Competency for Ce rtific ate Ill , Wastewater T reatment, is shown in Table
3. Other streams in the National Package are So urce Mana ge m e nt , Wa t er Di st r ib u tion System O p eration , Wastewa t er Collection System Operation. Simila r mixes of course work and onthe-job tra irung are run by the Water Industry Training Centre in Geelong. This Centre regula rl y co n ducts training p rograms in Victoria an d Tasmania but has also recently provided training in New South Wales, South Australia and Indonesia. Further information from John Park 03 5244 0800 , ema il parky @ deakill. edit. au WATER DECEMBER 2001
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