COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

> Qualifications & Pathways • Traineeships • VET In Schools • Peak Bodies & Key Stakeholders • Resources

NSW Context

Community development is a specialist area of community services work which is concerned with developing the capacity of communities. Common areas of work are health promotion, public education about issues relevant to the community, advocacy of community groups and consultation within the community to determine needs and strategies to meet these needs.

Community development workers are often employed by local councils, neighbourhood centres and organisations that support specific groups of people. Although workers are generally working with one specific target group or community at a time, the skills gained in the qualifications are relevant to a wide range of areas.

Changes to OH&S

The Commonwealth and each state and territory government have agreed to harmonise their work health and safety laws, including Regulations and Codes of Practice, so that they are similar in each jurisdiction.

The Commonwealth, states and territories are responsible for making and enforcing their own work health and safety laws. Although there are many similarities between the laws there are also some differences that can cause confusion. Australian workers should be entitled to the same work health and safety standards, regardless of the jurisdiction in which they operate.

This regulatory inconsistency is being addressed through an intergovernmental agreement(IGA) where, for the first time, governments from each state and territory and the Commonwealth have formally committed to harmonise work health and safety laws by developing and adopting a model Work Health and Safety Act supported by model Regulations and model Codes of Practice. The intention is to deliver the same work health and safety protections to all Australians. For more information click here

Qualifications and Pathways

CHC40808 Certificate IV in Community Development

CHC50708 Diploma of Community Development

CHC42810 Certificate IV in Community Services (Development and/or Humanitarian Assistance)

CHC52310 Diploma of Community Services (Developmnet and/or Humanitarian Assistance)

Recognition

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is a significant pathway for candidates to attain a national training package qualification. There has been strong support from Commonwealth and NSW governments for RTOs to find innovative and accessible RPL strategies and approaches.

NSW Department of Education and Training is actively assisting this quest for improved RPL pathways and has worked in partnership across many industry sectors to pilot best practice models of recognition and develop supporting resources. Some of the innovation recognition pathways trialled included group, project and workplace based models.

Resources and further details are available at State Training Services

Traineeships

The Vocational Training Board establishes traineeships in NSW. Through a consultative process between peak industry groups, employers and unions, facilitated by the ITAB, qualifications are identified that meet industry requirements and have appropriate award arrangements. This information is submitted to the Board for the declaration of a vocational training order in accordance with NSW legislation.

As qualifications have a vocational training order established, they are posted on the NSW DET Commissioner’s Bulletin. Further advice is available from NSW DET www.training.nsw.gov.au

The Community Development qualifications in CHC08 Community Services Training Package have not been established as traineeships in NSW.

VET in Schools

The Community Development qualifications in the CHC08 Community Services Training Package have not been identified as suitable for VET in Schools pathways.

For more information about VET in Schools in NSW visit: https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/vetinschools/

The NSW Board of Studies is responsible for the inclusion of training package qualifications in the HSC studies. Further information is available at www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au .

Peak Bodies and Key Stakeholders

Local Community Services Association

LCSA specialises in supporting community workers and community organisations in:

community management - working with committees and communities
community development - keeping that long term focus, to prevent and reduce social problems rather than blame the victims of them.

NCOSS

The Council of Social Service of New South Wales (NCOSS) is the peak body for the social and community services sector in New South Wales. Their members range from the smallest community-based services to the largest welfare organisations. They include refuges, charities, church groups, local councils, consumer organisations, hospitals, and aged, disability and child care services. They also include peak support and advocacy groups that represent services at a regional and statewide level.

Resources

NSW Community Services and Health ITAB and NSW DET resources include:

Policy@MyPlace

This free online short course is for those who need to develop or review policy. It will provide learning to develop the necessary skills to research and consult policy needs, draft policy content, test the draft policy, implement policy and review policy for quality assurance.

This learning is designed to assist in the development of policies for NGO workplaces. While it focuses on child protection policy development and incorporates objectives and requirements detailed in the NSW Keep Them Safe initiative the learning may be applied to any area of policy development in community services work.

There is no time limit to this resource so you are able to work through the learning at your own pace and select topics as many times as you like. The resource contains activities that you may complete as an e-portfolio for assessment by a registered training organisation to achieve the national unit of competency CHCPOL504B Develop and implement a policy.

Available now at www.workplaceskills.com.au

Please contact NSW Community Services and Health ITAB regarding training and assessment resource needs for the qualifications or skills sets in this industry sector.

Other resources may be available from industry peaks, Registered Training Organisations and Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council.

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