Carbon Training International

On the 20th November the states and territories endorsed the National Green Skills Agreement.

This agreement represents a commitment by the Australian and State and Territory Governments to work together with training organisations and business to ensure that skills for sustainability are an integral part of all vocational education and training (VET).

"This is an important milestone development to responding to the critical green skills training needs that the Australian workforce requires for enabling business to transition to the low-carbon economy." said Rob Nicholls, CTI's Director Innovation & Organisational Adaptation.

Just as importantly, the agreement provides for a green skills training framework that employers and candidates can confidently rely on.

"As all VET accredited green skills training will be underpinned by the strict guidelines of the Australian Quality Framework, organisations and individuals will be able to easily identify and select courses that are best practice, deliver to the needs of business and which support competency-based and assessed outcomes' said Rob.

Green Skills is very broadly defined and it is currently difficult for people to make fully informed decisions about which training courses will not only deliver the relevant workplace skills to their staff, but also whether the training is credible, reliable, comes with some guarantee and is formally recognised.

"We are seeing an increase in the number of short courses and training programs in the discipline of carbon management being offered by private training organisations, but it's almost impossible to determine under what guidelines, standards or frameworks the training has been developed. This in itself is a risk to the participants who undertake the course as they can't be assured of the quality of the training they are receiving, including the qualifications of those delivering it. The establishment of standards is critical to the credibility of green skills training" said Rob.

The move to formalise green skills workplace training will ensure that accredited training can be quickly identified, where the seal of guarantee will be the governments VET logos and registration on the National Training Information Service.

More information about the National Green Skills Agreement can be found on the Deputy Prime Minister's media release.