Training Initiative Awards
Categories and Criteria

Please note: these criteria have been revised to align with the Victorian Training Awards and National CS&H Industry Skills Council criteria.

These awards include one new award for RTOs.

CS&HITB – AWARDS CRITERIA

In the Training Initiative of the Year[1] award category the Community Services & Health Industry Training Awards recognises four initiatives

Innovative Service Delivery

This award recognises an innovative and/or leading practice initiative or program developed and implemented by a public or private Registered Training Organisation (RTO) for the purpose of providing high quality vocational education and training. For example, the initiative may improve apprenticeship rates, retention rates and create more flexible training delivery options, or it may relate to recognition of part competencies topped up with gap training. The initiative may have outstanding achievement in growing partnerships to upskill and/or grow the workforce through innovation and demonstrated excellence in developing and maintaining partnerships, or it may involve consultation with a wide range of industry stakeholders including peak employer bodies, industry associations, job network/employment service providers and Australian Apprenticeship Centres, clients, government departments, the CS&H ITB and so on. Or it may have outstanding achievement in delivery excellence in rural and remote areas by the creation of more flexible training delivery options.

Innovative Product

This award recognises a product developed by an organisation or RTO that supports the delivery of nationally accredited vocational training. The product may relate to a whole qualification, a competency standard or an element. The organisation or RTO may have been funded to develop the product, or the product development may have been self-funded. The product should meet a market need, be customisable and available for other training providers to purchase.

Recognising Competency

This award recognises delivery of a whole or major part of a qualification by upfront assessment to experienced, untrained workers. The recognising competency process is usually delivered within the workplace. Training will have been provided to meet the gaps. The initiative may have outstanding achievement in growing partnerships to upskill and/or grow the workforce through innovation and demonstrated excellence in developing and maintaining partnerships such as with government departments, or industry enterprises, or businesses, or individuals. Or it may have outstanding achievement in delivery excellence in rural and remote areas by the creation of more flexible training delivery options.

Excellence in industry partnership

This award category recognises excellence in engagement with industry, including the development of strong and effective partnerships with industry to build workforce knowledge and skills. Please note: whilst candidates may have developed partnerships in innovative service delivery, judging of this category focuses on the strength and quality of the partnership and the assessed impact on the training provider’s way of delivering training and assessment services to industry.

ELIGIBILITY

The Training Initiatives award category is open to registered training organisations (RTOs) of all sizes from the public and private sector, including enterprise RTOs and in the case of an innovative product, it may be a public or private enterprise organisation that develops product/s to support the delivery of accredited vocational training. The organisation must be able to demonstrate excellence in service delivery of training, assessment, workplace development or engagement with industry to form innovative quality partnerships that promote the development and growth of the CS&H workforce, meet particular industry needs, cater to a thin market (low numbers) or rural and remote areas. With respect to the development of innovative products that support vocational training and assessment delivery, the development process must demonstrate relevant and adequate industry consultation.

The nominated training and/or assessment initiative, program, product or partnership must demonstrate an innovative approach and excellence in implementation beyond what is required in the Australian Quality Training Framework.

NB: For the successful finalist to be considered eligible for nomination to the national Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council National Awards for Excellence, the nomination to the CS&H ITB award must include evidence of outstanding achievement in growing partnerships, or outstanding achievement in delivery excellence in rural and remote areas.

NOMINATIONS

Hard copy applications are to be in 12 pt font and a maximum of 20 A4 pages including the attachments.

Applications may be made on-line; please complete each text box.

Any material in excess of 20 pages will not be forwarded to the judging panel.

The award criteria should be the focus of your applications, however any relevant evidence may be provided so long as it does not exceed the required page limit.

A letter of support is required from the CEO.

PREPARING YOUR APPLICATION

Section A: Overview

Provide an overview of the training initiative (see footnote on previous page), program or product including its objectives, the circumstances that led to its creation and development, a description of the environment in which it operates and specific challenges which may have had to be overcome to implement the training.

Section B: Applicants will be judged against the following criteria

Criterion 1: Excellence and innovation

Criterion 2: Client focus

Criterion 3: Impact of the training initiative

Criterion 4: Sustainability of the initiative

ADDRESSING THE CRITERIA

When developing your application against the awards criteria, you may wish to take into account some of the considerations outlined below, if they are relevant to your organisation. These suggestions are not additional criteria, but are provided to give clarification of what may be relevant to include when writing against the award criteria and presenting during interview, if you are a finalist. 

Please use specific, concrete examples demonstrating excellence and innovation in developing the application.

Excellence and innovation

Consider:

o        details of the training initiative, including any unique and/or innovative aspects

o        ways in which the initiative succeeds where perhaps other similar initiatives have failed

o        the outcomes of the initiative, including qualifications achieved by students and whether they are endorsed by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority

o        results for learners and business, including unexpected results, or results having industry-wide/community-wide significance

o        implementation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) e.g. e-learning.

Client focus

Consider:

o        flexibility offered to learners in accessing qualification pathways

o        how the initiative caters for all students including those with special needs, such as Indigenous students, students with disabilities, students from a non-English speaking background, students in remote areas, gifted and talented students

o        any strategies in place to encourage participation by all students and support from parents and the wider vocational education training community

o        systems and processes for collecting information on client needs and satisfaction

o        demonstrated recognition and/or acknowledgement from clients and industry peers.

Impact of the training initiative

Consider:

o        the initiative’s contribution to the improvement of the national training system

o        operational improvements resulting from the initiative in an enterprise, industry, community service or other organisation or sector

o        contribution through the initiative to building new or stronger relationships with other providers, organisations or industries.

Sustainability

Consider:

o        systems and processes for continuous improvement, including evaluation and review

o        capacity for further development or broader application, or replication at other sites

o        any plans in the place to ensure long-term sustainability.

Additional information to assist with your application and interview for a Community Services & Health Industry Training Award follows.

PRESENTATION AT INTERVIEW

Please prepare a short presentation of no longer than five minutes using the judging panel as a prospective client to engage with them to promote what your training and assessment initiative will do for their business.

Training Initiative: Innovative Service Delivery 

This category recognises innovations in the delivery of training and assessment practices or programs that demonstrate the development of empowering partnerships with education/industry/community.

Innovative service delivery will include educational effectiveness, client services, individualised programs and support services for learners, access and equity, and responsiveness to reform and changes in vocational education and training in a positive way. Please note: whilst candidates may have developed a product that supports delivery, it is the vocational education training delivery model or program that is being judged in this category.

Whilst the Board encourages a broad interpretation of this award category, the areas they are particularly interested in include the implementation of accredited competency-based training practices demonstrating flexible delivery, such as on-line learning; and assessment models that recognise current competency and leads to a VET qualification; also, delivery and assessment models may cater to remote students, or thin demand/markets.

TYPES OF EVIDENCE YOU MAY LIKE TO PRESENT AT INTERVIEW

o        What makes your service delivery stand out above others

o        Why you consider the service to be innovative

o        How and where the training/assessment was delivered

o        What was delivered

o        To whom the training delivery was targeted

o        The training/assessment outcomes you delivered and how these relate to the return on investment of your industry clients

o        How the innovative delivery benefited the industry customer/client

o        Testimonials from your industry clients

o        The Board is very interested in how you provided recognition for skills &  knowledge acquired on the job

This category recognises innovation in developing an initiative or product that supports attaining a qualification in an accredited VET course, or a National Training Package qualification. A training product is deemed to be: teaching and/or learning resources developed for trainers and/or learners, or online and/or flexible delivery materials, such as a CD ROM, or a simulated training / learning / assessment product that enhances the process of induction, training, learning or assessment. Also, it may relate to curriculum developed to meet a niche market Whilst the Board encourages a broad interpretation of this award category, their area of particular interest is how the product is applied to enhance the delivery of training in a more innovative, efficient and effective manner. Also, the product may increase cost-efficiency in training delivery and the judges will be looking at how the product may be applied to other contexts.

TYPES OF EVIDENCE YOU MAY LIKE TO PRESENT AT INTERVIEW

o        Why you consider the product to be innovative

o        How the product development was funded and what it costs to the customer

o        How it was developed

o        Why it was developed

o        The distinguishing characteristics of the target customer/potential market

o        Your assessment of the size of the market and evidence of market demand for the product

o        The marketing strategy

o        How your product benefits the industry customer/client

o        Whether the product can be customised to make it applicable to other contexts

o        An example of your product must be submitted as part of the application.

Please note: a copy of the resource may be retained by the CS&H ITB for its resource centre, or reference library.

Training Initiative: Recognising Competency Award

This category recognises innovations in the assessment of current competency. To be eligible to nominate in this category over 70% of the candidate’s qualification must have been achieved through recognition of current competency.

Recognition of current competency has strong support within the community services and health industries:

o        the majority of the workforce is mature-aged

o        there is high mobility from other industry sectors

o        available training funds should not be wasted in duplicating training effort. 

The Board believes that best practice in recognition of current competency should involve the RTO, the candidate and the employer in an empowering partnership.

N.B.: This is not necessarily about Recognition of Prior Learning; it is about recognising existing skills acquired on-the-job. Recognising competency assessment practices may provide recognition of full or part competencies and training to fill the competency gaps.

At interview, it may be advantageous to your evidence if the candidate, a representative of the RTO, and a representative of the employer are in attendance.

TYPES OF EVIDENCE YOU MAY LIKE TO PRESENT AT INTERVIEW

o        What makes your assessment processes stand out above others?

o        How and where was the assessment undertaken?

o        What support was required by the candidate?

o        How well did the candidate understand the concept and process of recognising competency

o        What support did you as the training provider require from the workplace?

o        What was assessed, which competencies were recognised?

o        The accelerated pathway to achieving the qualification

o        Evidence of employer involvement, workplace assessors, support provided to workers in learning and demonstrating competence.

This category recognises the development of strong and effective partnerships with industry to build workforce knowledge and skills. Please note: whilst candidates may have developed innovative service delivery, it is the strength and quality of the partnership that is being judged in this category.

Industry and skills development partnerships will include:

o        real engagement with industry in a variety of contexts that build effective  rapport and relationships

o        effective consultation that identifies what industry wants

o        community and or industry-needs focused delivery (i.e. delivering qualifications for which there are job openings in the community/industry)

o        adequate understanding of and respect for the client’s business drivers and/or constraints

o        individualised programs built around a business case that meets industry needs rather than what suits the registered training organisation

o        mutually supportive services and partnerships

o        recognition and satisfaction of access and equity requirements

o        responsiveness to reform and changes in vocational education and training in a positive way.

Whilst the Board encourages a broad interpretation of this award category, the areas they are particularly interested in include:

o        the quality of the relationship with and responsiveness of the training provider towards the industry partner

o        whether the industry partner has a comprehensive understanding of the training system and their rights within it

o        whether the service delivered to the industry partner is consistent with the client’s business goals.

TYPES OF EVIDENCE YOU MAY LIKE TO PRESENT AT INTERVIEW

o        What defines your partnerships

o        Why you consider the partnership to be one of quality

o        How, where and frequency of meetings with industry

o        What your priorities are in relation to industry

o        How you ensure and measure the success of your industry partnership outcomes

o        How the RTO assesses its engagement with industry has changed the way it does business

o        In the case of a large RTO, how the RTO has advocated for its approach with other parts of the organisation

o        How sustainable is the new approach

o        How the partnership relates to the return on investment of your industry clients

o        How the partnership benefited the industry customer/client

o       Testimonials from your industry clients