Discuss, Display, Do

Final Report - Discuss, Display, Do: Recognition of Prior Learning for Volunteers

The final report on Discuss, Display, Do was delivered to our funding partners, DEEWR and NSW Department of Education and Training, this week.

I would like to acknowledge the support and generosity of our funding partners, together with the Federation of Parents and Citizen's Associations of NSW, all of whom actively supported this undertaking.

Download the Discuss Display Do Report

Recognition of Prior Learning For Volunteers

Discuss, Display, Do is a project that aims to develop and pilot a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) model suitable to the needs of volunteers and volunteer utilising organisations (VUOs).

The project supports the priorities in sport and recreation, as well as other related service industry sectors, that were articulated by industry during our research for the 2009 Environmental Scan.

These include:

• a more responsive training system, including RPL, and
• addressing the skilled worker requirements (including skill shortages in some areas of the industries).

Recognition of skills has been burdened by over administrative processes and procedures. This is especially so in the service industries where the “product of one’s work” is intangible. This issue is intensified in the volunteer sector where volunteers are there to engage with their community and contribute their skills and services in a broad range of areas.

The community needs the system to work for them—instead it is often the case that individuals need to become experts in vocational education and training to work through the recognition “maze”.

This project intends to investigate and identify how the national training system can respond to meet the needs of volunteers.

In doing so the project addresses the following Australian Government Priorities:

• A new national approach to Apprenticeships, Training and Skills Recognition
• Supporting the development of the National Volunteer Strategy
• The National Reform Agenda
• The Social Inclusion Agenda

The key project partners are:

• Service Skills Australia (project proponent)
• The NSW Federation of Parents and Citizen’s Associations (pilot organisation)
• Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
• NSW Department of Education and Training

Existing TAA04 Support Materials

• To develop the capacity of the Federation of Parents and Citizen’s Associations of NSW to implement the ‘Discuss—Display—Do’ RPL Model, assessment advocates, regional assessment leaders, and a training and assessment leader need to be trained and assessed in units of competence from the TAA40104 Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

The table in the document below presents a summary of the roles, skill requirements and related resources that will support the delivery of these units.

Download Existing TAA Support Materials Overview

An overview of the skills, knowledge, roles and responsibilities of the training and assessment participants of the project can be found in the Implementation Model document.

Implementation Model

The diagram in the document below provides a conceptual overview of how Service Skills Australia envisions the RPL model will be implemented within the NSW Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations.

Download the Implementation Model Overview

This project is being undertaken with funding from the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations’ Workforce Innovation Program and NSW Department of Education and Training’s Skills Enhancement Program.

Project Partners