Amenity Horticulture, Landscaping, Conservation & Land Management Industry Reference Committee

Case for change

Project Plan

With landscape works involving many varied elements, people employed in these roles will sometimes work alongside carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and other professionals to produce the final product. As such, landscapers possess skills to account for and complement the work of these professionals, preparing materials and spaces for this work to take place.

Work is underway as part of this project to update current qualifications, skill sets and units of competency in landscaping construction and design, so that they reflect current industry trends, support safe work practices, and promote clear career pathways.

A project in parks and gardens is taking place at the same time as this project. There is overlap in some of the foundational skills for these two projects, so you may also like to read about and contribute to that project. Read more about the Parks and Gardens here.

Project Scope

Five qualifications, four skill sets, and 24 units in landscaping construction and design will be reviewed and updated to better reflect current skills needs for this sector and strengthen career pathways. There is scope to develop additional skill sets and units for skills standards not already captured.

Project Team

Opportunities for stakeholder input

Those with experience in landscaping and others with knowledge in this field who are able to describe the skills and qualifications needed for this industry are invited to engage with this project.

It is important that training provides a skilled and flexible workforce for the future. The qualifications, skill sets, and units need to reflect real work experience. So, if you work in the sector, Skills Impact welcomes your input and assistance.

The skills standards will be drafted in consultation with Subject Matter Experts and their networks. Opportunities to provide targeted feedback will occur when the draft skills standards are made available in Nov-Dec 2020, and again for validation of final drafts in Mar-Apr 2021. However, your feedback is welcomed at any time, and will help us in drafting the qualifications, skill set and units.

Please register your interest in project updates and consultation opportunities by following the newsletter subscription link. Alternatively, contact the project manager, Rebecca Ford on 0408 901 209 or at rebecca@skillsimpact.com.au.

N.B. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Webinars will be held to replace the face-to-face consultation workshops Skills Impact would usually host around Australia.

Stakeholder Consultation Process

A list of key stakeholder organisations has been identified for this project based on their industry role, size or specialty. Skills Impact will ensure contact is made with each of these organisations to seek their involvement and views on all draft qualifications, skill sets and units. Consultation is not limited to the organisations on this list, they have simply been identified as the most likely to have a key interest in the development and outcomes of this project

If you are aware of an organisation that you think should be involved, please contact the project team to ensure they are contacted by us.

Development

Drafts Available

Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback on the draft qualifications, skill sets and units so far. Initial drafts were made available from 2 December 2020 – 17 January 2021, with feedback sought on whether the draft documents reflected current skills standards and practices of industry, and whether job functions were accurately described. Feedback collected at this stage indicated the need to develop further units and a skill set for specific skills areas within landscaping construction and design. These were then made available for feedback from 3 May – 31 May 2021.

Feedback was also collected on qualifications, skill sets and a unit with low enrolments 15 March – 20 April 2021. This is in addition to the survey about low enrolments in the Certificate IV in Landscape and the Diploma of Landscape Project Management between 2 December 2020 – 17 January 2021.

More information about each round of feedback is available under the headings below.

Additional Drafts Available 3 May – 31 May 2021

As a result of feedback on the initial draft, units and skill set were developed to capture skills required for landscaping construction and design. This includes five design units to capture the skills required for landscaping design. They are based on units that are part of a state accredited course, which has strong enrolments and is supported by industry. Two units for landscaping construction were also developed as feedback indicated they were needed to capture the skills required to meet licensing requirements in certain states, so that graduates across the country are able to perform landscaping construction work. Industry also indicated the need for landscaping design skills standards to support Australia’s burgeoning therapeutic horticulture sector, resulting in the development of a unit and a skill set that describe these skills.

The Certificate IV in Landscape Design was redesigned to include the new units in design and one unit to support therapeutic horticulture as electives. The Certificate IV in Landscape Management was also revised to include the two new landscaping units for class 10 buildings. The revised qualifications were also made available for further feedback.

Feedback Collected 2 December 2020 – 17 January 2021

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the draft qualifications, skill sets and units that were made available from 2 December 2020 – 17 January 2021.

Feedback was sought on whether the draft documents reflect the current skills standards and practices of industry, and whether job functions are accurately described.

During this time, feedback was collected via the online feedback hub, by phone and email. The drafts, including any comments made on the feedback hub, are still available for viewing below.

Feedback will inform the work on the final drafts which will be available for industry validation soon. A summary of the feedback and how it was addressed in the final drafts will also be available.

A project in parks and gardens is taking place at the same time as this project. There is overlap in some of the foundational skills for these two projects, so you may also like to read about and contribute to that project. Read more about the Parks and Gardens here.

Qualifications

Skill Sets

Units of Competency

Qualifications, Skill Sets and Unit with Low Enrolments

A priority for Skills Ministers in 2021 is to ensure employers’ and learners’ needs can be met through the VET system by reducing the complexity of the training system and improving accessibility of training. One of the key considerations is whether there is a need for formal training of skills through the VET system to achieve competency in the job role.

Enrolment numbers are a key piece of evidence to indicate the need for formal VET training. There may be a number of explanations for low enrolment numbers in a unit of competency, skill set or qualification, and the AISC are asking industry to confirm whether low enrolment numbers are an indication of lack of industry need, or whether there may be reasons for keeping the relevant skill in the formal training system in spite of low enrolment numbers.

Initially, a cut-off point for specific review of units has been set at fewer than 42 enrolments in each of the last three years.

Several of the units, skill sets and qualifications being reviewed as part of this project have been identified as meeting this criteria between 2015 – 2019.

The AISC will consider industry viewpoints for maintaining these, backed up by evidence of future enrolments as reasons for them to be retained.

To help guide the AISC decision, the Industry Reference Committee needs to provide information around the following factors:

• Whether units proposed for retention are core to qualifications being retained?
• Are there linkages with industrial and legislative arrangements?
• Are enrolments expected to increase in the near future? And if so, why?
• Is there employment growth in the skills outlined in the unit/qualifications? And if so, why?
• Is there another specialist requirement to keep the unit/qualification?

Advice and feedback was invited on these questions from 15 March – 20 April 2021.

Thank you to those who responded. Your feedback will be considered by the Subject Matter Expert Working Group and the Industry Reference Committee and will assist these groups with the advice they provide to the AISC.

If these products are updated to a ‘deleted’ status, they will still be accessible on training.gov.au as a reference point for industry to use for non-enrolment purposes. However, registered training organisations will be unable to enrol students in deleted units or qualifications. They will no longer be considered part of the VET delivery system and will not be funded for delivery, whilst they are in “deleted” status.

Click on the accordions below to see the qualifications, skill sets and unit that the AISC are considering for deletion and details of the past five years of enrolments for each.

Summary of consultation to date

The draft qualifications, skill sets and units have been drafted in consultation with subject matter experts. They have considered feedback that was received out of Workforce Functional Analysis workshops and consultation webinars held in October 2020. People working directly in the landscape construction and design industry participated and provided information on the skills and knowledge required for job roles and tasks. Thank you to those who provided feedback during these activities.

A description of how feedback has been considered and applied so far can be downloaded below.

Validation

Summary of feedback and key changes

The final drafts were revised to more accurately describe job functions and the range of tasks that landscapers are required to perform. Updates were been made to incorporate the latest technologies, equipment and advances in landscape construction and design, as well as current regulations and trends. They were revised to consider the feedback that was received as part of the ‘Drafts Available’ stage from 2 December 2020 – 17 January 2021, as well as from the additional draft documents that were available from 3 May – 31 May 2021, and from the feedback received about low enrolments between15 March – 20 April 2021. Feedback was collected through nine consultation webinars, the online feedback hub, by phone call and email. The units were drafted with guidance from Subject Matter Experts, made up of workplace experts and industry.

The IRC will need to consider the feedback received as part of this ‘Validation’ consultation round in light of the streamlining and prioritisation framework.

This project is part of the broader AHC Unit Sector Project, outlined in the Skills Forecast and Program of Works 2019 – 2022. The AHC Unit Sector Project includes the Animal Reproduction Project, Crops, Pastures & Seed Project, Dairy & Milk Harvesting Project, Parks & Gardens Project and Skills for Land Rehabilitation (Mined Land) Project. It involves the rationalisation of qualifications, skill sets and units to remove duplication across the AHC Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation and Land Management Training Package.

Key changes include:

• Five national qualifications and two state accredited qualifications were considered and restructured, resulting in six draft qualifications to remove duplication.
• Further feedback is being sought on the potential deletion of four skill sets.
• Twenty four units were reviewed to identify opportunities to remove duplication and revised to reflect up to date materials, equipment and techniques used in landscaping. A unit for AHCLSC3XX Implement an outdoor tiling project was developed to meet increased customer demand in this area.
• The Certificate IV in Landscape Management was redesigned to include two landscaping units for Class 10 building construction. These units were developed to capture the skills required to meet licensing requirements in certain states, so that graduates across the country can perform landscaping construction work.
• The Certificate IV in Landscape Design was redesigned to include six design units that have been developed to meet national industry skill requirements relevant to landscape design, producing landscape drawings and using CAD software. Five of these units are based on units that are part of a state accredited course, which has strong enrolments and is supported by industry. One unit captures the skills required to work with CAD software which is increasingly the standard work practice in landscaping design. This draft qualification also includes a unit that has been developed to support therapeutic horticulture.
• A skill set has been developed to support Australia’s burgeoning therapeutic horticulture sector. Please note that this skill set and the unit mentioned above relate directly to landscape design professionals. Allied health professionals who develop therapeutic horticulture programs are covered under the HLT Health Industry Training Package.

A description of how feedback has been considered and applied so far can be downloaded below.