A new qualification developed by the Australian Flexible Pavement Association (AfPA) and approved by the National Skills Commission will see Australian roadworkers formally recognised.
The new 11-part qualification industry skills card aims to support better career development for roadworkers and attract more people into the road infrastructure sector.
Tanja Conners, AfPA’s Executive Director of Knowledge and Partnerships, says those who deliver the nation’s highest order roads should possess qualifications specific to road construction to ensure quality, safety, long-term durability, performance, and workforce sustainability.
“We are extremely pleased to be able to deliver this set of qualifications and want to thank the National Skills Commission for their assistance as we look to provide confidence to procurers and promote attraction and retention of talent to the industry,” she says.
Under the new skills card, Australia’s roads are set to become safer through a set of specially designed part qualifications introduced under the national qualification RII30920 Certificate III in Civil Construction – Bituminous Surfacing, designed to improve the nation’s workforce and road building skills.
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AfPA sought to introduce the qualifications on the rationale that the bituminous surfacing industry is a specialist trade skill set that ensures the safety of the travelling public and protects one of the nation’s most valuable assets – its roads.
AfPA has developed the foundation of the industry skills card which is transferrable and recognises prior experience and the academies of each organisation. In partnership with industry stakeholders, this scheme will identify, train, and provide each worker with a qualification on a skill set basis.
Skills sets within the industry card that have been developed to date include safely handle bituminous materials, asphalt surfacing, spray sealing, profile planer operations and insitu stabilisation operations.
All units of competency will be delivered by AfPA-endorsed registered training organisations under a Training Delivery Agreement, with industry-developed and validated resources.