Assessment information
Assessment is...
... a national process
Assessment is a process that occurs in many industries and workplaces throughout Australia. This includes children's services workplaces in the Northern Territory. Although assessment does not always happen in the workplace, it is sometimes called workplace assessment.
In assessment, assessees (candidates for assessment) are assessed against elements and performance criteria described in documents known as units of competency or competency standards.
Units of competency are developed through a national process of consultation involving employers and workers. In the children's services industry, such people may include directors of childcare centres, coordinators of family day care and outside school hours care services, staff of Registered Training Organisations (RTOs), and government children's services staff.
... that leads to nationally recognised qualifications
Units of competency are packaged together to create qualifications that are recognised in all Australian states and territories. Children's services units and qualifications are set out in the Community Services Training Package. They are also included in this guide and are located in the left hand menu of each page.
... which are equivalent to qualifications gained through formal study
Qualifications gained through assessment are identical to, and have the same value as, qualifications gained through training in Australia's Vocational Education and Training (VET) system (sometimes called TAFE). For example, if you gain a Certificate III in Children's Services as a result of assessment, your certificate will look the same as, and have the same value as, a certificate gained through formal training in courses and classrooms.
... based on evidence of skills
Competencies are skills - things you can do. This is very important for many children's services workers in the Northern Territory, who have gained their skills through life experience and employment working with children.
Workplace assessment provides an opportunity to match a worker's skills (whether gained through work experience, life experience or study) against relevant competencies. To do this, the assessor must see evidence of the assessee's skills.
... carried out by qualified assessors
Assessments are carried out by qualified assessors, who are responsible for explaining and conducting the assessment process. Assessors make decisions about whether an assessee's evidence demonstrates that the assessee is competent or not yet competent in specific skills. Assessors must be engaged by a Registered Training Organisation (RTO).
Some Northern Territory children's services workplaces have links with RTOs that provide assessment services. To see a list of RTOs providing assessment services in the Northern Territory for children's services qualifications use the menu on the left.
... and includes Recognition of Prior Learning
Assessment against units of competency is often called Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) or Recognition of Current Competency (RCC). RPL and RCC are other names for workplace assessment. The process is the same.