Leave it all to NIPA

AORs will be panelled for courses by NIPA Photo by Pte Jamie Osbourne, 1RAR

NIPA is the National Integrated Panelling Authority and is responsible for panelling full- and part-time Army OR members and Defence civilians for trade and promotion courses.

It is located at SCMA and staffed by Defence civilians and military personnel. NIPA confirms your position on a course and advises PMCC and your unit of movement authorisation.
NIPA aims to provide a standardised course panelling procedure, a one-stop-shop for OR courses and one point of contact for all TC-A courses for course information.

Timeframes

• 18 weeks before a course is to commence, NIPA releases a call for nominations. This gives ample warning for part-time members to give their civil employer notice of intent to attend a course.
• 12 weeks before the course is to commence NIPA releases a signal detailing the panel. Before releasing the panel, NIPA checks that members meet prerequisites. The panel message is sent to the respective training establishment, PMCC Canberra and member’s units.
  Amendments to the course should not take place after the panel is released, however, amendments after this date are often the norm rather than the exception due to unforeseen circumstances, personal or service related.

Nominations

Full-time promotion and trade courses – subject courses for SGT/WO. Calls for nominations are e-mailed directly to career managers at SCMA, who then provide NIPA with nominations by corps.

Sub 1 and Sub 3 courses for Sgt/WO have a set number of positions per corps. The larger corps have a larger portion of the Net Training Liability (NTL) allocation than the smaller corps.

When amendments occur, they are one-for-one by corps. For example, if a RAInf member withdraws another RAInf soldier is brought forward from the reserve panel.

Part-time promotion courses – Subject courses for SGT/WO. Unit nominations are to be submitted to their respective APA for career management approval.

The APA will then input the nomination via PD&T on PMKeyS. The ‘call for nominations’ signals will be released to all APA’s for them to canvas their members.

FT/PT promotion courses – Sub 1 for Cpl. Call for nominations will be sent direct to units. Units enter nominations via PD&T on PMKeyS with a follow-up signal or e-mail to NIPA detailing all the relevant information that cannot be entered on PMKeyS.

FT/PT promotion courses – Sub 2 and 4 for Cpl. Call for nominations will be sent direct to units.Units should generally seek advice from respective career managers in relation to these nominations from a trade perspective. Units enter nominations via PD&T on PMKeyS with info APA’s and NIPA.

Administration

All Units should process a local area move on PMKeyS for members confirmed attending a course.

Department ID numbers and Pool Position numbers will be released on the panelling signal. On the start date of the course, the training establishment releases a ‘first day return’.

If there are any no-shows, HQ TC-A will investigate. If a valid reason is not provided, formal action will be taken.

IAW CA Directive 2001, soldiers are not to be withdrawn from career courses (promotion and trade) without SCMA approval. Approvals are only likely to be as a result of operational, compassionate or exceptional circumstances.

Course positions are limited so it is imperative both the unit and the member ensure that they are fully prepared and available to attend courses. This includes soldiers panelled as reserves.

• NIPA webpage is through the SCMA site – http://vbmweb.defence.gov.au/scma/. General inquiries: (03) 5258 0652. Specific issues may be discussed with the supervisor on (03) 5258 0642. Fax: (03) 5258 0645.

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