PA skills formally recognised

Leut-Cmdr Darrell Johnson (right) takes Lt Delizia Costa through the assessment for the Defence Public Affairs Certificate III. Photo by Steve Dent, DDM

By Cmdr Allan Rankin

The training, experience and skill sets of Defence PA staff will be formally recognised by the recent accreditation of three qualifications in the field of Defence Public Affairs.

The qualifications are comprised of Diploma, Certificate III and IV and levels, with the accreditation project team continuing to work on the Advanced Diploma level.

All qualifications contain a number of competencies selected from nationally recognised and accredited training packages. They have been endorsed by the ACT Accreditation and Registration Council through the sponsorship of the Director of Training Systems Policy, and will now be placed under the scope of the Defence Learning Services Network as a Registered Training Organisation.

The qualifications are aligned to new training courses in public relations, media skills and organisational communications, and are structured to suit a broad range of employment circumstances and experience levels throughout Defence.

The next phase of the accreditation project involves evaluation of individual members who volunteer to be assessed against competency units contained in each of the qualifications, with all assessments conducted with the assistance of a subject matter expert.

The assessment phase has already commenced with the help of Lt Delizia Costa from 1JPAU, who volunteered to be the first candidate for Certificate III, accreditation.

“This is absolutely important for my professional development, and recognition of the training and experience I have gained during service life,” Lt Costa said.

Further information can be obtained from Public Affairs Training & Policy Manager Cmdr Allan Rankin on (02) 6265 6409.