TAACMQ501A Develop training and/or assessment organisational policies & procedures

Research for policy development

Purpose

In developing policy and procedure documentation, the purpose of the policy must be determined. What is the issue or requirement that needs to be addressed? The policy will necessarily provide a guideline to employees of the organisation as to what standard is expected when carrying out operations under the policy.

Policies and procedures are developed for a wide range of purposes within registered training organisations. These purposes may include:

• The development of organisational standards of performance for particular operational areas;
• The development and maintenance of compliance frameworks to Commonwealth, State and Territory legislative requirements;
• A framework under which the provision of training and assessment services is conducted;
• Mechanisms to facilitate continuous improvement within the training and assessment organisation;
• Transparency of the training and assessment organisation's approach to service provision;
• The identification of roles and responsibilities of key personnel in an organisation;
• A framework for consultation processes with industry for development of training and assessment services;
• Consistency in training and assessment services provided.

From your review of the AQTF standards in Activity 1, you will have identified a list of policies and procedures required for registered training organisations to develop and maintain. Many of these policies are also required for legislative purposes, and are best practice examples of policies that will guide effective business operations in any industry areas.

In researching AQTF standards, legislative compliance and organisational standards, a registered training organisation requires policies to be developed in a wide range of areas, including:

• Customer complaints, grievances and appeals;
• Risk identification and management, including occupational health and safety (OHS);
• Quality and continuous improvement processes and standards, including validation systems;
• Financial management, including refund policies and systems to protect fees paid in advance (if appropriate);
• Mutual recognition of qualifications and statements of attainment issued by other training and/or assessment organisations;
• Access and equity;
• Client selection, enrolment and induction/orientation;
• Staff recruitment, induction and ongoing development and monitoring;
• Confidentiality and privacy requirements;
• Ethical standards;
• Administrative and records management system;
• Reporting/recording requirements and arrangements;
• Maintenance, retention, archiving, retrieval, storage and security of assessment information;
• Document version control.

Information sources

Policy development will include research into a broad range of information sources in order to determine the exact specifications to be met in policy guidelines. It is critical that all available and relevant information sources are accessed in order to ensure that the policy developed will meet the intended purpose.

Four main information sources are accessed to determine policy specifications:

 

Figure 4 Information sources for policy specifications

Relevant personnel

A number of personnel should be consulted within the organisation when researching policy needs. The Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director or other person responsible for determining policy needs and authorising finalised policies and procedures is a crucial contact. Other personnel may include the information technology manager for standards of format and design, the information or records manager to discuss how the policy will be version controlled, stored and retrieved by employees, and various line managers or employees whose role or tasks will be outlined in the policy or procedure.

External expertise may also be sourced to assist the research process. A range of external consultants and regulatory authorities may provide advice and assistance in the development of policy and procedure documentation, depending on the purpose of the document. This external expertise may include auditors, staff at regulatory authorities, quality consultants, occupational health and safety consultants, training coordinators, information technology service providers and human resources advisors. This is not a comprehensive list and expertise sought will be determined by the purpose of the policy and procedure documents being prepared.

AQTF standards

The twelve AQTF standards and their components are also an obvious information source that needs to be closely examined in order to determine any exact specifications that may need to be included in policy and procedure formulation.

Examples

AQTF Standards-of Required Specifications

Records Management Policy-it is a requirement that registered training organisations maintain storage of client information and results for a period of 30 years.

Mutual Recognition Policy-it is a requirement that the registered training organisation recognise qualifications issued by any other registered training organisation.

Organisational documentation and reports

Organisational documentation will also provide a key source of information for policy research. Reports of training and assessment evaluations, and internal/external audits may highlight issues related to the purpose or design of a particular policy or procedure. Other industry or national standards, such as ISO 9001:2000 Quality Assurance, to which the organisation maintains compliance, will also provide specifications to be included in policy formulation. The organisation's strategic and business plans, annual reports or other corporate documentation may also highlight key strategies or objectives to which the policy and procedure guidelines must support.

Legislation

In addition to the information requirements above, Commonwealth, State and Territory legislation will also inform and guide the value and purpose statements of particular policies, such as occupational health and safety, anti-discrimination and equal employment opportunity policies and procedures.

Activity 2

Select two policy areas that are required by your organisation. These should be directly relevant to the AQTF standards as a requirement for registered training organisations.

For each policy area, complete the following tasks:

• Outline AQTF specifications required for the policy and procedure.
• Outline legislative specifications required for the policy and procedure.
• Outline organisational specifications required for the policy and procedure.

An example

Policy Research-Occupational Health and Safety

AQTF specification -all training and assessment services will be delivered in a safe and healthy environment.

Legislative specification -all accidents, incidents or near misses will be recorded on an incident record sheet and reviewed by the OHS committee for recommended actions.

Organisational specification -as the organisation's business plan is to target both on-the-job and seminar-based programs, two procedures and forms will be required to undertake a risk assessment in each environment.

The following web resources may assist your research:

Commonwealth Government legislation database http://www.comlaw.gov.au
National Occupational Health and Safety Commission-legislation and guidelines www.nohsc.gov.au

State Training Authorities

QLD Department of Employment and Training http://www.training.qld.gov.au
NSW Department of Education and Training http://www.det.nsw.edu.au
ACT Department of Education, Youth and Family Services http://www.decs.act.gov.au/services/Training.htm
VIC Office of Training and Tertiary Education http://www.otte.vic.gov.au
SA Department of Education, Training and Employment http://www.dete.sa.gov.au/decs_home.asp
NT Department of the Employment, Education and Training http://www.nt.gov.au/nteta
TAS Office of Post-Compulsory Education and Training http://www.opcet.tas.gov.au
WA Department of Training http://www.training.wa.gov.au