What is a competency job profile

 What is a unit of competency?

Competency is the ability to apply skills and knowledge effectively. Sometimes called a ‘capability’, ‘competency’ has become a technical term that is used when managing employees. You would say you are competent when you:

  • Know how to do something,
  • Can do it where, when and how you are supposed to, and
  • Can show other people that you can do it.

At the request of the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) the Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council Ltd (CSHISC) and other Industry Skills Councils have developed and reviewed an extensive range of Units of Competency that are relevant to working in the health and community services sectors.

Units of Competency include all the different types of tasks, at different levels of expertise and responsibility, which you could expect to be asked to do in a Community Service Organisation.

A Unit of Competency describes the cluster of related knowledge, skills and attitudes expressed as behaviour that:

  • Contributes to successful performance,
  • Can be measured against well-accepted standards, and
  • Can be improved via training and development.1

To reduce confusion between a person having ‘competency’ and the training packages that are called a Unit of Competency, FIELD uses ‘Competency’ (with a capital C) when referring to an assessable Unit of Competency defined by ANTA. Units of Competency are recognised and taught nationally as part of the Australian training and learning system. This training and learning system is called the Australian Qualifications Framework. CSHISC is responsible for the Community Services Training Package (CSTP). Most of the Units of Competency that relate to the work performed in the Disability sector are found in the CSTP. The current CSTP is called CHC02 and is being reviewed in 2005.

Each Unit of Competency has a Code, a Descriptive Title, Elements, Performance Criteria, Range and an Evidence Guide. These comprehensive definitions and descriptions can be used by any organisation to describe jobs. They can also be used to help decide what training workers need and to guide supervision.

The Code allows you to identify where the Unit of Competency fits into the national training system. This can help you to decide which qualification is relevant for a particular job or to find a training provider to train your staff in a specific Unit of Competency. For example the code CHCDIS1C is broken down into four parts.

These are:

CHC = Community Services Training Package
DIS = Disability Units
1 = Competency number
C = Version Control (C = minor change to last version)

Elements describe how actions and tasks need to be performed to meet the standard of competency required. There are usually about three to six Elements for each Unit of Competency. The Descriptive Title and the Elements are often used to identify the Unit of Competency.

Further details about Units of Competency and its different parts can be found in the CSTP at the CSHISC web site, www.cshta.com.au.

The easiest and quickest way to access individual Units of Competency is via the National Training Information Service web site www.ntis.gov.au. Simply click on ‘Competencies’ and then search using the code, if you know it, or key words if you are seeking a new Unit.

The National Training Information Service also provides a list of Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) who are providers of training and assessment for each Unit of Competency.

  1. Lindsay,C 2003 Manage Recruitment Selection and Induction Processes, BSBHR506A

Further Information

What is a competency job profile

 


 

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