Access & Equity

POLICY

CMC Training at Work aims to ensure that its students have access to opportunities to participate effectively in programs and services whatever their age, gender, culture, ethnic origin, (dis)ability, economic circumstance, religious or political affiliation, and their literacy or numeracy skills.

CMC Training at Work acknowledges its legal obligations under relevant State and Federal legislation to ensure that working and teaching practices are fair and equitable, and our working and learning environment is nondiscriminatory.

This policy declares our organisations position on managing diversity and sets out how we address access and equity principles. Inclusiveness is the key to managing diversity in program and service provision, and where possible, affirmative strategies are implemented to increase the successful participation of individuals.

An access and equity officer is available to provide a range of additional student support services for students experiencing the following:

disability and access issues;
language barriers;
literacy and numeracy issues, and
employment issues.

A student's need for additional assistance is judged by their assessor at the first Introduction visit through discussion and a language, literacy and numeracy assessment tool.
Where students do require additional assistance, the student's assessor will discuss the particular circumstances with the Access and Equity Officer to discuss what additional support and services are required.

The role of the Access and Equity Officer is to work with assessors and workplace supervisors to support individual students and adapt learning strategies as required.

PRACTICES & PROCEDURES

To facilitate maximum participation for all individuals the following strategies have been put in place:

Specific information about special needs is requested on the enrolment form to identify human and learning resources needed by the learner to be competent;
The Assessment System includes self assessment and a process for assessors to identify the needs of learners to
support participation and address the development of generic skills such language, literacy and numeracy;
Learning and assessment options to meet individual and adult learning styles in delivering training and assessment are offered and documented in the course design, assessment portfolios and individual's training plans;
Principles of 'reasonable adjustment' are articulated in Assessor Guides;
Staff have the opportunity to participate in regular professional development sessions;
An Access and Equity Officer has been appointed to provide support to staff and students to ensure the application of access and equity principles in the operation of the CMC - Training at Work;
Resources for staff, educational materials and specialised equipment are provided if required and their availability publicised in student handbooks and staff professional development resources.

Strategies to Support Learners

In all student contact, staff will support learners by adopting the following teaching and learning strategies, such as:

Guiding learners to suitable learning and assessment strategies when developing the learner's Training Plan;
Using information about learners to seat them appropriately in group sessions and facilitate participation without embarrassment (e.g., don't ask students to read aloud to a group, locate a student with hearing problems so they can see the speaker, locate students with sight impairment at front of group, etc);
Formative assessment by trainers and ongoing monitoring of learners through workplace visits by assessors;
Allowing audio taping of sessions;
Providing summaries or outlines of lectures to supplement student's notes;
Providing learning guides to direct learners to key themes and arguments in readings;
Using applied learning techniques, e.g., using a demonstration or concrete examples to explain concepts;
Using a variety of teaching styles and methods -engaging senses such as sight and sound - when presenting material;
Ensuring new vocabulary and complex ideas are explained and that these are repeated and rephrased to maximise understanding and application;
Providing handouts of diagrams and charts;
Facilitating mentoring, coaching and networking among participants; and
Facilitating discussion among learners and encourage students to question and seek clarification.

Strategies for applying reasonable adjustment:

Allowing for alternative assignment formats - oral reports, use of tape recorder, photographs, drawings and diagrams, documentation of observations by third parties, etc.;
Providing models of written tasks;
Providing for interpreter or language support in first language;
Provide a format for written tasks;
Allowing use of editor for final version of written assignment where task demonstrating knowledge; and
Providing glossary of common terms.

Where the participant requires the assistance of a support person, the role of the support person will be to maximise the individual's ability to participate in training.

The Role of the Access and Equity Officer

The Access and Equity Officer will have the following skills and knowledge:

Knowledge of the industries (within scope) employment and career opportunities.
Counselling experience.
Development of teaching /learning resources and assessment tools.
Knowledge of legislation and resources within the vocational education and training system.

Any additional support for a learner will be arranged by the Access and Equity Officer depending on available resources or access to external sources.
Support strategies might include:

Counselling e.g. specific learning strategies, career information, organisational skills, modifying behaviour, etc.;
Additional workplace visit;
Sourcing of physical or educational resources, eg, access to interpreting services, reference material on study skills, learning disabilities, ethnic and language groups, large print text, audio visual and CBT resources, etc

Referral for specialist services, e.g., language or literacy assessment, interpreting and translating, multi cultural medical and welfare services, etc.
The Access and Equity Officer will support other staff on request by:

Assisting in processes for identifying need and developing self assessment tools;
Providing references to educational resources, texts, equipment;
Providing advice on strategies or customisation of CMC learning/assessment materials;
Providing advice on reasonable adjustment of assessment system.
Locating additional resources/ funding;
Sourcing external education resources, equipment;
Assisting in referral to expert support;
Providing advice to workplace supervisors on supporting learning strategies in the workplace; and
Identifying professional development needs of staff.

Related and Associated Legislation

Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992
Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act 1992
SA Equal OpportunityAct 1984
Vic Equal OpportunityAct 1995
QldAnti Discrimination Act 1991

When CMC become aware of new legislation or changes to it, this policy will be reviewed to ensure the policy complies with new requirements. CMC - Training at Work keep abreast of changes and amendments to related legislation through industry bodies and advisory boards such as ACPET.