Continuing Education Guidelines

Introduction

Training and Development is a vital element to all levels of membership in the ICB. It is recommended that members plan ahead and design for themselves an integrated approach to their self development activities.

However, it is recognised that a number of “ad hoc” learning situations will present themselves and these will often provide valuable learning opportunities, both for new knowledge and skills and for revision. Members should personally record their participation in all such activities in order that they may be able to comply with the ICB's reporting requirements.

The Principle of Training and Development

Training and Development is not just a response to immediate work or other needs. The benefits of work experience and other demands are recognised as being professionally very important. But these benefits are enjoyed by non-professionals as well. There are unique demands upon every professional to identify, develop, promote, maintain and improve upon knowledge and skills which constitute the dynamic expertise of the professions in a rapidly changing society. Often professional development comes not from reacting to change but by initiating it.

Members who accept professional engagements or occupations imply that they have the necessary competencies to perform the work effectively. They must, therefore, refrain from undertaking or continuing any engagements which they are not competent to carry out unless they obtain adequate advice and assistance.

Becoming a member of the ICB is but the first step in a lifelong process of education, training and development.

The pace and volume of changing technology and knowledge means that every member must allow sufficient time to absorb the range and depth of new material. By engaging in Training and Development, members are making a positive investment in their future.

Members have a continuing duty to maintain their professional knowledge and skill at a level required to ensure that their clients, or their employers, receive the advantages of competent professional services based on the latest developments in practice, law and business. When members accept appointments to undertake professional services, or employment, the client or employer is entitled to rely on those persons as being professionally competent to perform the particular engagements or occupations.

Many means of meeting Training and Development requirements are available. Members may use the resources of the ICB, their own resources, those of other organisations, or may prefer some combination. Training and Development activities are described below. They may include attending an ICB course or workshop, completing a self-study program or some form of distance learning, participating in a local discussion group, enrolling in a short, or even long, tertiary education course, studying a specialist publication or audio or visual presentation or reading technical publications. Preparing and delivering a paper or address on a topic relevant to a member's profession or occupation are acceptable Training and Development activities. Training and Development can be pursued at home, in the city or the country, alone or with others in or outside working hours. In short, there is a great deal of flexibility in how to achieve Training and Development requirements. It is the result that counts. It is for the member to decide the form and frequency of Training and Development to meet that member's particular requirements while meeting the minimum standards prescribed herein.

It is also for the member to decide whether some particular activity was Training and Development or not. An article in a specialist journal may be professionally worthwhile to some and be recognised as a Training and Development activity. It may, however, be of no benefit to others who are already conversant with the material or where it is not relevant to the member's profession or occupation.

The 15 hours outlined in the professional code of conduct are the minimum that members are required to achieve to maintain their individual competencies. It is recommended that the time investment be in excess of these minimum levels.

The examples of Training and Development activities below are provided to assist all members. However, all professional education depends upon one thing: integrity. The professional is a member of a self-regulating profession which has standards, guidelines, provisions and resources for compliance and public recognition. But it is the final responsibility of the professional to interpret an activity and to judge within the guidelines whether the activity was personally and professionally developing. No professional can delegate fully all personal responsibility to a set of rules or pronouncements and still remain a professional. This personal responsibility is the life blood of a healthy professional body.

Training and Development Requirements

Members obliged to undertake Training and Development are required to achieve a minimum of 15 Qualifying hours per year.

It is the obligation of the member to undertake Training and Development in matters appropriate to their fields of practice or occupations.

Commentary

Training and Development Activities

1. Qualifying activities for Training and Development purposes should maintain and/or expand members' capacity to enable them to discharge their professional obligations and should have the following characteristics:
   • an organised, orderly framework developed from a clear set of objectives
   • a structure for imparting knowledge of an educational or technical nature and
   • require involvement by the participant.

Commonly accepted types of activity which meet these characteristics are lectures, courses, seminars, workshops, conventions, discussion groups, congresses, Professional Development Forums, symposiums, etc conducted by the ICB, other reputable bodies, educational institutions and in-house.



2. Activities which will be recognised as qualifying for Training and Development purposes include the following:
• Conferences & Network meetings presented or facilitated by the ICB or other professional body
• Courses, seminars, workshops, lectures and other professional educational activities presented by the ICB or other (1 hour or more)
• Meetings of ICB or other relevant discussion groups (1 hour or more) subject to review and applicability
  Formal meetings of ICB or other professional body discussion groups which provide a structured forum for exchange of technical information relevant to members with a common interest;
• Appropriate educational activities provided by the member's employer or practice entity; “In-house” courses, schools or similar activity arranged by the member's employer and presented either by that employer's staff, by individuals or organisations engaged by the employer, or a combination of these
  Training activities provided by employers are acceptable Training and Development providing they relate to the development, maintenance or expansion of professional competence. However, training involving purely administrative tasks of essentially a non-professional nature such as completing employer time sheets would not count towards Training and Development;
• Courses presented by educational institutions
  Courses conducted by education institutions leading to a qualification including relevant Certificate III or Certificate IV courses
  Contact time (lectures, exams and tutorials) may be claimed, as well as time spent in the research and writing of essays
• Appropriate educational and developmental activities presented under the auspices of academic institutions, commercial establishments or other professional bodies (1 hour or more)
• Courses presented by tertiary institutions, seminars, courses, lectures, residential schools, conventions or other technical activities presented independently or jointly by tertiary institutions, commercial educational establishments or professional bodies
• Researching and writing technical publications, preparation and delivery of technical papers
  Actual time engaged in researching material and writing technical publications may be claimed, whether the final product be in the form of a text book, an article in a professional journal or the presentation of an address. This should not include time devoted to layout, artwork, design or similar issues
• Time spent in preparation and presentation of lectures, courses and seminars and at workshops and discussion groups, may be claimed except for repeats of presentations which are substantially similar in form and content. The preparation and presentation of an address on a topic relevant to a member's profession or occupation may also be claimed. As a guide, three hours preparation may be claimed for each presentation hour, although this will obviously vary according to the complexity of the subject matter and the presenter's familiarity with the topic
• Service on technical or research committees under the auspices of the ICB or other professional bodies or organisations
  Membership of technical or research committees or study groups where objectives are defined and specific contributions required of members, usually involving both independent and collective study, review and analysis of designed material.
• Programmed self-study through a third party provider, including self-study video or audio packages
  Structured study programs designed for the individual which may or may not involve interaction with tutors or other individuals and may or may not include assignments, exercises or tests, whether or not these are submitted for assessment. Structured self-study courses may include several learning media and/or distance learning aids, e.g. notes combined with audio or video tapes; computerised or other electronic links
• Reading of Technical Literature. Reading of professional journals, technical bulletins and releases and research projects to the extent of 30 hours per three year period may be claimed as Training and Development but not exceeding 10 hours in any one year
• All of the aforesaid activities, except the reading of technical literature, would be regarded as formal Training and Development.

Assessing Training and Development Hours

3. In assessing the time spent on Training and Development, members obliged to undertake Training and Development should record only those hours spent directly on the Training and Development activity and only where the activity from which the member gains educational benefit is in excess of 1 hour (in the case of discussion groups, etc).
4. Participation in courses provided by institutions and bodies other than the ICB is encouraged, where it is seen as a means of broadening the members' knowledge, skill, and expertise to the ultimate benefit of the individual and the profession, and may be claimed. As members of a professional body, those participating in the activity are in the best position to judge its relevance in terms of the foregoing. Accordingly, the ICB does not intend to impose a costly administrative infrastructure in an attempt to accredit all the many and varied avenues of Training and Development available to members.
5. Only the actual time during which a member participates in a recognised Training and Development activity may be claimed. For the purposes of an annual confirmation the aggregate time spent should be shown to the nearest hour.
6. Time spent in social, ceremonial or sporting events or in luncheons, dinners or informal functions associated with Training and Development activities but not forming part of the professional development segment, will not be recognised.

   Recording of Training and Development Activities

Members obliged to undertake Training and Development are required to keep a personal record of the time spent on Training and Development activities to satisfy enquiries by the Board if called upon to do so.

Reporting of Training and Development Activities

Members obliged to undertake Training and Development will be required to provide details of the Training and Development activities undertaken - during the course of any year ended on 30 June

Exemptions

7. Members obliged to undertake Training and Development who seek exemption from the requirement simust make written application for Exemption to the Chief Executive Officer, stating the grounds of their application and any special circumstances upon which they rely. Exemption will apply to formal Qualifying hours only; technical reading must be maintained (to a maximum of 10 hours per year).
8. The Chief Executive Officer, or nominee, may grant exemption if considered reasonable to do so in the light of any special circumstances contained in the application and shall notify the member of the decision.
9. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, the Chief Executive Officer, or nominee, may grant, on such terms and conditions as thought fit, a total or partial exemption from the provisions of this Regulation to any member who, in an application for an exemption sets out special circumstances that, in the opinion of the Chief Executive Officer or nominee, warrant such an exemption.
10. Exemption, once granted, will remain in force unless and until the special circumstances on which it was granted cease to exist and the onus is on the member to advise the ICB when the circumstances cease to exist.
11. The following are examples of factors that would be relevant to the question as to whether special circumstances existed justifying the granting of an Exemption referred to at above:
• being on leave from professional duties for an extended period of time (e.g. parental or sabbatical leave) or
• a physical disability being such that the person would be unable to engage in Training and Development activities, or that it would be unreasonable to require the person to do so. 

Members seeking further advice on the types of activity recognised by the ICB should contact us on 1300 85 61 81 or admin@icb.org.au.