The Hydraulic Consultants Association of Australia (HCAA) is pleased to announce a major step forward in its initiative to support the future delivery of the Hydraulic Diploma, with four industry professionals now commencing their teaching qualifications.
The milestone follows the HCAA’s recent call for experienced hydraulic consultant members to step forward and help address the critical shortage of educators available to deliver the course.
Originally, the HCAA planned to sponsor three consultants through their teaching qualification. However, due to an extremely positive response from members, the Association has expanded the program to support four participants through this first round of the initiative.
The HCAA has committed to fully funding the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40122) for members Adam Johnston, Brian Alcasid, Jenn Volkov and Joshua Frew, through its sponsorship program, with each member working towards a timeline of 12 months to complete their qualification.
Derek Harris, President of the HCAA, said the response from industry has been extremely encouraging.
“We are delighted to be moving ahead with this initiative and to have four experienced consultants stepping forward to begin their journey as educators,” Derek said. “This is an important first step toward building the teaching capability needed to support the next generation of hydraulic consultants.”
The Hydraulic Diploma has faced a significant delivery challenge in recent years due to the absence of teachers, leaving prospective students facing waitlists of three to five years despite strong demand for the qualification.
“The level of interest in the Diploma shows there is a real appetite for careers in hydraulic consulting,” John Chaumont, HCAA Education Manager and TAFE teacher said. “Now we are starting to build the teaching capacity needed to support that demand and ensure the long-term sustainability of the industry.”
The association would like to acknowledge the strong interest shown by its members.
“We would like to sincerely thank everyone who has taken the time to express their interest in supporting this initiative,” Derek said. “The level of engagement we’ve seen demonstrates the strong commitment within our membership base to protecting its future and we want to individually thank Jenn, Brian, Joshua and Adam for stepping up to give back to the industry.”
While the first four participants represent a significant step forward, the HCAA says the work is not finished and has confirmed it will commit to sponsoring a further three industry professionals in a round two of this initiative in the next financial year, continuing its investment in rebuilding the teaching pipeline for the qualification.
“This is a strong start, but we still need more experienced professionals to become involved,” John Chaumont said. “The future of our industry depends on experienced consultants sharing their expertise and helping train those who will follow.”
Meet the HCAA Members Commencing their Teaching Qualification
For those that are not aware, in order to teach the Diploma of Hydraulic Services Design (CPC50620) at an RTO in Australia, the teacher must hold that qualification (or equivalent). It is for this reason that we call on our industry peers to continue to develop future generations of Hydraulic engineers.
Expressions of Interest are now open for qualified HCAA members interested in contributing to a teaching role for round two of this initiative (to go live in the next financial year). Those who register their interest will receive further information outlining the role and expectations involved.
The longterm goal of the HCAA is to work with TAFE NSW to help provide a pool of individuals who are able to teach the Hydraulic Diploma, allowing a rotation of staff through each unit to reduce the impact on each individual teacher and also to utilise the specialist skills held by each teacher.
For more information about the initiative please submit an Expression of Interest form.