Expertise

The trainer’s qualifications and experience can bring training to life for the learner, offering insider anecdotes and applied examples to illustrate how principles apply in practice. Here are some points you could check:

NDIS knowledge and experience

Does the trainer have experience working in the NDIS context? It is important to be aware that qualifications such as Certificate 3 in Individual support are shared with aged care. Some trainers have no experience working in disability. At a minimum, you could expect that any trainer is familiar with the relevant capabilities in the Framework, is competent in the work that the training relates to, and has completed the NDIS Commission’s Worker Orientation Module: Quality, Safety and You.

Training providers may have a trainer with experience working in the disability sector, lived experience or have a person with disability deliver, or assist the trainer deliver, the training.

Technical/subject-specific knowledge and experience

If you are choosing a training course to develop specific skills, you may want to check the qualifications and experience of the course developer and presenter. For example, if you are looking for training to develop health-related capabilities, such as how to support a person who uses a urinary catheter, it is important that training is based on current practice. Refer to the High Intensity Support Skills Descriptors for further information. You should also check for any relevant NDIS Practice Alerts. For online training, you could check the credentials of the organisation hosting the training. Look for information available from credible organisations, for example a number of peak bodies provide advice and training resources to address specific health-related needs. For facilitated training, you may want to choose training presented by a relevant health or allied health practitioner.

Highly specialised training

Finding trainers with highly specialised expertise can be difficult and high worker turnover adds to the cost and challenge of ensuring capable workers are available. For example, to train a worker to support a participant who relies on a ventilator, the trainer needs to be familiar with the type of ventilator the participant is using. Talking to health providers who are also supporting the participant, such as hospital discharge units, can be a good place to start to find out how best to meet this kind of training need. You could also consider contacting equipment suppliers for technical support on the equipment they supply. Another solution is to seek the participant’s agreement (and  keep a record of their consent) to video how to provide this support and use it as reference material for workers asked to provide that support to that participant.

Be mindful that training developed by health providers or equipment suppliers may be authoritative about technical procedures but may lack the emphasis on supporting participant choice and independence required in the NDIS. You need to consider what else you will do to equip workers with the capability to deliver support that is not only technically correct but aligned with a participant-centred approach. The Framework and the High Intensity Support Skills Descriptors describe specialised technical skills and knowledge as well as the attitudes and approach expected in the NDIS.