Rev 8.0 of the CIC Specification includes updates to Unit of Competence (UoC) codes and a revised competence cycle schematic.
Our Common Industry Competencies (CIC) Specification has been developed to:
- Standardise requirements for Australian Units of Competence (UoC) training courses – reducing the number of UoCs in use throughout the industry.
- Define industry-accepted competency validity periods for these UoCs.
- Remove confusion that has the potential to hurt people, while providing cost efficiency by eliminating duplication in training requirements.
Since 2023, the Specification also defines a competence cycle, that formalises skills maintenance and verification of competence (VOC) as alternative pathways for verifying the competency of workers.
The benefit of these alternatives include:
- Removing the requirement for full training each time to revalidate competence by recognising a workers experience and proficiency in the job or task.
- Providing options for revalidation of competence that are more adapted to the individuals experience and proficiency
- Providing an option for onsite competency verification.
- The first Skills Maintenance and Voc to be added to the CIC Specification is Work Safely at Height. More VoCs and Skills Maintenance will be added in due course.
Appendix 1 of the CIC Specifciation defines the Industry competence requirements, validity periods and competence renewal pathways (where applicable) for individual competencies covered by the specification.
The Specification also requires that CIC records be maintained. These records shall be:
- subject to verification to confirm that they are valid, &
- stored in a secure manner and in accordance with relevant Privacy legislation.
History and Continuous Development of the Common Industry Competency Specification
The general concept of “industry competency” focuses on the ability to perform particular tasks to the standard of performance expected in the workplace.
In 2015 it was recognised that Operators and Contractors within our industry had established similar but not identical requirements for safety training and competence. These inconsistencies in requirements resulted in confusion and inefficiencies, as different operators could not allow access to their sites unless their own specific competency requirements were met.
The Competence and Behaviour Working Group established a team to address the issue, and the first release of the Common Industry Competencies Specification was released in 2016. It has been revised and extended each year and is now at Rev 8.
Use of this Specification removed confusion, eliminated duplication in training requirements, and improved cost efficiency. It also has improved worker mobility, allowed Operators and Contractors to better target their training spend, enabled faster mobilisation of workers to site and increased confidence around the competency of the industry’s workforce.
A set of supporting documents and FAQ’s to assist with implementing the CIC Specification in your organisation can be found here.
Related Links
Click on the following links for a set of supporting documents and FAQs to assist with implementing the CIC Specification in your organisation.