Standing Committee on Employment, Education
and Workplace Relations
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Submission 16
Royal Australian Planning Institute
The Royal Australian Planning Institute (RAPI) is the only national association
representing the professional interests of land-use planners in Australia.
Our members are employed in a very wide range of fields including urban
design, social planning, environmental management, economic planning and
development, regional planning and transport planning. The employment
market for planners includes all three levels of government the private
sector and academia.
Surveys undertaken by course providers indicate that there is a continuing
demand for planners in Australia especially in state government, local
government and the private sector. The rapid urbanisation of the Asia-Pacific
region has also created a demand for planning training. Many Asian countries
look to Australia's higher education courses on urban and regional planning
and urban management because Australia has a reputation for providing
good programs. Currently, AusAID funds 140 students from developing countries
to study urban planning at Australian education institutions.
The range of skills and expertise required by planners are diverse. Currently,
planning education equips students with the capacity to
• Identify and understand the nature of the planning problem or opportunity
before them from a range of market and non-market perspectives;
• Assess whether there are alternative ways to present a response to
the affected or benefiting parties;
• Understand the application of economic and / or legal instruments
in order to avoid, remedy or mitigate adverse effects;
• Present creative ideas which people can build on;
• Market themselves and their ideas; and
With this expertise graduates are now obtaining employment in a range
of sectors such as health, education, welfare, transport and environmental
planning as well as in the more traditional urban rural and regional planning
fields. The rise of environmental concerns worldwide has created a new
area of expertise which planners have incorporated in to their responsibilities.
This has required a greater degree of scientific, legal and ethical understanding
and knowledge.
RAPI would like to make the following comments regarding the specific
terms of reference as they relate to the planning profession in Australia.
1 "The appropriate roles of the institutes of technical and further
education"
Planning professionals are required to make or provide advice on decisions
which include considered value judgements, not merely to apply a code
to a proposal. There is a general distinction that universities provide
broader professional education including values and philosophies whereas
TAFE institutions primarily provide training at a technical level.
RAPI believes that there is a role for both professionals and technicians
in the wide range of planning-related activities which our members are
involved in. However, it is our view that the universities provide the
education in complex knowledge, skills and values to satisfy the qualitative
and quantitative judgement, legal and administrative responsibilities
of a planner. In addition, a high level of conceptualisation and strategic
thinking is required. At RAPI's appearance before the West Committee,
the committee indicated a view that the role of TAFE institutions is to
provide training rather than education.
RAPI accepts as full Corporate Members planners without recognised planning
degrees only after they have had lengthy periods of appropriate and skilled
work experience. This differentiation arose because, historically, the
planning profession was more narrowly defined as land use planning and
university qualifications in planning were not readily available around
Australia.
The TAFE institutions initially presented cartography and town planning
draughting diplomas. The Royal Australian Planning Institute participated
in advisory committees for these courses. Approximately ten years ago,
these courses were amalgamated with drafting course for other disciplines,
principally architectural draughting. More recently, the amalgamated courses
have been replaced in some states and the Northern Territory by the National
Architectural and Building Technology Curriculum.
The vocational educational and training roles of the TAFE institutions
should be reinforced by focus on the appropriate core skills and the work
place competency for those skills.
There could be better articulation between the vocational education and
training (VET) sector and the university sector by adding some new developments
for the VET sector. An example would be allowing graduates of the VET
sector to be trained as planning technicians (two year diploma - Level
5 Australian Qualifications Framework) and planning paraprofessionals
(three year degree Level 6 Australian Qualification Framework).
2 "The extent to which those roles should overlap with universities"
Ideally, there should be no overlap between the TAFE sector and the universities
because this would lead to an inefficient use of scarce funds and human
resource for both the VET sector and the university sector. Nevertheless,
the increasing demand for articulation between these sectors has meant
that universities have recognised the attainment of certain relevant skills
by awarding partial advanced standing to VET graduates. As the comments
under point 1 argue, this does not mean that TAFE institutions should
offer the same courses as universities.
The development of the new curriculum emphasising architectural and building
technology skills in the VET sector has made it difficult for the graduates
of the two year diploma to articulate with the four year degree (and four
year honours degree) and the two year postgraduate Masters Degree in the
university sector required for education as a professional planner. Where
someone is transferring to a planning degree at a university, the best
recognition of prior learning for a diploma is approximately twelve months.
Graduates from the VET diploma and possibly degree (three year) programs
with appropriate articulation of curriculum, could be admitted to transfer
from VET to a four year university degree with recognition of prior learning
of from one year to 2 or 3 years. This would enable articulation (rather
than overlap) of education in a staged development moving from a technician
to a paraprofessional at the TAFE institution and then on to university
to complete the level of education required of a professional planner.
RAPI would be pleased to make a presentation to the committee to expand
on these comments. General information about RAPI is enclosed for your
information.
Yours sincerely,
Sandra Vigar
National President
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