Security training graduates to new level
Skilling and professional development are essential in any industry, not least in one as diverse and complex as the security sector. ASM profiles some of the higher education and training opportunities on offer for Australian security practitioners.
Intelligence, risk and investigations
CIT Solutions, the commercial training arm of the Canberra Institute of Technology, offers a wide range of targeted upper-level Certificate and Diploma courses in the areas of Intelligence, Risk and Investigations.
These include: a Diploma of Intelligence Analysis; a Diploma of Security and Risk Management; a Diploma of Personnel Security (Vetting); a Diploma of Government (Investigation); a Certificate IV in Personnel Security (Vetting); a Certificate IV in Government (Investigation); a Certificate IV in Government (Statutory Compliance); a Certificate IV in ICT Security Management; and a Certificate III in Personnel Security (Vetting).
CIT’s Centre for Intelligence, Risk and Investigation is a leading vocational education provider for these specialist skill sets, providing training for major government departments and private clients alike.
Enrolment is offered on an individual basis, or optionally, programs can be tailored to accommodate specific group training needs to meet client requirements.
A forthcoming Diploma of Intelligence Analysis will encourage and assist professionals to be innovative and methodical intelligence analysts.
Students will learn how to conceptualise and contextualise data and how to effectively employ enhanced analytical skills, as well as developing techniques for hypothesis creation, justification and defence.
The course will address the issues of information ethics, security and dissemination; with a strong emphasis placed on effective and persuasive communication.
This qualification is the only nationally accredited non-military/law enforcement intelligence program available in Australia.
Dedicated curriculum
The Security Science programs at Edith Cowan University’s School of Engineering were established in partnership with the security industry in 1989, delivering its first course in 1991.
Upholding an international reputation in security science research, ECU offers courses in areas including Counter Terrorism, Security Science, and Security Management.
ECU’s offerings are based on the premise that a body of knowledge is vital in gaining professionalism in the security industry, and that security professionals should be able to prove competency in core knowledge areas, including security risk management, security management, security technology and security principles.
Depending on their specialisation, practitioners should also be able to show competency in areas such as industrial security, physical security, IT and computing, facility management, investigations, security law, and fire and safety.
Building on its established security curriculum, which ranges from undergraduate through to PhD courses, ECU recently announced the introduction of a security management master class for middle and senior managers.
The intensive five-day program will be run for the first time in September this year.
International experience
Swinburne University and Lakeland College in Alberta Canada have recently formed a unique international partnership to deliver an innovative three-year part-time Bachelor of Applied Business degree to the emergency services sector.
The degree is an online training program for emergency services personnel who are already working in, or plan to move into, a management role in areas including, but not limited to, fire, medical, police, disaster services, military and corrections.
The next course intake will be September 2008, which will jointly comprise Australian and Canadian students.
According to program coordinator Mark Butler, enrolled Australian students will work virtually “hand-in-hand with the Canadian students,” and will be at the “cutting edge of training for front-line emergency services personnel.”
The online degree course is delivered by Lakeland College with Swinburne University hosting the February and September induction programs, and injecting Australian context into course materials.
Advanced standing has been structured into the course design so that graduates of approved two-year Diploma courses in Emergency Management are eligible for direct entry into the degree.
The course also enables indirect entry by recognising other qualifications and emergency services training up to a total of 1200 hours.
The degree has twenty-five core and elective modules with short intensive three-week modules which cover areas including Crisis Communications, Strategic Business Planning, Team Leadership and Development, Ethics, Management, Capital Budgeting and Emergency Preparedness and Response.
There is also a directed practicum which enables students to practice the skills and knowledge that they acquire to their workplace.
Each online module is facilitated by qualified instructors with experience in the emergency services sector.
Lakeland College introduced the Bachelor of Applied Business: Emergency Services degree in Canada in September 2003 and in a little over three years it has grown to seven groups with over one hundred students enrolled.
Enrolled students are provided with a Student Guide to help with their transition to a WebCT online learning environment, and the flexible scheduling of modules also helps students to fit in with their work commitments as emergency services professionals.
Professional development
Mitchell Personnel Solutions (MPS) has secured its place as Canberra’s Enterprise of the Year after taking out two awards at the recent Canberra BusinessPoint awards.
MPS received the award for Employee Growth for businesses less than 2 years old and the top billing as the 2008 Canberra BusinessPoint Enterprise of the Year.
“These awards provide a great boost to our business at a time where we are growing at a fast rate to meet the demand for our security vetting and training services,” MPS Director Karen Bradley said.
“Being a business based in Canberra, employing well-trained and motivated local staff and providing an environment where our employees are supported and valued has meant that we can reduce the risks associated with growth, and position ourselves well and truly as one of Canberra’s best.”
MPS Managing Director Tracey Mitchell recently participated in an Austrade export mission to the USA and Canada, introducing MPS’ latest product development, SceQuence: a series of consequence-based awareness simulators that are set to revolutionise the training in areas such as security, OH&S and other areas of private and public industry.
Each simulator is built with numerous scenarios and encourages scenario-based learning using realistic simulations, a style which aids participants in being aware of consequences based on their decision-making abilities.
MPS reports that initial feedback from overseas clients has been encouraging.
MPS Training, as an RTO, offers many qualification courses, and have developed a number of public courses designed for professional development in both public and private sectors.
Their newest training course, ‘Your Professional Identity – Thinking and Communication Styles’, is a two-day course which uses self-assessment tools for professional development.
Recruitment
The demand for skilled security practitioners has not only increased standards for education and training; it also requires strong recruitment strategies.
Patriot Alliance is an Australian-owned private recruitment company which specialises in filling security-cleared or trusted positions.
With extensive national industry networks and an exclusive Candidate Sourcing Methodology, accessing and screening candidates with current or recently expired security clearances, Patriot addresses staffing requirements in disciplines ranging from information technology and engineering to management and intelligence.
A finalist in the 2004 and 2006 Telstra Business Awards, and a Government Endorsed Supplier, Patriot’s current client list includes the Australian Federal Police, Thales, the Australian Tax Office, and Minter Ellison.