THOSE on the ground during an "incident response" in horticulture will be better equipped to feed information to decision makers due to a new program.
Plant Health Australia (PHA) has launched an e-learning industry liaison officer (ILO) program consisting of an online ILO course and face-to-face ILO workshop.
The program is designed to improve response readiness of industry representatives that may be called on to work in the incident management structure during a response.
It's hoped the training will assist in individuals understanding their roles and responsibilities.
ILOs contribute to decision-making by providing the affected industry's perspective on aspects of the operational response.
Their experience and knowledge of their respective industries allow them to provide advice on potential impacts of response strategies and actions.
ILOs act as links to support industry communication and engagement during response activities.
The enhanced program offers a new ILO e-learning course and redesigned training workshop to provide greater in-depth knowledge and the opportunity to develop skills needed for undertaking an industry liaison role during a plant biosecurity response.
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The enhanced e-learning course, hosted on PHA's Biosecurity Online Training platform (BOLT) is a prerequisite to the workshop but also acts as just-in-time and refresher training.
The course covers foundational knowledge needed to understand an ILO's position and reporting obligations within an incident management structure.
The workshop is delivered in collaboration with the state or territory government where it is being held and includes training on the role and responsibilities of response functional areas, such as public information, planning, and the incident controller.
This provides participants with an understanding of the situations they would face as an ILO during a response and what their own roles and responsibilities would be.
The training also provides an opportunity to foster partnerships between industries and government.
PHA general manager emergency response Dr Susanna Driessen said access to e-learning is free and available to anyone who is interested, and it should only take 60 minutes to complete.
Learners receive a certificate of completion for both e-learning and the workshop, which may be recognised by employees as professional development.
"The workshop explores realistic tasks that an ILO would perform during a response and their required responsibilities," Dr Driessen said.
Over the next two years, one-day ILO workshops will be held in each state and territory.
The next ILO workshop is scheduled for May 25, in Tasmania.
- Those interested in the ILO role and attending a workshop should discuss it with his or her peak industry body and submit an expression of interest to: training@phau.com.au
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