APT ™ is an Accredited Training Package authorized by the Australian Quality Training Framework, the government body responsible for accrediting vocational training nation wide.

Competency Based Learning

APT is a ‘competency based’ training package, allowing learning to be much more creative and flexible, where theory is balanced with healthy amounts of practice. Competencies are skills that students learn. After these skills are demonstrated to an assessor, students may obtain a "Certificate of Attainment" for their "Unit of Competency". An example of a Unit of Competency in the APT package is: “Manage a Permaculture Seed Bank.”

Each Unit of Competency has both theoretical, knowledge based aspects and practical, activity based aspects. It is the job of the assessor to make sure that students can apply both aspects of their learning to perform a task or skill (competency) to a required level.

Qualifications

Qualifications (Certificates 1-4 and Diploma) are made up of various Units of Competency- about 10-15 depending on the Qualification. After a student has gained enough Units of Competency they may apply for a Qualification. Click here for lists of Units of Competency by Qualification.

Flexibility

Units of Competency may be learned and assessed in two general ways:

Competency based learning provides the opportunity for students to learn in a flexible and creative manner in a realistic setting, making it ideal for learning permaculture skills.

APT Structure

 The suite of APT courses was registered in July 2003. Since then, it has been taken up all over the country and at all available levels. 

The levels available are:

• Certificate I in Permaculture
• Certificate II in Permaculture
• Certificate III in Permaculture
• Certificate IV in Permaculture
• Diploma of Permaculture.

Courses are formally accredited in the national training system and are therefore equivalent to any other Vocational Education and Training (VET) program. As such they can attracting funding and deliver credits within other programs.

 APT Ownership

Permaculture International Limited (PIL) is the course copyright owner on behalf of its members. PIL is a democratically controlled, not-for-profit organization for permaculturists. As copyright owner it is working to encourage further up-take around the country.

Becoming and APT Training Provider

There are a series of steps required to become an accredited APT Trainer/Assessor.  Anyone interested in investigating options for delivering APT training should click here.

The APT Accredited Teachers Register

Permacultue International Limited maintains the ATR and assesses applications to join the ATR. Membership on the ATR is mandatory for APT trainer/assessors.

Studying APT

Anyone interested in studying Accredited Permaculture Training should see the list of training providers by clicking here.

APT Registered Training Organizations (RTO)

 PIL has agreements with two licensed RTOs who auspice APT.

Eltham College Training Services

P.O. Box 40

Eltham 3095

Colin Nightingale, RTO Manager

cnightingale@elthamcollege.vic.edu.au

Phone: 03 9433 9956

National Environment Centre

Riverina Institute of TAFE

Thurgoona, NSW 2640

Rob Fenton, Head Teacher

rob.fenton@tafensw.edu.au

Phone: 02 6043 6722

Important note: ALL students undertaking APT courses must be enrolled through one of the above two RTOs. In most cases this will be a seamless process for the student which is undertaken by a training organization delivering APT through an agreement with one of these two RTOs.

APT Training Delivery

There are a number of models for delivering this training:

• Independent Operator:An independent operator wanting to deliver this training needs to be registered on the APT Approved Teachers Register and have an Agreement with oneof the above RTOs. Independent Operators need to have access to an approved site and have their course material approved by the RTO.
•  Organisational Agreement: An organization can arrange to have training auspiced through one of the licensed RTOs provided the delivery and assessment is undertaken by a member of the APT-ATR and if delivery is undertaken at an approved site. If the organization is a school, it is possible for interested teachers to work under the supervision of an APT-ATR registered trainer to deliver programs up to and including Certificate II without the teacher themselves registering on the APT-ATR. Teachers wishing to take up this option will need to do a Course Orientation Workshop (COW), in order to be trained in the simple record-keeping and planning tools used, and in order to deliver the training to the required standard. Assessment, however, needs to be undertaken by an APT-ATR approved trainer in conjunction with the Organization.

 Approved Sites

Any site used for VET training must comply with the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF). This framework specifies certain minimum requirements for Occupational Health & Safety (OHS), Public Liability Insurance, Access and Equity etc. All APT approved sites must comply with the AQTF and/or be approved by the RTO as excursion sites through the RTO’s own provisions.To be used as an APT site, a site must be able to demonstrate permaculture practices. Normally this will mean that the site is operated by someone with a PDC, or that the site has had a long association with permaculture networks.