10 Apr 2026
Building Trainers from Within: Strengthening Forestry and Timber Capability
In an industry where workers traditionally learn skills on the job, strengthening internal training capabilities and adopting new technologies help RTO trainers and assessors make skills recognition more accessible in regional areas.
A pilot from the Forestry Workforce Training Program provides flexible training and financial support for workers to become workplace trainers and to upskill RTO trainers and assessors. The objective is to increase the pool of qualified trainers while ensuring training remains practical, high-quality and aligned with real workplace needs and national standards.
This workplace-based trainer program has been enthusiastically adopted after a targeted communications campaign attracted nearly 60 expressions of interest from across forestry and timber processing sectors.
From this pool, participants were selected for the nationally recognised training, Work Skill Instructor Skill Set, which enables experienced workers to deliver training in the workplace, under the supervision of an RTO within the VET framework.
Twelve participants were formally enrolled in the first intake (October 2025), representing forestry businesses from multiple states. With a course retention rate of approximately 85 per cent, notably above the typical TAFE sector average, this early result has been viewed as a strong indicator of increased engagement and relevance.
Three more groups have been scheduled to start in early and mid-2026, including one group made up of women working in the industry.
Designed for Real Workplaces
The 10-week program is delivered by TAFE Gippsland and was deliberately structured to reflect the realities of forestry and timber operations, including regional delivery, shift-based work and varying levels of digital confidence.
Workers attend weekly facilitated online sessions supported by mentoring and industry guest speakers. The course was adapted specifically for the forestry and wood products workers, ensuring that examples, assessment tasks and instructional strategies reflect real operational environments.
Nine short industry-focused training videos were produced to demonstrate best-practice training in action, reinforcing safety, task breakdown, assessment preparation and continuous improvement.These resources are now embedded in the delivery model and are helping connect theory with practice in the workplace.
This model enables workplace training to occur in real time and on-site, reducing downtime, minimising travel and aligning learning directly with live production schedules, a critical benefit for regional businesses.
Positive Reception and Growing Confidence
Feedback from the first intake was positive, with the program described as practical, relevant and accessible to everyone, even those who haven’t undertaken any formal study for years. Several said that the structured approach helped them understand how competency operates within the VET system and how to translate their industry expertise into effective training practice.
Others have expressed interest in progressing to the full Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, demonstrating that there are further opportunities for workers after they have completed this training.
Trainers involved in delivery have reported strong engagement, noting that the contextualised resources and mentoring support have made a tangible difference to the confidence of workers undertaking this training.
Building Long-Term Capacity
Workers are also being supported to map their existing qualifications against the units they will deliver within their workplaces. This includes exploring credit transfer and undertaking gap training or recognition pathways to ensure compliance with RTO Standards.
At the same time, RTO trainers are being supported to upskill in specialist units such as competitive systems and practices to better meet emerging workforce needs, ensuring capability grows across the entire training ecosystem.
A Practical Solution to a Longstanding Challenge
Forestry has traditionally had a lack of trainers in regional areas and limited access to qualified assessors. Embedding training capability locally offers practical and sustainable solutions to the industry’s training challenges.
By formalising the knowledge of experienced workers and giving them structured training skills, the project strengthens training capacity, provides workers with development opportunities and increases workforce resilience in the industry.
As the pilot expands, its success will be measured not only in completion rates, but also in increased opportunity for workers and the establishment of an increasingly self-sufficient training system where training is more accessible.
This initiative has been funded by the Australian Government under the Forestry Workforce Training Program (FWTP).
Want more updates?
See the FWTP news page for the latest news articles and milestone updates from the program.
