Project 2. Implementing Stackable Micro-Credentials for Essential Industry Skills

Overview
Engagement & Development
Pilot – EOIs/Enrolments (Closed)
Pilot Delivery (In progress)

Project Description

This project establishes a nationally recognised framework that enables workers across the forestry and timber industry to build, demonstrate, and transfer skills relevant to multiple roles and sectors.

It addresses workforce fluidity by improving mobility, employability, and recognition of prior learning for both new entrants and existing employees.

By formalising a set of cross-sector competencies, the framework makes it easier for workers to move between jobs, employers or industry segments, supporting a more adaptable and resilient workforce.

Timeline

July 2025 – June 2027

Lead Organisation

Led by Timber Queensland and delivered by TAFE Gippsland and Timber Training Creswick.

Contact

Diana Saunders
Project Manager | Timber Queensland
diana@timberqueensland.com.au

Kaye Tyter
Workforce Development Manager | ForestWorks
ktyter@forestworks.com.au

Transferable Skills Framework for Industry Workforce Mobility

Led by Timber Queensland, this project identifies the transferable skills that enable workers in the forestry, timber, and related sectors to move more easily between roles and employers. It responds to a rapidly changing industry, where some businesses are expanding through automation and robotics, while others are facing closures or workforce reductions, by improving workforce mobility and developing a work-ready pool of employees equipped with adaptable, cross-sector competencies and verified evidence of their competencies.

Why It Matters

The forestry and timber industries face significant workforce challenges driven by automation, mill closures, skills shortages, and demographic change. Employers are balancing the need to develop skills for increasingly high-tech operations while managing workforce losses from retirement and role displacement.

This project addresses a critical gap by defining a consistent set of skills that can be recognised and applied across different jobs, organisations, and sectors. Improving skills portability reduces duplicated training efforts across employers and supports stronger workforce retention through greater job and cross-sector mobility.

Stakeholder Perspectives and Key Insights

A key focus of this project is creating a transferable skills framework to support workforce mobility across the forestry and timber industries. The work was completed in two stages.

Developed in collaboration with employers, training providers, and industry representatives, the framework identifies the skills that make workers adaptable, able to perform effectively across diverse workplaces, and to maintain safety, quality, and productivity.

It defines the core transferable skills every forestry and timber worker needs to move confidently and safely between jobs, employers, and sectors.

The framework centres on seven transferable skill areas that underpin success in any forestry or timber workplace:

Industry Awareness – Understanding forestry and timber operations, governance, and environmental context.
Workplace Conduct – Following induction processes, codes of practice, and communication protocols.
Safety and Risk Management – Maintaining personal and operational safety, environmental care, and compliance.
Teamwork and Communication – Collaborating effectively, contributing to team goals, and resolving issues constructively.
Cultural Awareness and Inclusion – Respecting diversity and fostering positive workplace relations.
Continuous Improvement – Applying innovation, quality assurance, and efficiency practices.
Foundation Skills – Applying literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving in day-to-day work.

Existing units of competency within national training packages underpin these skills, and the modules from Project 11 already provide a structural model to support their development and the implementation of the framework.

Module 1 – Industry Awareness (governance, communication, teamwork)
Module 2 – Workplace Readiness (safety, environment, cultural awareness)
Module 3 – Continuous Improvement (problem-solving, quality)
Module 4 – Digital Literacy (technology use and data handling)

Next Steps: Preparing for Pilot Launch in 2026

The project is currently in the final stages of development, with the following activities underway through to December 2025:

Prepare a pilot delivery of Modules 1 and 2 as an industry-wide induction model, outlining pilot participants, timelines, and evaluation criteria.

Employers interested in participating in the pilot or shaping the final training model are encouraged to get involved.

For questions or to express interest in participating, please contact the Project Lead, Diana Saunders, diana@timberqueensland.com.au.

Stackable Micro-Credentials for Forestry and Wood Products Operations

Employers and workers across the forestry and wood products industry are invited to register interest in nationally aligned, flexible micro-credentials designed to build capability and support progression towards a qualification.

This program is funded by the Australian Government under the Forestry Workforce Training Program (FWTP) and is delivered in partnership with TAFE NSW, TAFE Gippsland, and Timber Training Creswick.

Training Focus Areas

This training program supports the development of transferable skills that are valued across forestry, timber and related sectors, helping workers adapt to different tasks, worksites and operational contexts as business needs evolve.

Entry-Level & Operator Pathways: Transferable workplace-readiness skills & tech/digital literacy — For new entrants, entry-level and operator roles, supporting safe and productive performance, mobility across roles, and workplace participation.
Mid-Career Pathways: Transferable technical leadership skills — For mid-career roles and leadership pathways, supporting the development of technical leaders within operations.

How to Participate

Select the modules required for your workforce needs or individual development goals (use the module links provided on this webpage).
Register by 28 February 2026 using the forms below.
Following registration, we will contact you to confirm course delivery, which will be finalised based on the number of registrations and the range of participant roles and learning needs.

Note: An EOI application does not mean automatic enrolment or confirmed course delivery.

Funding is limited. Places will be allocated until available funds are exhausted.

Entry-Level & Operator Pathways

Transferable workplace-readiness skills + tech/digital literacy

Employer EOI Registration Form

Individual Participant EOI Registration Form

Mid-Career Pathways

Transferable technical leadership skills

Employer EOI Registration Form

Individual Participant EOI Registration Form

Need support selecting modules?

For guidance on choosing the most suitable micro-credentials (including how modules stack towards qualifications), contact Kaye Tyter at ktyter@forestworks.com.au

Flexible and Modular Learning (stack credits towards a qualification)

Training under this program is modular, enabling micro-credentials to be completed individually (to target specific skill needs) or combined to stack credits towards a full qualification.

The available micro-credentials and the qualifications they contribute to are provided via the links below:

Entry-Level & Operator Pathways

Transferable workplace-readiness skills + tech/digital literacy

View the module menu for forestry operations

View the module menu for wood products operations

These micro-credentials can be used to induct new entrants and to embed transferable skills among existing entry-level workers and operators.

Mid-Career Pathways

Transferable technical leadership skills

View the module menu for forestry operations

View the module menu for wood products operations

These micro-credentials build transferable leadership capability that can be applied across work sites, teams, operational contexts, and job functions.

Training Delivery Method and Timeline

Components of the training will be delivered online through a Learning Management System (LMS), with learning accessed virtually, including via ForestEdu’s Moodle platform.

The delivery sequence and training schedule for 2026–2027 will be finalised based on registration numbers and the range of participant roles and learning needs.

Note: An EOI application does not mean automatic enrolment or confirmed course delivery.

What Are Transferable Skills?

Transferable skills are foundational capabilities that apply across different roles, worksites and industry settings. In this program, they are positioned as workplace-readiness skills.

Workplace-readiness skills (foundational and transferable): the capabilities that enable effective participation at an appropriate level in any workplace within an organisation, or related sector or industry, with support and supervision, even when a person is not yet competent in a specific role.
Job-ready skills (role-specific): the role-specific and task-specific capabilities required to perform a particular job (or job family) to an expected industry standard or workplace competency requirements.

Common transferable workplace readiness skills include:

Communication and teamwork
Workplace health and safety
Environmental responsibility
Problem solving (including quality)
Digital literacy
Practical reading, writing and numeracy

The program also recognises additional expectations that support effective workplace participation:

Understanding the industry, workplace governance and codes of conduct
Respect for culture and diversity
Leadership at an appropriate level (embedded within communication and collaboration expectations, as well as quality, continuous improvement)

Appropriate training can be used to support:

Induction for new entrants, providing a consistent foundation for safe and effective workplace participation
Capability uplift for existing entry-level workers and operators, embedding transferable skills that support performance and adaptability as tasks, equipment and workplace expectations change.
Mid-career leadership development, as capability grows, building transferable skills that support stronger collaboration, decision-making, quality and continuous improvement, progressing from guiding others on the day-to-day job to leading safer, more productive and more inclusive workplaces.

Project 2 is piloting stackable micro-credentials in essential and transferable skills for forest operations and timber and wood products operations.

The project developed a suite of stackable training modules in forestry operations and timber processing, along with flexible delivery models designed to meet learners’ and employers’ needs. The modules can be completed as standalone skill sets or credited toward full qualifications – the Certificate II in Forest Operations or the Certificate III in Timber and Wood Products Operations. This model provides flexible, nationally recognised learning opportunities that support workforce mobility and create clear pathways for both new entrants and existing entry-level workers.

The project has advanced from industry consultations and training program design to the pilot delivery phase.

Initial expressions of interest identified 58 prospective participants nationwide, with 29 for forest operations and 29 for timber processing.

Forest operations stream

By August 2026, 12 learners from three employers had enrolled in the forest operations stream across New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia. All four units in Module 1 (Industry Awareness) had been delivered by TAFE Gippsland, with assessment support continuing until September 2026. Module 2 (Workplace Readiness) is scheduled for delivery from late September to December 2026. Modules 5 (Continuous Improvement) and 6 (Digital Technology) are scheduled to begin delivery in February 2027.

Module 1 was delivered online through trainer-facilitated sessions. Early implementation demonstrates the potential of facilitated online learning to accommodate geographically dispersed workers and variable rosters. Areas identified for refinement include shorter live sessions, improved management of video-based assessments, and clearer employer communication. The gap between initial interest and confirmed enrolment remains a significant implementation issue and will inform evaluation of the model’s accessibility, industry value, and potential scalability.

Timber operations stream

By September 2026, up to 22 workers from two employers had been identified for enrolment in the timber and wood products operations stream, pending final confirmation. Participants may complete individual modules or all four stackable modules to earn a Certificate III qualification. Module 1 (Industry Awareness) commenced delivery in September 2026. Timber Training Creswick delivers the modules progressively through a flexible blended model that combines online learning via the ForestEdu platform with regional face-to-face workshops. Online delivery typically spans 8 to 12 weeks per module, requires about three hours per week, and includes weekly learner support sessions. Face-to-face delivery consists of intensive two- to three-day regional workshops designed to reinforce learning. Assessment integrates online learning activities, workplace evidence, and practical observation, with on-site delivery and assessment available for employer cohorts as needed.

Additional promotion and enrolment activity is underway to establish further cohorts in both streams.

The proposed training model is scheduled to begin trials in early 2026 following further consultations and development. Additional information will be available soon.

Employers interested in participating in the pilot or shaping the final training model are encouraged to get involved.

For questions or to express interest in participating, please contact the Project Lead, Diana Saunders, diana@timberqueensland.com.au.