Operational Officers' Employee Training and Development Education Incentive Fund
Operational Officers' Employee Training and Development Education Incentive Fund
What is the OO Employee Training and Education Incentive Fund?
This initiative is a statewide training and incentive fund administered by Cunningham Centre (Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service) on behalf of Queensland Health. Under this initiative, Operational Officers Level 2, 3, 4 and 5 (OO2, OO3, OO4 and OO5) may apply for funding assistance (up to $1,800) to attain an Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) certificate relevant to their role. Line Managers are to assist employees in identifying suitable AQF qualifications through the Performance Appraisal and Development (PAD) process. One hundred and eighty (180) places per year will be offered for eligible employees across Queensland Health to attain AQF qualifications.
Please note that there may be fringe benefits tax (FBT) implications in relation to the payment or reimbursement of an employee’s Self Education expenses. If the course that you have chosen to study is Commonwealth Supported (and therefore subsidised by the Federal Government) then this will attract FBT. Your local FBT contact will be available for advice in the first instance https://qheps.health.qld.gov.au/csd/business/finance/tax/contacts
Where HHS’ have exhausted their allocation employees are encouraged to discuss SARAS eligibility requirements with their local Human Resources team. A list of alternative funding sources can also be located in the frequently asked questions section below.
What can I study?
If you are thinking about a career in health but not sure where to start Choose Your Own Health Career will introduce you to some of the most popular and in demand health careers in Queensland – and show you how you can get started on your health career journey. There’s a whole world of job options that could find you working in a health facility or in the community. Many of these jobs support health professionals by working directly with patients while others work behind the scenes, including roles in administration and even maintenance. Please go to Choose Your Own Health Career for more information.
Successful applicants can study any suitable AQF qualification (certificate II to diploma) that has been deemed relevant to their role. We recommend that you discuss this with your Line Manager, as part of your performance and development appraisal (PAD) process.
Who delivers the training?
Successful applicants can choose to study with any nationally recognised and accredited registered training organisation.
How do I apply?
Interested employees must complete and submit an expression of interest to be considered for this initiative. Please note that only the current version of the expression of interest available on our website will be accepted. It is important that you read the Implementation Guide which contains more specific details regarding this initiative.
If you are aware of others who may be interested in this opportunity, please pass on the program poster for their information.
The funding is available for eligible Operational Officers Level 2, 3, 4 and 5 (OO2, OO3, OO4 and OO5) to gain a qualification under the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) relevant to their role.
This means that if you are eligible, you may receive up to $1,800 towards a qualification of your choice. The qualification must be relevant to your position, an AQF Qualification (certificate II to diploma level) and must be completed through a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) or a TEQSA accredited University. Funding numbers are limited.
It is important that you read the Implementation Guide which contains more specific details regarding this incentive.
If you are a permanent OO2, OO3, OO4 or OO5 employee you will be eligible to apply. Temporary OO2, OO3, OO4 or OO5 employees with greater than 12 months' of continuous service with no breaks in service may also apply.
You may only apply once under each Enterprise Bargaining (EB) agreement and the funding is only available for the qualification for which you apply. Funding for qualifications completed in the previous 12 months to application date will be submitted to the Enterprise Bargaining Implementation Group for consideration. Please note that being waitlisted for this funding does not constitute as approval for funding.
If all the allocations for your Hospital and Health Service are exhausted, the following applies:
Permanent applications will be waitlisted for consideration in the next financial year.
Temporary applications are for determination by the Enterprise Bargaining 10 Implementation Group on the basis that the allocation is unlikely to displace an otherwise eligible Administration Officer.
It is important you choose a qualification that is of interest to you as well as being relevant to your position. Think about what you would like to gain through this study - is it to assist in your current job or maybe to help you with an application in the future? You may also be at your top pay point and this qualification may help you earn more money (see HR Policy G13 Targeted Training for Operational Officers and discuss with your local Human Resources (HR) or Learning and Development team).
You may choose to study in any field, as long as it is relevant to your role. For example, you may choose to undertake study in:
allied health
administration or business
leadership and management
aged care
asset maintenance
dental assisting
occupational health and safety
human resources
procurement
project management
training
laboratory work
health support services
community services
pharmacy support
nutrition
sterilisation
security
warehousing
or any other field relevant to your role.
When you have chosen your field of study, you will need to select the qualification level you wish to complete. Certificate II, certificate III, certificate IV and diploma level qualifications are available with this funding. Further information regarding AQF level qualifications is available at https://www.aqf.edu.au/aqf-levels.
To help you look for an appropriate qualification and to gain helpful information for students, you can search online or visit these websites:
You may choose to study with any training provider, but they must be a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) or registered as a higher education provider through the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). You can find this information by checking with the training provider, or by looking for this symbol on their website:
To find out who may deliver your preferred qualification, you can search online or find the information on http://training.gov.au. Search for your qualification, then select 'Find RTOs approved to deliver this qualification'.
To find out if a provider is registered by TEQSA you can refer to the National Register of higher education providers on http://www.teqsa.gov.au/national-register. The Register has key information about a provider’s status. It lists each provider’s legal and trading name/s; Australian Business Number (ABN); head office address and website details.
The National Register also shows:
the provider's registration category
how long the provider is registered
whether or not the provider can accredit its own courses (this is generally the case for universities)
the names of each course of study accredited by TEQSA; and
the date by when these courses must be reaccredited.
Once you have chosen a qualification and researched training providers, you must discuss this training with your Line Manager. Ensure you have their support before continuing with your application.
Please note, this funding does not allow for any time off work to study and does not cover travel expenses incurred (e.g. transportation or accommodation).
After you have selected your training, and received verbal approval from your Line Manager, you need to complete the current expression of interest form available on our website.
You must complete this form in full, including:
details of the qualification you wish to study
details of the training provider you wish to study through
Please note that if you are approved for funding, but once started you decide to withdraw from your studies, this funding will not be available to anyone else. If you need to withdraw from your studies, please contact us to let us know so we can update our records.
If however, you choose not to use the funding, let us know and we may be able to reallocate it to someone else.
If your application is approved you will receive an email confirming this. Please read all the details in the email and the attached letter as this will help you to understand the next steps.
If your application is not approved, you will receive a letter explaining why. You may appeal the decision as per the process outlined in the Implementation Guide.
You have 12 months from the approval date to use the funding.
Once approved, it is the applicant's responsibility to contact their chosen training provider to enrol in training. There are two payment options available:
Ask for an invoice to be sent directly to us or forward it to us (Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service) once you have received it. We will then pay up to $1,800 to the training provider as per the funding agreement. Details of what is required on the invoice and where to send it to will be included in your acceptance letter package.
Pay for the invoice yourself and complete a Staff Expenses Claim Form (FSS3) which is available on QHEPS at https://qheps.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0028/2367073/ap-expense-reimbursement-or-adv-claim.pdf. You will need a receipt of payment and a copy of your approval letter to claim the $1,800 in funding.
If you have chosen to study through TAFE they may ask you to complete an 'Authority to Invoice' form first. Once this form has been approved by us, it will be returned to you. You can then send it back to TAFE, who will then provide an invoice.
Once we have paid the funding amount, you will need to contact the training provider regarding any outstanding fees. You may like to visit the Australian Taxation Office website or ask your accountant about claiming self-education expenses.
We will check in with you occasionally to see how your study is progressing. We will also check in to see if you have withdrawn from or completed your studies. This information assists us with maintaining our records.
I am part of a well-respected and highly regarded team which combined has some (53) years of experience. We provide shift coverage to our Emergency Department - SOPD (Specialists Outpatients Department) and to Ward Inpatients and Theatre. We are integrated into (5) shift variations with (7) days of the week support.
The Operational Officer Employee Training and Development Education Incentive Fund has enabled me to enrol into Certificate IV Cast Technology. This course is well respected and highly regarded as the bench mark for skills and knowledge learnt within is area of employment.
This funding allocation has given me the opportunity to proudly and supportively provide such skills and service to Queensland Health and insuring the future career path for other Operational Staff to also have the opportunity to enrol in this course for now and into the future, well done Queensland Health and the Unions, we need your support.
To help you look for alternative funding sources and to gain helpful information, you can search online or visit the following websites. Please note that the funding list below is not administered or supported by the Cunningham Centre.
