Edition 65, March 2009

Advice about refrigeration licensing courses


The Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC) has released advice about the prospective length of time expected to complete courses to get Certificate II and III level licences.

The Council advises that it is not possible, with no prior training or experience, to get any of the Certificate II or Certificate III level licences issued by ARC after completing a three day course.

The statement says that two day or three day courses are, from time to time, advertised and cause concern in the industry. The registered training organisations (RTOs) that offer these courses are often trying to attract students by advertising the best case scenario�that is the shortest possible course.

According to the Council, the only way that someone can qualify for a refrigerant handling licence after a two or three day course is to get recognition of prior learning for most of the units of competency.

In effect, for a student to complete a Certificate II course in such a short time, they would have to be fully qualified in an allied trade (such as plumbing or electrical).

The statement points out that there is no way that, even for a qualified tradesperson in an allied trade, that the full RAC qualification (Certificate III) could be completed in such a short time.

People with any concerns about training which is being advertised as a two or three day course, should ask the RTO offering the course if the course is for already qualified tradespeople or for absolute beginners.

If any RTO is claiming that people with no prior training or experience can become qualified in three days, then the matter should be raised with the relevant state or territory training authority.

For a list of state and territory training authorities visit www.licensinglinenews.com/InfoPage11.asp#STAs

This page was generated on 26 August, 2009