CPD officially commenced on the 1st July 2018. Retrospective Approval for CPD related activities, approved or otherwise, and which occurred before this date will not be considered.

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An Advocate Level 1-3 who has submitted an application to undertake RPL to a higher level will still have a CPD obligation.

Advocates who have completed a Statement of Attainment and are working in the training pathway in the same stream as their SoA will have their CPD obligations temporarily suspended until they complete that higher-level SoA.

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Apart from face-to-face activities, all other CPD resources are accessible online.

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It is an expectation that all Advocates will have access to a computer and the internet to complete their CPD obligation. A significant proportion of CPD activities can only be accessed online using the internet. However, you will not need a computer or internet to engage in face-to-face CPD activities. The CPD Team encourages you to do everything you can to secure internet and computer access. A colleague, local library, community centre, or even your ESO may be able to help.

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You will need access to a computer and the internet for all online activities. However, you will not need a computer for face-to-face CPD activities. Without a computer, you will find it increasingly difficult to provide advocacy services. Access to information used for Wellbeing and Compensation CPD activities is mainly accessible from online sources. Your ESO may be able to apply for BEST funding to provide you with a computer. In the meantime, your ESO, CoP (Community of Practice), a colleague, a local library or community centre may be able to help.

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While some CPD activities can be undertaken offline without accessing the internet, the majority of CPD activities will require access to the internet to access and complete them. If you don't have your own ISP (Internet Service Provider), speak to your ESO about getting connected.

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Advocates are strongly encouraged to develop their computer literacy skills, not only for CPD, but also because advocacy services are almost exclusively being delivered online. Computer use courses are usually available through most TAFE or Community Colleges. There are also a number of courses you can access online free of charge. The CPD Team strongly encourages you to do everything you can to overcome your concerns about computer use. A colleague or your CoP (Community of Practice) may also be able to help you.

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CPD can be accessed on almost all modern laptops, desktops, and tablets. If possible, the computer should come with the latest version of Windows, ie: Windows 10, have Google Chrome or Firefox as the default web browser, and have Adobe Flash Player downloaded and activated.

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It is possible that your computer may not be able to run the video file format used for CPD streaming videos. If you encounter that problem, the CPD Team advise that you authorise a maintenance operation on your computer and update your software (Javascript) and the plugin (Adobe Flash) or similar. This should ensure that your default web browser can play the video files CPD is using. If your computer is still not able to play videos, you may need to seek some technical help through your ESO.

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If you cannot open documents that require Flash, you might first check whether JavaScript is not enabled (turned on). If you have an older Apple Mac using iOS, Javascript was not permitted to run because it is a potential vector for malware. If you need to install Flash Player, you can download a free version of Flash Player (only ever download direct from Adobe) from: https://helpx.adobe.com/au/download-install.html#Flash_Player   If you have the latest version of Flash installed and you’re still having problems, you may find advice on: https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/common-problems-flash-player.html. Otherwise, you may need to ask if your ESO can provide you with some technical support.

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Apart from the type of service you have purchased (eg., ADSL, ADSL2, NBN), an incorrectly configured router/modem will slow down your internet connection. Spyware is also major cause of slowdown so scan your computer for spyware. Registry errors will also slow your internet and computer’s performance. Use your computer’s Search function to learn how to defragment/optimise it. If your computer is still running slow, and not able to download files or programs, ask for technical support through your ESO.

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If you are having any difficulties, your first point of contact is your ESO. However, a colleague, your Mentor or your CoP may also be able to help. If that doesn’t solve your problem, the CPD Team and DVA’s IT Consultant will be the go-to people. 

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Any of the approved activities listed in the ATDP CPD website, if undertaken successfully, accrue CPD  points.

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CPD activities are not ‘accredited’ by ATDP. However, CPD activities are fully reviewed and vetted by the CPD Team to ensure that they are consistent with the practice of Military Advocacy.

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Only some elements of CPD can be completed as a part of an approved group activity. Such an activity would also have a certified attendance requirement. However, for all other CPD activities, there would be nothing preventing a group of Advocates coming together to discuss and research CPD questions with a view to arriving at a correct response. This would be best completed as part of a Community of Practice (CoP) activity.

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No, CPD is not the same as a TIP refresher course. TIP refresher courses covered the same content as the initial TIP course, whereas CPD is aimed at enhancing and building on existing advocacy knowledge and practice skills. 

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No. CPD cannot be undertaken using an RPL process. As its title indicates, RPL is the recognition of prior learning. CPD, on the other hand, is directed at Advocates’ knowledge and skill development.

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CPD requires that an Advocate accrues a minimum of 15 points each CPD year and minimum of 45 points over a three-year rolling period. The CPD year begins on 01 July and ends on 30 June the following year.

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Your CPD obligation is determined by which quarter you enter the current CPD year. Please refer to the following table:

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The best way to understand a three-year rolling program is with the aid of a diagram. The following diagram shows CPD points building up at the required minimum 15 points per year, until at the beginning of year 4, the first year’s 15 points drop out of the cycle, at which stage Years 2-3-4 become the next 3 year rolling cycle over which an ADVOCATE MUST accrue the required 45 CPD points. The cycle then rolls forward on 01 July each subsequent year.

The best way to understand a three-year rolling program is with the aid of a diagram. The following diagram shows CPD points building up at the required minimum 15 points per year, until at the beginning of year 4, the first year’s 15 points drop out of the cycle, at which stage Years 2-3-4 become the next 3 year rolling cycle over which an ADVOCATE MUST accrue the required 45 CPD points. The cycle then rolls forward on 01 July each subsequent year.

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In principle, any activity that enhances professional knowledge and competency is open to the award of CPD points. However, before the activity is conducted, you should ask your CoP Coordinator if a decision has been made as to whether the activity will accrue CPD points. If it does, you will need to ensure that you have signed an attendance register so that CPD points can be credited to your CPD account.

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If at the end of each three-year rolling period, an Advocate has failed to accrue 45 CPD points, they are deemed to be ‘In Arrears’. An Advocate in this situation will be notified of their status as will their ESO. Being not current has implications for the Advocate and their ESO/VSC in that they may not be covered by VITA. The Advocate may also be called upon to show cause as to why their name should not be removed from the Accredited Advocate Register.

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 If 15 CPD points are not accrued in a given year, an Advocate is deemed ‘in arrears’. If an Advocate is unable to accrue 15 points in one year, the deficit or shortfall is carried forward into the next CPD year and the Advocate will be expected to make up those points before they can start accruing CPD points in the new year. The Advocate’s ESO is also advised of their CPD status. An Advocate is not permitted to carry forward any surplus points from one year to the next. However, they may earn more than 15 CPD points in any given CPD year if they so choose.

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If you are ill, getting yourself well is in your, your ESO/VSC’s and veterans’ interest. Take the time necessary to return to full health. However, an email to the CPD team advising of your issues will be very helpful.

If you are able to manage to do some CPD as your health returns, that will assist your return to currency as you prepare to return to advocacy. If you suffer from a profoundly debilitating illness that takes you away from active advocacy for an extended period of time, your ESO/VSC should advise the CPD Team and your CPD commitment will be suspended.

When you return to advocacy after an extended break, it would be prudent from both a service delivery and indemnification perspective to have one of your experienced colleagues mentor you until your practice and CPD are current.

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Self-directed learning is strongly encouraged and sets a great example for your colleagues. It is however, part of business as usual, what clients would expect of you in delivering advocacy services to them and their families, and therefore, it does not meet CPD criteria.

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The CPD Team may consider qualifications already held on a case-by-case basis. There needs to be a very strong link between the qualification and its ability to enhance an Advocate’s capability to deliver Military Advocacy and services. Most professional and semi-professional organisations in Australia do not regard the acquisition of a professional qualification as being equivalent to CPD.

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As the title suggests, the purpose of CPD is focussed on continuing learning and advocacy skills development whereas a professional qualification is focussed on the acquisition of new knowledge and or skills. Given this fundamental difference, the question relating to a professional qualification being worth more or less CPD points is not the issue.

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Before the activity is conducted, the convenor of the activity should email the CPD Team with the objective, contents and learning method to be employed, and seek a decision as to whether the activity will be approved. The CPD Team will also advise the number of CPD points to be assigned to the activity and what attendance records will be needed to credit points to participants attending.

Only Advocates who have a legitimate CPD obligation will be eligible to have CPD points credited to their CPD accounts.

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Remembering that all CPD Team Members are volunteers, the team requests that all online applications for the award of CPD points be made one month before the activity is scheduled to take place.

Only online applications will be considered.

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If you intend to take an extended break away from active advocacy, you should advise the CPD Team and your CPD commitment will be suspended. When you return to advocacy, depending on how long you have been out of the advocacy space, it would be prudent from both a service delivery and indemnification perspective to have one of your experienced colleagues mentor you until your practice and CPD are current.

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There are two ways in which CPD points will be credited to your CPD account.

If you complete one of the listed online activities, the number of CPD points you earn will be automatically credited to your CPD account when you hit the submit tab.

If you complete a non-listed, approved activity, the event convenor will need submit a signed attendance sheet to the CPD Training Team, who in turn will manually credit the points to a participant’s CPD account. This may take some weeks to complete. Please be patient. It will happen.

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No. Should an ESO have concerns as to whether one of their Advocates was In Arrears, or Current or Not Current, all the Advocate needs do is show the ESO their CPD profile. The ESO will also receive advice from the CPD Team if an Advocate is falling behind with respect to their CPD obligation.

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The CPD website will hold your personal CPD account. You can access this site by logging onto the ATDP website www.atdp.org.au using your ATDP username and password. You then go to your CPD home page by hitting on the tab which says log into my CPD account..  

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The CPD website includes reporting functions that enable you the Advocate, the CPD Team, your ESO/VSC, and VITA, to monitor your CPD progress and status.

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You the Advocate, your ESO/VSC and VITA will be notified if your CPD is either ‘in arrears’ or ‘not current’.  Your ESO and perhaps your Mentor may also want to monitor your currency as well as assist you in meeting your CPD obligation.

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Yes. All Advocates, irrespective of their level, are required to undertake CPD to ensure that their knowledge and practice remains current. The only exceptions are - if an Advocate is formally enrolled on a learning pathway or waiting to complete RPL. You also need to be aware that your CPD obligation commences as from the date your Statement of Attainment (SoA) is issued.

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Yes, there are definitely younger veterans coming into the advocacy space. The four update CPD Modules have been specifically designed to meet younger veterans’ needs. However, the transition from welfare to wellbeing, the need for each stream of practice to understand the other stream, the possibility that any veteran or family member may contemplate suicide or be encountering problems within their community, make these modules extremely relevant.

Level 2 Advocates may also be called upon to mentor and that mentoring need not be face-to-face. Therefore, all Level 2 Advocates need to be across the knowledge and skill requirements in the Level 1 and 2 learning pathways.

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No. If you are enrolled on the Level 1 learning pathway and are completing a WEL you do not have a CPD obligation.  However, if you complete your Level 1 training, your Satement of Attainment (SoA) has been issued, and you decide not to enrol in a Level 2 learning pathway, you will have a CPD obligation.

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No. Provided you are actively engaged in a formal professional learning activity (viz. undertaking online learning, being mentored and completing a WEL), you do not have a CPD obligation. Your CPD obligation only begins when your Statement of Attainment is issued, and you decide not to enrol in a Level 2 learning pathway.

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No. Provided you are meeting all the requirements of the Level 2 learning pathway (undertaking online learning, being mentored and completing a WEL), you are meeting ATDP’s learning objectives and therefore, do not have a CPD obligation.

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No. Current CPD policy states that if an Advocate has a CPD obligation, they are required to earn a minimum of 15 CPD points per annum from the discipline in which they are qualified.

For an Advocate who is qualified in both Compensation and Wellbeing streams and who has a CPD obligation, the 15 point minimum CPD requirement still remains. They are not required to accrue 15 points in each stream.

Dual qualified Advocates can choose CPD activities from either stream as long as the minimum 15 CPD points annual requirement is met. Ideally those 15 points will be balanced across both streams.

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In just the same way that TIP recommended attendance at a refresher course each three years to maintain currency, ATDP has introduced Continuing Professional Development.

Unlike TIP refresher training which tended to repeat the content of the initial course, CPD recognises that knowledge and advocacy practice change regularly. It also accepts that Advocates are mostly volunteers and has therefore struck a balance between the real changes in knowledge and practice and realistic expectations of volunteers.

TIP Refresher Courses took three days, or equivalent to one day per year plus ‘networking’ time after hours. CPD therefore presumes not more than 15 hours activity per year, or an average of less than 20 minutes per week. Most Advocates will have been expending that sort of effort in researching cases, so CPD should not be a significant imposition.

The bottom line, of course, is that all Advocates have a self-directed obligation to do the very best they can for their clients. ATDP hopes that the minimum effort required to meet CPD requirements will encourage far more extensive professional research and reflection.

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Good question. TIP aimed to ensure Pension and Welfare Officers remained current by scheduling refresher courses every three years, on demand from ESOs. However, there is much evidence to suggest that refresher courses are not consistent with the adult learning principles that underpin ATDP and simply refresh previously learned knowledge. CPD on the other hand is how professionals ensure their knowledge and skill levels remain both current as well as improving over time.

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No. Such a question presumes that knowledge and practice are static, which is not the case. Also, as a Mentor, you will work with candidates that are undergoing the Levels 1 and 2 learning pathways.

The learning underpinning these pathways is being progressively rewritten to include the needs of younger veterans, and therefore must be known by Mentors, especially those who have come to the space as RPL-ed Advocates.

Also, the rationale for CPD is that Advocates must keep current to ensure they deliver high quality advocacy services. Currency is therefore a requirement of continued authorisation and professional indemnification. CPD assures a minimum level of currency.

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Welfare training through TIP, and welfare practice in general, was heavily focused on aging.

The needs of the newer and contemporary generation of veterans are quite different and require the Wellbeing Advocate to gain not only new as well as different types of knowledge and skill, but also deliver advocacy services in ways that are holistic as well as innovative.

These younger veterans want a different style of support. The Wellbeing approach focuses on the whole family and has the Wellbeing Advocate ‘walking beside’ rather than ‘pointing the way’.  

These younger veterans also want a different style of support.  Wellbeing focuses on the whole family and has the Wellbeing Advocate ‘walking beside’ rather than ‘pointing the way’.

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Professionalism doesn’t equate to being paid. It is a system of shared values and standards. 

Its about the way you do your work and interact with your clients.

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Your willingness to undertake self-directed learning (SDL) is to be commended and is setting a great example for your colleagues.

The biggest issue with SDL is that it is difficult to quantify. Measurable evidence of continuous professional development is required for both authorisation and indemnification as an Advocate.

CPD provides that evidence.

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ATDP does not force an Advocate to undertake CPD. However, if an Advocate wants coverage under VITA, and are keen to engage in best advocacy practice, then CPD will help them achieve this goal.

So, while the question is true at the moment, the various inquiries underway after the Senate Inquiry into Suicide by Veterans indicate that some form of regulatory body may be formed.

Irrespective of what eventuates, professionalisation of advocacy has been underway since at least the 2010 Review of services delivered by ESOs. It has also been accelerated by Bill Rolfe’s review in 2015.

As practicing Advocates, we have a choice. We can fight the trend, or get ahead of it. ATDP is taking the latter course following ESOs’ resolutions at the national level. The bottom line is that ESOs started forming 100 years ago to support veterans, widows, orphans and families.

As Advocates, we continue that tradition. Our obligation is to deliver the most professional advocacy services we can. CPD supports RPL and learning pathways in helping us meet that obligation.

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No. Assessment of competence as an Advocate is a once-off requirement at any level and in any stream of advocacy. 

CPD is not part of the Vocational Education and Training system and does not need to be accredited by an RTO. 

It is, however, relevant to professional performance once competency has been demonstrated.  As the title suggests, CPD ensures currency of knowledge and practice through ongoing learning and review of technique.

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No. Once you are accredited as an Advocate, the RTO will provide the only formal evidence of your competence, usually in the form of a Statement of Attainment (SoA). There is no need within the Vocational Education and Training system for further certification.

However, your ESO/VSC will need evidence of ongoing currency for authorisation and your ESO/VSC’s insurer for professional indemnification. The CPD website and Accredited Advocate Register will provide that evidence.

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VITA policy is that, when an Advocate is ‘in arrears’, he/she should be warned that they may be putting their insurance coverage at risk and, that failure to catch-up as well as gain their 15 points in the current year ahead will result in the insurer potentially considering them as non-compliant. Given that an ASQA-accreditation is now available for all appropriately qualified Advocates, prudently, ESOs that take out their own indemnification should expect that the currency of their Advocates would be subject to similar standards by any other insurer as well as the courts.

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Any such Advocate would carry the risk of not being covered by Professional Indemnity Insurance.

In the event of a damages claim against the Advocate through the courts, the Advocate could face the possibility of having to pay the entire claim from their own resources if the courts found in favour of the plaintiff.

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VITA has advised that the latest date TIP-trained Level 1 and 2 Pension and Welfare Officers will be indemnified to is 30 June 2019.

ALL VRB/AAT advocates will remain indemnified until the 31 December 2021.

These cut-off dates are negated when a TIP trained Advocate undertakes RPL and is successful.

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VITA has advised that the latest date TIP-trained Level 1 and 2 pension and welfare officers will be indemnified to is 30 June 2019,

ALL VRB/AAT advocates will remain indemnified until the 31 December 2021. 

These cut-off dates are negated when a TIP trained advocate undertakes RPL and is successful.

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The best way to answer your question is to advise how much time you should be spending with a candidate at each level.

The 10620NAT Course in Military Advocacy course structure envisages candidates expending 60 hours of supervised learning at Levels 1 and 2 in Wellbeing and Compensation. Adult Learning Principles indicate that mentoring will occupy 20% of a candidate’s learning. This indicates that mentoring will require around 12 hours per Level 1 and 2 candidate, 22 hours for level 3, and 15 for Level 4.

For each level, the mentoring hours would be expended over a 6 to 12-month period. The CPD Team expects that each point will equate to no more than an hour of effort. The annual CPD requirement should equate to no more than 15 hours per year.

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The Privacy Act 1988 provides that personal information (including the personal information contained on the ATDP enrolment form and your training activity data) is required by MTS and a range of other government agencies for statistical, regulatory and research purposes. Also, your sponsoring ESO and the veteran community has a right to know about your accreditation and contact details.

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ATDP defines CPD as - maintaining and enhancing the knowledge, skill and experience related to an Advocate’s professional activities following the completion of formal training.

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