Body of Knowledge and Professional Development

Provide a forum to advance the science and practice of engineering to the highest standards

Key Indicators:

• Reputation for relevance and quality of our engineering body of knowledge
• Ease of access for members - metropolitan, regional, remote and overseas
• Incidence of members making voluntary contributions
• Perceived professional development value as indicated by quantum of take-up
• Higher acceptance of the value of Chartered Status

What Strategies will we use?

• 2.1 Develop and disseminate our body of knowledge for the benefit of members and the profession, in ways convenient to our members wherever they are
• 2.2 Promote Chartered Status to employers and regulators as the assured standard for professional competence, independent practice and registration
• 2.3 Identify development pathways, create peer support arrangements, and encourage all members to pursue lifelong learning and professional advancement
• 2.4 Work to keep ethical and practice standards, and the competence standards for members in all areas of the profession, up to date

Preferred Stakeholder Outcomes

2.1 Develop and disseminate our body of knowledge for the benefit of members and the profession, in ways convenient to our members wherever they are

We need actions to achieve:

• continued support for our members to research, develop and disseminate engineering knowledge in all its forms, such as learned papers, articles and journals
• greater use by our members and staff of Engineers Australia technologies to capture valuable engineering knowledge from conferences, technical sessions, and other CPD events
• greater use by our members of Engineers Australia technologies for professional networking and access to knowledge, at times and places of their convenience
• more larger companies and government departments contributing to learned society events for the advancement of the profession
• clearer guidance on our approach to CPD issues and priorities – eg. aligned with CPD audit expectations – and to the learning value being provided from all our learned society disciplines and all our special interest groups
• continued initiatives by our groups to cater for emerging areas of practice and new member interests
• more of our members delivering CPD and taking more opportunities to give sessions to our overseas member groups
• more offers from eminent engineers to present CPD road shows, including to our overseas member groups
• more of our volunteers applying lessons learned from counterpart bodies in arranging high quality CPD experiences for members
• more migrant engineer members sharing their overseas-based knowledge and experience with other members of the profession
• more offers by other professional bodies – engineering and non-engineering – to work collaboratively with us on CPD activities of mutual interest, supported by increased cross-publication and communication
• higher numbers of members and non-members attending our CPD events - including co-badged events
• more promotion by Technical Societies of Engineers Australia’s role in supporting their learned society events, and our credentials as a champion of multi-disciplinary and sustainable solutions
• sustained quality in the CPD experience offered by Technical Societies in their multi-disciplinary areas of interest
• continuing alignment between Engineering Education Australia’s annual program offerings and our current priorities for CPD
• non-metropolitan (rural, regional, remote) members having access to more CPD opportunities
• more overseas members making use of specific topics and ‘short courses’ on-line
• more opportunities for our members to give feedback aimed at keeping the CPD we offer relevant to their needs

2.2 Promote Chartered Status to employers and regulators as the assured standard for professional competence, independent practice and registration

We need actions to achieve:

• more larger companies joining our PDP program
• more proactive support from employers for their employee PDP participants
• a higher rate of active participation each year by our PDP members
• more promotion of Chartered Status for academic staff by engineering deans
• more job advertisements seeking Chartered engineers
• more members of the profession - graduates, engineering faculty staff, overseas qualified engineers, and technologists and associates pursuing Chartered Status
• greater recognition by Engineers Australia and by employers of those members who achieve Chartered Status – eg. through formal presentations and ceremonies
• a higher number of our members holding and maintaining current Chartered Status
• more qualified members and non-members pursuing national registration
• more academic staff and government employees with Chartered Status experiencing career advancement

2.3 Identify development pathways, create peer support arrangements, and encourage all members to pursue lifelong learning and professional advancement

We need actions to achieve:

• more members of the profession using our PDP framework to identify their own professional development needs – in technical, innovation and enabling skills at all career stages
• more of our members contributing in voluntary roles, supporting the ongoing diversity of interest groups within Engineers Australia, and promoting professional development through Engineers Australia
• more members recording their own CPD events in our improved membership records system
• reinforcement by our CELM units of their role in fostering leadership and higher management skills for all our members in their own domains, whatever their areas of professional interest
• more Fellows and other honoured members acting as expert panellists for Chartered Status interviews
• more Fellows, retired engineers and other honoured members mentoring younger engineers, in group and individual settings
• more engagement by our younger members and by senior/retired members on inter-generational knowledge and skills transfer activities, with potential value for employers and support organizations
• sustained engagement by our younger engineer groups in Division activities
• more members (particularly female):
  • working with employers to create supportive environments for female engineers in the workplace, and
  • providing support for engineers undertaking and returning from career breaks
• more non-metropolitan members initiating and participating in the activities of their regional groups
• more active volunteer members widening their contribution to multiple areas of interest
• more qualified non-members contributing as volunteers to support our activities
• more corporate employers encouraging employees to contribute to our activities
• more smaller engineering firms enabling their staff to participate in CPD activities
• stronger engagement on career issues and professional development by managers with their engineer employees
• continued support for members to transfer into other engineering occupational categories using the articulation process
• increased recognition and use of engineering categories in job structures by government employers

2.4 Work to keep ethical and practice standards, and the competence standards for members in all areas of the profession, up to date

We need actions to achieve:

• a more cohesive contribution to development of practice standards across all our groups
• sustained high quality, efficiency and confidence in our processes for assessing applicants for admission to membership, applicants for Chartered Status, and applicants for registration
• continued confidence among employers and the community that the competence and ethical standards expected of members of the engineering profession are up to date and world-leading
• more engineers seeking articulation from one occupational category to another
• improved collaboration with Standards Australia:
  • to ensure an effective ongoing relationship for the benefit of the profession
  • to achieve greater acceptance of Engineers Australia’s stake and influence on standards and distribution
  • to keep a limit on the range of non-basic and non-technical standards subject to review by Standards Australia
• stronger collaboration on standards with international counterparts by our learned society groups
• a stronger reputation for local government authorities as guardians of engineering standards

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