Certification

Certified practitioners are experts in their field, with advanced training and experience in the management of high-impact, high-consequence events. They possess not only advanced technical skills but the leadership and ‘soft’ skills that are required to manage emergency events at the highest level of complexity. They will frequently be experienced in working interstate or overseas and will possess the flexibility, adaptability and general industry knowledge to be able to work in unfamiliar contexts such as on deployment.

Certification is not hazard-specific. It is important to appreciate that a Certified practitioner is an expert in managing incidents in the hazard class/es with which they are familiar, not necessarily in all hazard classes. It is implied by the EMPS Code of Conduct that practitioners will not seek to undertake roles for which they lack technical competence and current experience.

The Certification Process

To become a certified practitioner, you will need to demonstrate that you comply with the relevant professional standards. For certified roles, there are usually two professional standards to consider: the ‘requirements’ standard, which sets out the training and experience that need to be demonstrated, and the ‘capabilities’ standard, which describes the leadership and personal capabilities that a person operating successfully in the role would need to have.

The process of certification involves assembling a portfolio of evidence that shows compliance with professional standards. All candidates for certification whose portfolio demonstrates compliance with the professional standards then go through an interview process, at which a panel of senior practitioners will ask the applicant questions designed to give them an opportunity to expand on their written portfolio and highlight the ways in which they have demonstrated the relevant capabilities in their professional practice.

The pathway to certification is set out below: