Approved Program Checklist
Fitness Australia Approved Program Checklist
Required Ancillary Documentation
This section lists the required ancillary documentation to be included with your submission.
- Certificate of Currency (Insurance). For face-to-face programs this must cover at the minimum both Public Liability and Professional Indemnity. For distance and online programs it must cover Professional Indemnity.
- Code of Ethical Practice. This is a statement about how your company operates and would usually include statements covering, transparency, equality and fairness.
- Grievance procedure. This is a statement that explains what a course participant should do in the event they are not satisfied with the program or the outcomes, and what you as the provider will do to address any complaints received. This would also include a position statement concerning refunds of course fees.
- Evaluation form. This is a form or other document given to course participants at the end of the program seeking feedback on the program. Such areas may concern the relevance of the material, the ability of the presenter, the course content etc. It is intended that this document serves to provide the program provider with constructive feedback to enable them to continuously monitor the relevance and value of the course to their target audience.
- Participant's enrolment form. This form should clearly ask for the qualifications and registration status of the Fitness Professional. For example if your program is directly aimed at Personal Trainers, they should be qualified at the Certificate IV level and registered with Fitness Australia as a Personal Trainer
Note: Exercise Professionals not registered with Fitness Australia are not entitled to be issued with a certificate bearing the Fitness Australia logo or CECs. Providers may offer their programs to anyone who applies, but those participants not meeting the Fitness Australia registration criteria may not be issued with the same course certification as Fitness Australia Registered Exercise Professionals.
Program Details – Essential Documentation
This section details the essential documentation for the actual program.
- Presenter CVs. Program presenters are expected to have a minimum of two years experience in the area they are presenting. Their qualifications must reflect a level of education of at least the same level or higher of the expected program participants. E.g. a presenter with a Certificate IV would be expected to be presenting to Gym Instructors (Certificate III) or Personal Trainers (Certificate IV). They would not normally be considered qualified to present to Fitness Specialists (Diploma) unless they also held a degree in the appropriate area of expertise. Certified copies of their qualifications relevant to the CEC application must be included.
- Assessor CVs. Program assessors are expected to be qualified in the area of fitness they are assessing with a minimum of 2 years experience in the fitness industry.
They are also required to be qualified to assess trainees. All assessors must hold the Certificate IV Training and Assessment (TAA) qualification and a certified copy of the certificate must be submitted. The only alternative qualification is the Certificate IV Assessment and Workplace Training which was available prior to November 2005.
If the provider does not have an assessor with the required qualifications, the provider must either assist the assessor to obtain the TAA or the provider may contract an independent qualified assessor to conduct the assessments.
- Aims and Learning objectives detail the outcomes of the program i.e. what can the participants do or know at the end of the course that they may not have been able to do or know at the beginning?
- For a Fitness Australia assessor to make a fair judgement of a course, it is important that they understand the program content and the weight of each section. Therefore, a table showing the individual course components, units or sessions clearly defined together with a time frame and delivery strategy is required.
- Assessment methods and tools. This information is about what is going to be assessed and how will it be assessed.
Information on how the assessments will be conducted and with what criteria is necessary. Assessments may be written, e.g. short answers, multiple choice questions, True/False questions etc or practical demonstration of skills e.g. a choreographed section of a group exercise class, correction of poor techniques in a physical activity e,g, boxing, Pilates etc. Observational assessments of skills must include the exact assessment criteria e.g. a checklist of what the assessor is looking for. All assessments must reflect the course content and the aims and learning outcomes of the program.
For an exercise professional to be covered by their public liability and professional indemnity insurance, they must complete Fitness Australia programs that contain an extensive assessment component.A benchmark must be set for the assessment to be able to deem the participant as competent.
* All materials must be submitted to Fitness Australia electronically. For large files, please use a USB Memory Stick or DVD.
TIimeframe
Program providers must also decide whether assessments are to be conducted at the end of the course or whether the participant must submit a written exam or a video/CD of their demonstration of competency at a later date or return on another day for the assessment
Note: Programs without an assessment will be allocated half the number of CECs as programs of a similar nature with an assessment. Further, non assessed programs will not be covered by the Fitness Australia Exercise Professionals' Insurance Policy available through Marsh.
Providers must submit copies of all materials used in the delivery of the program. This would include, course notes, PowerPoint presentations, manuals, participant handouts, videos, CD/DVDs etc. There must be sufficient detail for an independent assessor to be able to make an evaluation of the information or activities in the program. Please remember that the assessor can only assess what is presented to them and they do not make assumptions. E.G. A brief course outline submitted with an assessment would be unable to be assessed as there would be insufficient material for the assessor to determine what had been presented. In general the more detailed the information provided, the easier the assessor's job is. READ MORE
