WORKPLACEMENT

STUDENT GUIDE
Your Guide to Workplace Learning Programs at Australian Learning Group

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Work Placement Student Guide

Contents

Work Placement Student Guide 2

Contents 2
Work Placement Overview 3
Eligibility 3
Location 3
Your Work Placement Host Organisation 4
Work Placement with Your Own Host Organisation 4
Work Placement Host Organisation Agreement Form 4
Schedule A: Mandatory Work Placement Hours 5
Work Placement Confirmation Email 6
Work Placement Assessor Visit 6
Overview of Assessment for Work Placement 6
Roles and Responsibilities 7
Work Placement Health & Safety Guidelines 9
Work Placement Privacy Guidelines 9
Work Placement Procedure Guidelines 10
Work Placement Code of Ethics 11
Dress Code and Personal Hygiene 11
Attendance 11
Rearrangement of Assessor Visit 12
Frequently Asked Questions 14

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Work Placement Overview
Work placement involves students applying the skills and knowledge learnt in class to an actual workplace. Students will be supervised
by a workplace supervisor and will be assessed by an ALG assessor. The assessor will use the Work Placement Logbook, a workplace
visit and the views of the supervisor, to determine if a student is competent in the workplace.

An industry placement is central to the course, and there is a strong emphasis on ‘learning by doing’. The emphasis is also on education
by gaining first-hand knowledge by working in a workplace. Because fieldwork aims at enabling students to be effective workers, all
other aspects of the course are designed to encourage the development of skills and knowledge that are directly relevant to the work
setting.

Why is work placement a mandatory part of your training?

Firstly, work placement is a mandatory requirement for completing some qualifications. In addition, certain assessments tasks are
mandated to be assessed in the workplace environment.

Secondly, work placement provides a secure and safe environment where you will be able to develop your knowledge, skills and
attributes required of the job role that your qualification is preparing you for.

IMPORTANT – Work Placement Policies

It is every student’s responsibility to know and be familiar with the student guidelines and policies before attending your work
placement. These are strictly adhered to, to ensure fairness to all students and quality of service for our clients.

Eligibility
Students are eligible to participate in work placement upon completion of specified modules or subjects in their course. The students
are only deemed eligible to commence their work placement if they possess the correct attributes and skills.

Students who are scheduled to participate in a work placement, but are not eligible to do so, will be interviewed by an academic staff
member and an alternative course of action can be implemented. This may mean repeating the appropriate term of study, or in some
cases, discussions about the suitability of the course in general.

Please note: Community Service Industry is considered a high-risk industry as many of the clients of its services are vulnerable people.
As such, Australian Learning Group (ALG) has a duty of care to ensure each student’s ability to care for these types of clients. If for any
reason, a student is unable to comply with and meet the policies and standards of conduct of a host employer, you may not be permitted
to complete your work placement. This may affect your ability to complete your qualification or progress to further qualifications.

For more details on eligibility, refer to the FAQs at the end of this document or ask your trainer.

Location
ALG will support students in finding a suitable facility to complete their work placement hours. In this case, students must complete
the work placement within the metropolitan area around the campus that they are studying at.

ALG may consider work placement outside of the listed areas on a case-by-case basis.

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Your Work Placement Host Organisation

ALG will support students in finding a suitable facility/service to undertake their work placement and will endeavour to source Work
Placement facilities/services within the metropolitan boundaries of your capital city. If ALG is providing the student with a placement,
the College will make all reasonable efforts to provide a work placement facility/service that is close to the campus. However, this is not
always possible, and students should be prepared to travel up to 50km from the campus if a work placement facility/service is not
available close to the campus.

ALG aims to source placements for students who have not been on work placement in their industry before. To support the College
with this process, it is important that students provide all requested documents via Canvas by the given deadlines and follow the steps
provided by the Work Placement Team.

Students who have been on a work placement in their industry before are advised to source their work placements themselves. If a
student is unable to source their own placement, the College will review their case and may provide additional support. ALG must
approve your nominated workplace facility/service to ensure they meet the resource and assessment conditions of the relevant
qualification. You will need to submit a Work Placement Host Organisation Agreement Form to the College with the details of your
provider for approval. The Work Placement Host Organisation Agreement Form can be found in your student portal in Canvas or on the
ALG website.

Each qualification has the mandatory minimum hours for Work Placement. Whilst the total hours that you complete should not exceed
the mandatory minimum hours, the hours and days that you complete may differ from those of your regular training days or those of
your fellow students. Students must be prepared to undertake shifts that are allocated by the work placement host organisation.
Students need to remain flexible and prioritise work placement requirements over any other commitments.

IMPORTANT – COVID-19 Vaccination Policy (as of 25/10/21)

ALG follows the health advice and vaccination mandates of the Australian Federal Government and relevant State
Governments. In the residential aged care industry, the COVID-19 vaccination is considered mandatory. In the childcare
industry, the COVID-19 vaccination has become mandatory in VIC and NSW, and will be mandatory as of Term 1, 2022 in WA.
In the community services and mental health industries, the vaccination is mandatory in NSW and VIC. Most of our partners
will not accept students that have not been vaccinated, regardless of industry.

Work Placement with Your Own Host Organisation

Students currently employed or volunteering in an appropriate workplace may be able to complete their assessment requirements
within their own workplace and may not need to find a host organisation, pending approval by both host organisation and ALG. For
students in this situation, they are required to nominate their own host organisation before requesting ALG to support with their work
placement allocation. This does not increase the 40 hours per fortnight paid employment available to International students. You will
need to submit a Work Placement Host Organisation Agreement Form to the College with the details of your provider.

The Work Placement Host Organisation Agreement Form can be found in your student portal in Canvas or on the ALG website.

Work Placement Host Organisation Agreement Form

Arranging work placements and managing relationships with Host Organisations takes time and must be carefully planned. If you would
like to submit a Work Placement Host OrganisationAgreement Form, ALG needs time to assess the workplace you nominate. If for some
reason, the workplace you nominate is not approved, ALG would then need time to arrange an alternative work placement. For these
reasons, ALG needs to specify due dates for the Work Placement Host Organisation Agreement Form to be submitted. If you do not
submit the form by the due date specified below, it will not be possible for you to nominate your own Host Organisation.

ALG aims to process all Host Organisation Agreement Forms within 5 business days. If you have not received an update on your
placement after 5 days, you are encouraged to contact the College at [email protected].

The Due Dates for submitting your Work Placement Employer Agreement Form will be provided to students via email by the College.
The Work Placement Employer Agreement Form can be found in your student portal in Canvas or on the ALG website.

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Schedule A: Mandatory Work Placement Hours

Different qualifications have different requirements regarding hours of work placement. A summary of all qualifications with a work
placement is found below:

Work Placement Hours to

Qualification Work Placement Schedule
be Completed
CHC30121
Certificate III in Early Childhood 160 hours Placement A: 160 hours
Education and Care
(CRICOS 107418G)

CHC50121 Placement A: 40 hours

Diploma of Early Childhood Placement B: 40 hours
280 hours
Education and Care Placement C: 40 hours
(CRICOS 107419F) Placement D: 160 hours

CHC33015
Certificate III in Individual Support
120 hours Placement A: 120 hours
(CRICOS 095782A)

CHC33021
Certificate III in Individual Support 120 hours Placement A: 120 hours
(CRICOS 112587C)

CHC43015
Certificate IV in Ageing Support 120 hours Placement A: 120 hours
(CRICOS 095783M)

CHC52015
Diploma of Community Services Placement A: 200 hours
200 hours
(CRICOS 095789E)

CHC52021
Placement A: 200 hours
Diploma of Community Services 400 hours
Placement B: 200 hours
(CRICOS 112584F)

CHC53315
Diploma of Mental Health 160 hours Placement A: 160 hours
(CRICOS 095787G)

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Work Placement Confirmation Email

Students will be issued a Work Placement Confirmation Email prior to the commencement of their work placement. The email will
specify details such as:

• the location of the workplace,

• contact details of your host organisation,
• allocated shifts (if not provided by host provider, the student will be required to negotiate their shifts with the provider),
• induction date and time,
• start date and finish date of work placement,
• information about the assessor visit and dress code.

You must notify the Work Placement Team on [email protected] immediately if there are any changes to your work
placement schedule. This includes:

• Changes to the days you work

• Changes to the hours per week that you work
• Changes to the duration of your work placement (i.e. the expected finishing date)

Work Placement Assessor Visit

The Work Placement Assessor Visits are scheduled for 2 hours duration, except for students studying CHC33015 Certificate III in
Individual Support and CHC43015 Certificate IV in Ageing Support where the visits are scheduled for 1-hour visit. The assigned assessor
will be contacting the student and the Workplace Supervisor to review progress and provide support throughout the Work Placement.
The assigned assessor will also be organising a visit date and time with both the student and Workplace Supervisor.

From time to time, a host employer may require you to complete more hours per week than usual. Some host organisations prefer
students to work ‘full time’ for the duration of their placement. If this happens, you are likely to finish your work placement earlier, and
your assessor visit must take place earlier.

You must complete your work placement with the assessor visit, otherwise, you will not be eligible to receive the qualification. Therefore,
it is essential that you advise the Work placement Team at ALG of any changes to your work placement so that we can reschedule the
assessor visit as necessary.

At the conclusion of the visit, the assessor will discuss the results with the student and the Workplace Supervisor. If a student has
gained a ‘Not Yet Satisfactory’ (NYS) result, then the assessor will complete a “Further Support Required” document outlining areas of
improvement for the student. The “Further Support Required” document will be submitted to the Work Placement Team and relevant
Academic Team for review. The student will be advised of an outcome of this review, and support strategies will be given to the student
to assist in completing the Work Placement to a Satisfactory level.

Overview of Assessment for Work Placement

Purpose of Assessment

The work placement assessment requires students to demonstrate the skills learnt at ALG in the workplace. Students are expected to
use the range of skills they have acquired throughout their studies and apply these to each work placement scenario. Students at a
diploma level are required to use and demonstrate a broader range of advanced skills.

Students are reminded that they must successfully undertake their work placement in order to complete their course. If there are gaps
in any of the sections below, students may be asked to do more hours in the workplace to develop skills or may be required to do extra
training.

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Units of Competency Being Assessed

Students will be assessed on the units of competency listed in the Work Placement Logbook for their qualification.

Work Placement Logbook

Students are required to complete a Work Placement Logbook. This Work Placement Logbook will collectively provide a record of
evidence to show that you have successfully completed the specific assessment requirements of each unit of competency.
Satisfactory completion of each section is required to be competent. Students must have their Work Placement Logbook with them on
every scheduled work placement day and be able to present the Work Placement Logbook to the Assessor during the assessor visit day.
If a student is not able to present the Work Placement Logbook to the assessor during an assessor visit, penalties will apply to arrange
for another assessor visit.

It is a requirement that you submit your completed Work Placement Logbook on the specified due dates in your Canvas student portal.

You are required to submit the Work Placement Logbook by uploading the entire logbook into your Canvas student portal. Please ensure
that all pages are stored in a single file. The names of the tasks should also be on each file you submit.

It is your responsibility to keep your Work Placement Logbook safe and secure for the duration of your work placement and the
submission into Canvas. Please make sure you take a copy of your Work Placement Logbook every time you add some information to
ensure you do not lose the record of the hours that you have logged and the activities that you have performed if you lose your Work
Placement Logbook.

ALG will not accept hard copy submissions of the Work Placement Logbook. Please refer to the Work Placement Logbook for
Assessment Task details.

Roles and Responsibilities

Role and Responsibilities of The Workplace Supervisor

▪ To explain the expectations of the workplace regarding performance and tasks, workplace standards, hours of work and other
details pertinent to the student, at the commencement of work placement.
▪ To support the student’s work on a day-to-day basis and to actively encourage the student in achieving their specific objectives.
▪ To ensure that the student is adequately briefed on workplace policies and procedures.
▪ To take responsibility for the general supervision and educational development of the student whilst on placement (or delegate
this to an appropriate person).
▪ To notify the Australian Learning Group (ALG) Work Placement Consultant immediately if it is felt that the student is not
complying with the general rules of the workplace, or not making satisfactory progress.
▪ To validate the attendance record of the student.
▪ To give an evaluation of the student’s level of skills (or to delegate this to an appropriate and qualified third party).

Roles and Responsibilities of The Student

▪ To organise travel, parking, and meal arrangements prior to placement.

▪ To notify the Work Placement Team immediately of any changes to work placement hours and arrangements
▪ To work within workplace structure, meeting workplace standards.
▪ To demonstrate sensitivity and discretion toward the clients of the service.
▪ To represent the service/host organisation in a professional manner.
▪ To dress appropriately in the agreed uniform. Typically, this means hair must back, all facial piercings removed, minimal jewelry
and minimal makeup.
▪ To actively participate in the professional learning process.
▪ To be aware and adhere to policies and principles of confidentiality. Breaches of confidentiality are regarded as serious
violations of professional ethics and will be dealt with accordingly.
▪ To work under the direction of the nominated supervisor, in so far as the direction is compatible with their level of skill and knowledge.
▪ To be aware that students on work placement with a host employer are not to perform the tasks and responsibilities of a staff.
member employed with the host organisation.
▪ To notify the nominated supervisor and the Work placement Team immediately if there are any difficulties with the placement.
▪ To inform the nominated supervisor and the Work placement Team of any lateness, leaving early, taking extended breaks
or non-attendance. In this case, student will be required to make up time.
▪ To participate in a continual evaluation process.
▪ To not turn up to work placement under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs.

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Roles and Responsibilities of The Australian Learning Group (ALG) Work Placement Assessor

▪ To arrange and organise assessor visits with the host organisation and student.
▪ To update information regarding, first contact and assessor visit schedule on Canvas and Internal system
▪ To communicate any issues with students attendance or assessor visit arrangement to the Work Placement Team on
[email protected]
▪ Observing student performance in the workplace.
▪ Observe, assess and record student performance of required assessment tasks in the workplace.
▪ Review student Work Placement logbook and give feedback to the student.
▪ Gain feedback about student performance from the host employer.
▪ Give feedback to the student about their performance and progression.
▪ Provide guidance and support to the student regarding their work placement logbook and any related queries throughout
the work placement.
▪ To liaise with the relevant ALG work placement consultant and host employer if a student requires additional support or if
they have gained a ‘Not Yet Satisfactory’ (NYS) result.
▪ To complete a “Further Support Required” document if a student has been assessed as ‘Not Yet Satisfactory’ (NYS) and
submit to the Work Placement Team on [email protected]

Roles and Responsibilities of The Australian Learning Group (ALG) Work Placement Advisor

▪ To confirm Work Placement details to students and host organisations.

▪ To ensure all agreements with facility and supervisor are in place.
▪ To provide the supervisor with resource materials and course information as required.
▪ To assist with appropriate strategies when problems arise during placement, in consultation with the host organisation
and work placement assessor.
▪ To liaise with host organisation and evaluate the placement process to be actively encouraging “feedback”.
▪ To support the arrangement of work placement for students of ALG.

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Work Placement Health & Safety Guidelines
Your health and safety responsibilities are taught in more depth within your course. However, for work placement, students must
adhere to the following:

General Health & Safety

▪ If students have skin breaks, they must use an occlusive bandage.

▪ Students must wash their hands thoroughly (covering all surfaces between fingers etc. and up to and including the elbows)
– refer to the handwashing procedure in your course notes.
▪ Students should not be participating in work placement if they are sick with a contagious disease or condition.
▪ To protect your health, students should not be getting in contact with clients contagious conditions either.
If students have reason to believe a client has a condition that may pose a threat to their own health, approach your supervisor
immediately for guidance.
▪ Where there are any visible lesions or wounds on a client’s skin, students should seek advice from the supervisor.
▪ To be aware of the recommended Health Department guidelines for COVID-19 safety precautions. Available here.
▪ To comply with the host employer’s COVID-19 safety policies and procedures.
▪ Aged Care students are required to provide medical documentation of a flu vaccination - the term before they commence
work placement.
As of September 2021, Aged Care (CHC33015 & CHC33021 – Certificate III in Individual Support/CHC43015 – Certificate IV in
Ageing Support) students are required to provide medical documentation of a COVID-19 vaccination – the term before they
commence work placement.
▪ As of November 2021, NSW ECEC (CHC30113 & CHC30121 – Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care/CHC50113
& CHC50121 – Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care) students are required to provide medical documentation of a
COVID-19 vaccination – the term before they commence work placement.

Staying Alert to Health and Safety Hazards

▪ If students see any hazards to the health and safety of anyone in the work placement (including themselves), they should
report them immediately to the Workplace supervisor.

Examples of hazards may include:

• Blood, vomit or faeces on the floor.
• An electrical cord is a trip hazard.
• Someone has laid towels or clothes directly over a heater.

Work Placement Privacy Guidelines

Students must adhere to the following:

Confidentiality

Any details collected by students during a work placement, and any information disclosed verbally to a student by a client during a work
placement must be treated as strictly confidential. This means that students must never discuss information about their clients with
any third party (except the supervisor) – i.e. you cannot tell your friends, or anyone else, anything about your clients, even who your
clients were.

Also, note that you must never take any documentation away with you from your host organisation’s premises or copy information
from any documentation about a client.

Any notes required to complete your work placement logbook must be de-identified (i.e. the name of the client must be removed).

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Work Placement Procedure Guidelines

1. BEFORE WORK PLACEMENT

 Aged Care (CHC33015 & CHC33021 – Certificate III in Individual Support/CHC43015 – Certificate IV in Ageing Support),
Community Services (CHC52015 & CHC2021– Diploma of Community Services) and Mental Health (CHC53315 – Diploma
of Mental Health) students will be required to undertake a Police check. Some ECEC (CHC30113/CHC30121 – Certificate III
in Early Childhood Education and Care & CHC50113/CHC50121 – Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care) host
organisations may request a police check as well (excluding students in Brisbane)
 You will be required to undertake a Working with Children Check (or blue card in QLD) if you are working with children
 Students may be required to provide additional documents such as a Resume, Flu Vaccination Certificate, First Aid
Certificate, COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate, etc.
 Students are required to upload required documents in their Canvas student portal
 Students should refer to the table below for requirements before starting a work placement

 Please ensure that:

o you are appropriately dressed
o you have adhered to work placement hygiene guidelines

 Please bring:
o Work Placement Logbook
o a pen
o a bottle of water
o a notebook
o food that does not require refrigeration or heating (unless facilities are provided)
o a hat for early childhood qualifications

 Organise your travel to ensure you have plenty of time to arrive and be prepared to start work placement on time

2. ARRIVAL

 Follow the sign-in procedure instructed by your host employer. If you do not sign in, your attendance may not be recorded.
 Meet your supervisor where organised
 Place your belongings in the area that you have been allocated
 Turn off / silence your mobile phone and any other electronic devices
 Attend the work placement induction where scheduled

3. WORK PLACEMENT INDUCTION

 The supervisor may conduct a work placement induction for students, which will cover information, including but not
limited to, the following:

o Days of work, start times, lunchtimes, finish times

o Emergency procedures
o Policy and procedure location
o Key people in the workplace, such as the manager, other workers, clients
o Dress code, including whether hair should be tied back, fingernail length and polish requirements, shoe requirements
o Limits of the student role, i.e., boundaries of what they can and cannot do as a student
o How the student will receive support and supervision
o COVID-19 policies and procedures
o WHS policies and procedures

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 4. DURING WORK PLACEMENT, STUDENTS SHOULD

 Always follow the policies and procedures of your host organisation’s workplace
 Raise any concerns about the host employer’s workplace with the Work Placement Team in your campus immediately by
phone or email – [email protected] or 1300 254 000.
 Be sure to ask the supervisor for assistance if you are unsure about anything.
 Complete your Work Placement Logbook when it is appropriate to do so.
 Raise any concerns about the workplace with the Work Placement Consultant in your campus immediately by phone or email.

Work Placement Code of Ethics

All students All students are always required to conduct themselves in a professional manner. To complete a work placement, the student
agrees to the following:

▪ Adherence to the organisation’s Code of Ethics

▪ Adherence to the work placement arrangement and refrain from initiating changes to the work placement arrangement
▪ Ensure that all personal behaviours and actions will be in accordance with the appropriate legislation
▪ Dress appropriately for the workplace, adhering to the Dress Code and Personal Hygiene policy
▪ Endeavour to fit in with the centre, work collaboratively with staff and undertake duties as directed
▪ Treating others with courtesy, dignity and respect and avoiding any behaviour which may be regarded as offensive,
discriminatory or unethical
▪ Respecting the right of others to have their own views, opinions, beliefs, and values
▪ Respecting the right of others to privacy and confidentiality
▪ Avoiding the use of slang, swearing or other languages that may be regarded as offensive
▪ Attempting always to act as a role model

Dress Code and Personal Hygiene

To maintain professionalism, students attending work placement are required to maintain a clean & tidy appearance.

▪ Students must wear black shirt with navy or black pants.

▪ Jewellery is not permitted for personal safety reasons (clients may accidentally pull jewellery resulting in injury to the wearer)
▪ ALG does not allow short skirts or short shorts, low-riding pants, bare midriffs, low-cut tops, or singlets.
▪ Students are required to have short, clean nails, clean clothing, and no strong body odours.
▪ Appropriate closed in footwear must be worn.
▪ Name badges must always be worn.
▪ If you are unsure about the appropriate dress code, please check with the Student Services Team in your campus prior to
attending work placement.
▪ In children’s services, students must wear a hat if outdoors.
▪ Smoking is not permitted on ALG property or work placements at any time. Please refrain from smoking before shifts/during
breaks to avoid odour from cigarette smoke affecting clients, staff.

A student who is not appropriately attired may not be permitted to work by their host employer and will be required to make up any
missed hours.

Attendance
The following conditions apply to all students undertaking their work placement hours.

Attendance is also a condition of your student visa (condition 8202), which states that students must maintain satisfactory attendance
in your course and course progress for each study period as required by your education provider.

Please note that ALG is obligated by the National Code (Standard 8) to report any international student who is not meeting course
progress and/or attendance. This will result in a student’s Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) being cancelled, which may affect your
student visa. For more details please check Student Course Progress and Attendance Policy and Procedure on the ALG website.

To track students’ attendance, ALG requires the submission of an Induction Form by the end of Week 2 of every term by students on
work placement. This form is available on the ALG website and must be submitted through Canvas.

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Arrival, Break and Departure Times

Students must arrive in the nominated host employer’s premises as per the required START time, and date stipulated on the Work
Placement Confirmation email.

ALG expects all students to maintain 100 % attendance and acknowledge that their absence from work placement should only occur
in cases of illness or other exceptional personal circumstances. Late arrivals and early departures are disruptive and affect the work
placement environment.

Students are required to:

▪ Arrive and sign-in by the START time indicated and be ready to commence work placement at the start times specified in the
Work Placement Confirmation email*
▪ Be present for the work placement induction
▪ Be present in the workplace for the duration of the work placement (exclude allocated breaks)
▪ Strictly adhere to break times.
▪ Strictly adhere to FINISH time
*Any changes to the start times, shifts or durations of work specified in your Work Placement Confirmation email must be advised
immediately to reschedule your assessor visit.

Non-attendance

As mentioned above, attendance is a condition of your student visa (condition 8202), which states that students must maintain
satisfactory attendance in your course and course progress for each study period as required by your education provider.
In case students do not meet the work placement hours, a warning letter for Unsatisfactory Course Progress will be sent following
Student Course Progress Attendance Policy and Procedure. For more details, please refer to this link.

Please note that ALG is obligated by the National Code (Standard 8) to report any international student who is not meeting
course progress and/or attendance. This will result in a student’s Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE) being cancelled, which may
affect your student visa. For more details, please check Student Course Progress and Attendance Policy and Procedure on
the ALG website.

Non-attendance and illness

We realise that sometimes people fall ill and will be unable to attend a scheduled work placement session. If this happens, the student
must:

• Notify your host organisation immediately via phone and

• Organise an extra work placement day within the term
• Notify your Work Placement Team via email

Your host organisation will also have given you a contact number in case you are sick, be sure to ring the host employer and advise
them that you will not be coming in.

Even though you are sick, you must fulfil the number of hours specified in your qualification. This means you will have to make up the
hours that you have missed.

Non-attendance due to illness must be accompanied by a medical certificate and provided to the Work Placement Team within 14 days
from the date you missed the scheduled work placement session. The medical certificate must cover the specific day that you missed
the work placement session.

Rearrangement of Assessor Visit

Your assigned assessor will contact you and your workplace supervisor to organise an assessor visit date and time. You MUST advise
the ALG Work Placement Team if your host employer initiates changes in your working days and shift times as this may mean that you
will complete your work placement earlier than expected. The ALG Work Placement Team must be notified as soon as you are aware of
the changes to reschedule the visit date.

Changes with insufficient notice may mean that the student must complete more work placement hours to receive the assessor visit.
Students must provide at least 48 hours’ notice of non-attendance without providing a medical certificate, or provide a medical
certificate if it is less than 48 hours’ notice.

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Assessment Outcome – ‘Not Yet Satisfactory’ (NYS)

Should a student not achieve competency within a single work placement, students may be required to undergo additional work
placement hours and an additional assessor visit.
A "Not Yet Satisfactory" outcome may occur if a student is unable to present the planned activities outlined in the logbook, achieves a
logbook completion below 50%, and/or exhibits unsatisfactory performance during the initial visit. In such circumstances, the student
may be required to pay a fee of 200 AUD to facilitate the scheduling of a second visit.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: HOW DO I CONTACT ALG?

A: Please contact the ALG Work Placement Team via Canvas, email, or phone. [email protected], 1300 254 000

Q: WHAT IS WORK PLACEMENT FOR?

A: Work placement provides practical training for students. You will work under the supervision of a supervisor in a real workplace.
The work placement enables you to practice and develop your skills and is a compulsory requirement to gain your qualification.

Q: WHY IS THIS POLICY SO IMPORTANT?

A: Firstly, your work placement is an important part of your education and overall assessment. It demonstrates your ability to
observe work placement regulations and guidelines in an industry environment. Secondly, it is essential that you follow these guidelines
to ensure you provide a professional service and to a very high standard.

Q: I FEEL SICK ON THE DAY OF WORK PLACEMENT. WHAT DO I DO?

A: If you are sick, you are required to phone your supervisor immediately and let your supervisor that you are not coming in. In
addition, you are required to email the Work Placement Team to inform the College of your absence. You will also be required to email
a copy of your medical certificate to the Work Placement Team for our records. If you provide a medical certificate within 14 days
from the date you missed the scheduled work placement session, the non-attendance penalty fee will be waived. Please note that
you are still required to make up the hours you miss.

Q: WHEN SHOULD I NOTIFY ALG IF CHANGES OCCUR AFTER I RECEIVED THE WORK PLACEMENT CONFIRMATION EMAIL?
A: You need to advise the Work Placement Team immediately by emailing [email protected]. This will give us time to
reschedule the assessor visit. If you do not give us sufficient notice, the assessor may not be available, and you may have to
undertake additional hours to be assessed. You must advise us of any changes from the original schedule in the Work Placement
Confirmation email.

Q: WILL I ALWAYS HAVE A VISIT?

A: Yes, the assessor visit is part of your assessment for the course. You will not be eligible for your qualification without it. In very
rare situations, an assessor visit may not be appropriate. ALG will arrange alternative ways to assess your work placement in these
rare cases.

Q: WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE VISIT?

A: The ALG Assessor will complete a checklist regarding your skills, as demonstrated in the workplace. If the assessor feels that you
have not completed the skill area to a minimum standard for the workplace,
they will provide feedback to you regarding what skills they are expecting you to display, and how you might develop these skills.

Arrangements may need to be made for the ALG Assessor to visit you in the workplace another time if your skills are not up to industry
standard. It may be necessary for you to extend your work placement to gain the skills required, or to undergo further training.

Q: WHAT IS A POLICE CHECK?

A: A police check is required in Aged Care, Disability, Mental Health, Community Services and Counselling facilities. This is a
background check to disclose any criminal records of the applicant. Early Childhood Education and Care students in Brisbane are not
required to provide a police check. Some ECEC host employers will request a police check in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth. Please
be aware you will not be eligible to begin work placement until your Police check has been cleared.

Q: WHAT IS A WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECK/BLUE CARD (QLD)?

A: A Working with Children Check is a requirement for people who work or volunteer in child-related work. Working with Children
Check is not a requirement for Aged care students.

Q: CAN I USE MY OWN EMPLOYER FOR A WORK PLACEMENT?

A: Yes, if they meet the mandatory criteria for work placement and assessment. Your employer must also be within the metropolitan
boundaries of your capital city and is approved by ALG.

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 The employer must be able to provide access to the tasks, equipment, and resources necessary to undertake your Workplace
Assessments. An appropriate host organisation must meet all national sector quality standards (NQS) (for ECEC courses) and a
Suitability Checklist to ensure that it complies with the course and assessment task requirements. For example, for the diploma level,
students need to gain exposure to decision making processes and planning in the workplace.

All students must be appropriately supervised during the length of their work placements. If there is no supervisor present and/or
the level of supervision is considered insufficient by ALG, the employer will not be approved.

Please complete a Work Placement Employer Agreement Form for your qualification which can be found in your Canvas student
portal. There are specific due dates for these forms in Canvas, and if you do not submit the form on time, you will not be able to
nominate your own workplace.

Q: FOR ECEC STUDENTS ONLY. CAN THE CENTRE USE ME WITHIN THE EDUCATOR-TO-CHILD RATIOS?
A: No. Volunteers can hold the same legal responsibilities as paid educators. As students, we need to consider that supervision of
children is an active practice that helps protect children from harm or hazards that may arise. Considerations also need to apply to
experience, knowledge, and skills to ensure adequate supervision, and as students still practising these skills, we feel that you need
to be under the direct supervision of trained educators. ECEC students are required to be “off the floor” and not counted as part of
the centre ratio during their 2 hours assessor visit.

Q: FOR ECEC STUDENTS ONLY. HOW CAN I TELL IF A CENTRE IS SUITABLE FOR MY PLACEMENT?
A: It is important for students to be able to tell if a location is suitable before they nominate it.

To help with this, please note the following:

• Family Daycares are not accepted
• ALG prioritises an ACECQA rating of Meeting or Exceeding NQS
• An ACECQA rating of Working Towards NQS may be accepted on an individual basis
• An ACECQA rating of Provisional is not accepted
• CHC30121 – Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care/CHC50121 – Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care
students must complete their placements at a centre with a baby room (0-2 years of age)

Q: CAN I COMPLETE MY PLACEMENT AT MORE THAN ONE HOST ORGANISATION?

A: No. ALG is unable to accept a placement across more than one employer. A student will only be able to change host providers in
extenuating circumstances, as follows:

• Compassionate or compelling reasons

• Compliance and/or safety concerns with the provider (please contact Work Placement Team immediately)
• The host provider is no longer able to provide a placement for the student
• The student is asked to not return to their allocated host provider (pending investigation by ALG)

Q: CAN I DO FEWER HOURS OF WORK PLACEMENT?

A: No. The hours are part of our agreement with the student and cannot be increased or decreased for any reason.

Q: WHAT IS THE WORK PLACEMENT EMPLOYER AGREEMENT FORM?

A: The Work Placement Employer Agreement Form is used to collect important information about your workplace or proposed Host
Organisation. This includes:
• Contact details of the organisation
• Nature of the services provided by the organisation
• Details of the proposed Workplace Supervisor
• Equipment and resources available at the organisation

Q: WHAT FACTORS WILL MAKE ME ‘ELIGIBLE’ FOR A WORK PLACEMENT?

A: There are several factors that may impact a student’s eligibility. Whilst one factor on its own may not be enough to prevent a
student from going on work placement, if several factors give us concern, then this will impact your eligibility. Factors include, but
are not limited to:

• sufficient knowledge or skills in your course

• satisfactory course progress
• satisfactory course attendance
• ability and initiative to communicate
• the general attitude and interest
• ability and initiative to form relationships

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 • If a student is deemed ineligible to go onto work placement, you will be contacted by the College and asked to attend a
meeting with Students Services and a Trainer and Assessor to discuss your options. This may require repeating a term of
study, an extension of COE and Visa or in some courses, changing to another course of study.

Q: WHAT DO I DO IF I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MY HOST EMPLOYER DURING WORK PLACEMENT?

A: Please contact ALG at [email protected] immediately. In your email, please provide a detailed description and
information about your concerns and the problem(s) that you are facing in your work placement along with supporting evidence
so ALG can investigate on your behalf. ALG aims to have this matter investigated within 5 business days. However, this may not
always be possible as some cases may require a detailed investigation. In this case, you are encouraged to enquire about the
progress of the investigation after 5 business days.

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