About eight years ago I co-wrote a paper on guidance officer training in Victoria which argued that guidance officers required training in six core competency areas. There were identified as assessment, counselling, research, educational consultancy, systems intervention, and professional practice.

At the time, the intent was to argue for a broader training for guidance officers rather than the traditional focus on issues of assessment and counselling. It was recognising an international trend in service delivery from individual casework models to those which incorporated consultancy and direct classroom interventions. The paperwas arguing fora comprehensive training program which supported guidance officers and gave them the skills and strategies required to make this shift.