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HE institutions with courses containing core curriculum units have a distinct advantage when mapping veteran RPL. For example, ACU was able to map global ethics courses against the ethics courses completed by veterans in the ADF to be able to offer immediate credit.
Multi-campus national universities within Australia can leverage the ability to use all three Tertiary Admissions Centres (TACs) and choose to use the TAC which is most beneficial to their purpose, as they can each have different rank or ATAR outcomes.
Specialist degrees tend to have a very narrow range of electives, which can restrict options in terms of allocating veteran RPL. Generalist degrees such as Business or Arts can have space within the core structure to bring in electives or to bring in blocks of RPL that map.
Courses with unspecified electives have historically been the most straightforward to commence RPL mapping, and in many cases, these have been associated with Business schools. Leadership, management, and human resource skills from veteran promotion courses can be mapped into Business courses. Within a Bachelor of Science there are usually some electives to study outside of the specialty science areas, which can provide further opportunities for veteran RPL. Courses in cyber security, criminology and intelligence could be able to be mapped against services such as the military police, cyber security specialists or intelligence analysts.
The areas of Health and Education can be more challenging to map for veteran RPL. In Health disciplines there is demand from Student Veterans to transition to roles such as nurses and paramedics in their post-ADF careers. Nurses transitioning out of Defence will already hold a Diploma of Nursing and have completed 14-weeks of work experience in civilian hospitals as part of their Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) registration, so they will be recognised within most HE providers’ Credit Precedence Databases. Many nurses have also completed a Bachelor of Nursing whilst in service and may be interested in post graduate studies. However, whilst a nurse in the armed forces is highly qualified and possesses direct work experience, a one-for-one comparison of the core structures between university paramedic programs and that of ADF nursing/medic programs often display misalignment and may affect RPL. This is because content in medical disciplines can be spread across several HE units, with theories of learning and practice that are not covered in the ADF. Where there is minimal crossover, and when applied against university policies with Learning Outcomes, mapping may not meet the same standards for veteran RPL.
Additionally, courses such as Nursing, Paramedicine, Midwifery, Physiotherapy, and Occupational Therapy, have significant regulatory requirements (which Defence also have to meet) which may impact the ability to apply RPL.
An initial assessment should be undertaken to identify which courses the HE institution offers and intends to target towards Student Veterans.
In terms of the value of RPL, gaining credit can allow veterans to transition their degree faster, which saves them money and allows them to commence work sooner. However, in many cases Student Veterans prioritise applying their credits to enable part time study, allowing them to work concurrently (often in the Reserves) and support their families. All veterans will decide the best way to undertake their study pathways, under self-agency.
Flexible learning and blended learning options are also well supported by veterans, some of whom may choose a study pathway whilst undergoing medical rehab post-transition via the Defence eStudy assistance programs. Part-time study and the use of technology for online learning are great assets for veterans. By reducing workload, retention issues are less of a risk. For example, the ability to study three HE units instead of four will significantly reduce the assignment workload and can offer a more sustainable work-life balance for the Student Veteran.
Assessors need to look at the training that a veteran received in the ADF and assess it as if it were a normal RPL request. As with standard RPL processes, it is the academic staff or the course owners who determine, based on the content of the training, whether it would be appropriate for RPL to be approved.
DELTA will provide the LMP data for bulk credit mapping activities resulting in Articulation (credit) Agreements being created, noting that this is not done for individual RPL assessments. Student Veterans are then assessed on meeting the Articulation Agreement requirements (specific training required is found in the Student Veteran’s SADO Service Record).
There are many Corps in the ADF, and veterans may specialise in combat roles and/or support roles such as infantry, paramedics, cooks, clerks, engineers or drivers. An example of a possible mapping match might be aligning a clerk role with a Business degree or mapping a combat medic role to a Health Science degree. Corps with shorter Initial Employment Training (IET) periods may receive less RPL compared to those with longer IET periods.
Lateral transfers from other Defence forces can have their international qualifications recognised with Australian AQF equivalents through the International Education area in DET and would need to be mapped separately or considered on a case-by-case basis within the relevant credit framework.
Consideration must be given to the courses in the ADF that are relevant to tertiary education. For example, an artillery course may not be relevant to gaining a degree in a university. The learning areas provided by the HE institution should be at the forefront of these considerations.
