Note that while some of the information in these videos may still apply, these videos are dated (circa 2011/2012). Any historical information and context will still be useful to understand evolution of current requirements. 

The videos were funded by the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education and made in conjunction with the Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council.

The Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council is an entity that no longer exists. It ceased operations on 18 December 2015. Industry Skills Councils (IRCs) in their most recent form were replaced 31.12.22. The role of industry engagement and training package development now rests with Jobs and Skills Councils (JSCs).

While the videos are in the Community Services and Health industries context, the principles are applicable for all workplaces.

Using and identifying Foundation Skills

  1. Linking ACSF mapping information to reaching Foundation Skills  
  2. Helping workers to work effectively
  3. Strategies for trainers to use to develop foundation skills in a vocational training program
  4. Contextualise a vocational qualification to include units from the foundation skills training package
  5. How to locate foundation skills in a unit of competency
  6. Making the link between the foundation skills requirements of a unit and a learner's skill level

1) Linking ACSF mapping information to reaching Foundation Skills

See and hear about:

  • How to look at a unit of competency and identify the foundation skills required for competency
  • What the ACSF mapping information means
  • Using the ACSF to understand the ability level for tasks at different levels of the ACSF
  • An example of how workplace tasks need to be translated into training delivery content

2) Helping workers to work effectively

See and hear about: 

  • How the readability of documents can be improved to allow easy and effective use
  • What you can do to simplify your workplace documents and make them user-friendly
  • Using clear and effective messages in your communication

3) Strategies for trainers to use to develop foundation skills in a vocational training program

See and hear about: 

  • Strategies such as how to scaffold students to build foundation skills
  • Examples of how to interpret workplace forms and train others how to understand these in the workplace context
  • Reading techniques such as skimming and scanning

4) Contextualise a vocational qualification to include units from the foundation skills training package

See and hear about: 

  • What the historical foundation skills training package looked like (similar and forms basis for current training package)
  • Scanning units of competency from other training packages to understand the types of skills required for competency
  • Note this clip references superseded units of competency but the principles / steps of action will still apply

5) How to locate foundation skills in a unit of competency

See and hear about: 

  • The prevalence of foundation skills in everything we do
  • Importance of not assuming students have the required skills
  • How to draw out foundation skills in a unit of competency; using the trigger words - and identifying their correct context
  • Using the whole unit to understand skills requirements

6) Making the link between the foundation skills requirements of a unit and a learner's skill level

See and hear about: 

  • The mapping of units of competency to the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF)
  • What the levels in the ACSF mean
  • How to work out how to support a learner through their training
  • The difference between indicative and diagnostic tests and who should carry them out
  • Validating the tasks in these tests


Download the LLN Skills Check file mentioned in the clip: LLN Skills Check - CSHISC.pdf

Download this template (from the WELL resources) for generating 'spiky profiles': Spiky Profiler Worksheet.xls


Skills Education information below:

A 'spiky profile' is a term used in the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF) to describe the variation in an individual's performance across the five core skills:

  1. Learning
  2. Reading
  3. Writing
  4. Oral communication 
  5. Numeracy


A spiky profile can be represented graphically by plotting an individual's ACSF levels for each core skill on a chart:


This can help to identify the person's strengths and weaknesses, as well as compare their skills with the requirements of a job role, a unit of competency or a qualification. For example, a person may have strong numeracy skills but weak writing skills, which could affect their performance in certain tasks or assessments.

You can also generate a spiky profile for the particular group - this will help you identify specific target areas for support required by the group.

More on Foundation Skills


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