The Course in Military Advocacy is for members of Ex-Service Organisations (ESO) which offer advocacy services to serving and ex-serving members of the armed forces and their dependants. The program is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Veteran Affairs.

The Course in Military Advocacy is available through the Advocacy Training and Development Program (ATDP).

The Course in Military Advocacy is a nationally accredited, Competency Based Training (CBT) program and places a reliance on experiences gained in a working environment.  The Course Recognition Manager is; Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) (external link), under the Authority of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011.  The course was approved by the Recognition Manager (ASQA) on 28 April 2017.  The Course Copyright Holder is the Department of Veteran Affairs.

The course contains six elective Units of Competency; some units have a pre-requisite Unit of Competency.  Completing one or more Units of Competency leads to a Statement of Attainment issued by ATDP's Registered Training Organisation

The Units of Competency are:

Compensation Level 1 - Provide military rehabilitation and compensation advocacy services under supervision

Compensation Level 2 - Provide military rehabilitation and compensation advocacy services

Compensation Level 3 - Advocate on behalf of members of the military community for a merits review of a primary decision. (Veterans Review Board reviews and Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission reconsiderations).

Compensation Level 4 - Advocate on behalf of members of the military community before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal

Wellbeing Level 1 - Provide military wellbeing advocacy services under supervision

Wellbeing Level 2 - Provide military wellbeing advocacy services

Training Pathway

Training is conducted primarily in the workplace and guided by a mentor appointed by the ESO. The workplace experiences are supplemented by formal training which includes online study units and face-to-face consolidated training. Advocates have twelve (12) months to complete their chosen unit of competency via the training pathway.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Pension and Wellbeing officers trained under the TIP system will be able to undertake a process of RPL in order to transition to the Course in Military Advocacy. This process initially takes former TIP practitioners to level 2 in their chosen stream. Level 3 and 4 compensation advocates must gain a level 2 Statement of Attainment first, as this is a pre-requisite for level 3. Level 3 is also a pre-requisite for Level 4.

Trainers, trainees, and assessment

All training and assessment is conducted by trainers and assessors who hold the relevant formal vocational competencies and training and assessment credentials to train and assess .

Trainees are to be selected by their ESO using the Guidelines for the Selection of Advocacy Trainees.  Ideally new entrants will have been exposed to the role in the workplace prior to enrolment  to ensure their ability and willingness to carry out the role.  The ESO must then nominate the person using the online nomination form.  Once that has been done, the nominee must then complete an online application form.

Once the online application form has been submitted, you will be enrolled with the Registered Training Organisation, provided mandatory entry requirements have been met as listed below:

• The receipt of the Candidate Handbook, which advises your rights and responsibilities for the successful completion of courses.
• The completion of a short language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) test to ensure you have an elementary level of LLN to carry out the role of an advocate, or
• The provision of a copy of a prior qualification (Certificate III or higher) or a USI transcript detailing a previous qualification achieved, which demonstrates you would have an appropriate level of LLN to carry out the role of an advocate.

Preferences for training places is based on the best possible return to the ex-service community, so workload of an ESO, Veteran Centre or Community of Practice is taken into account.