ENROLMENTS HAVE CLOSED
CHCAOD004 Assess needs of clients with alcohol and other drugs issues (6 October 2025 – 5 December 2025)
Turning Point (RTO 6948) has been contracted by the Department of Health (DH) Victoria to provide competency learning and assessment opportunities to the Victorian AOD workforce.
Eligibility: To enrol in a unit of competency you must work in a publicly funded organisation in the Victorian Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) sector and be an Australian Citizen/Permanent Residence or New Zealand Citizen.
Cost: There is no cost to complete this unit of competency if you meet the selection criteria.
Details
This is only for the unit of competency CHCAOD004 Assess needs of clients with alcohol and other drug issues
Delivery: Online and virtual classes. You must be available to attend the following:
- Wednesday 15 October 2025, 9:30AM – 1:00PM
- Wednesday 22 October 2025, 9:30AM – 1:00PM
- Wednesday 5 November 2025, 9.30 – 1:00PM
- In addition to the above, you must also be available for 1 hour between 9:00AM – 4:00PM to complete a live simulation between Monday 27 Oct – Thursday 30 Oct (allocated day and time will be arranged with your trainer and assessor
Application process:
This is an expression of interest only. Apply using the registration link below. You will be notified via email if you have been successful in securing a place and you will be required to accept your offer by a due date.
Enrolment to Elevate and submitting your registration does not guarantee enrolment into the unit of competency.
Contact Student Administration – tp@turningpoint.org.au if you have any questions.
Enrolments have closed.
Eligibility & Course Details
Start date: 25 September 2025
Duration: 6 months (8–10 hours/weekly study recommended)
Delivery: Flexible, blended online | by Odyssey Institute (RTO 20995)
Cost: Fully funded by the Department of Health (limited places)
Eligibility: You must be working in a Victorian State-funded AOD service to be eligible for a funded place.
What is the Skill Set?
The AOD Skill Set is a nationally recognised qualification and provides valuable skills and AOD-specific capabilities for providing services to clients with AOD issues. This skill set is viewed as the minimum qualification for working in the Victorian AOD sector. Resources, tools and templates used in Odyssey courses are recognised and accepted by the Victoria AOD sector as industry standards including clinical guidelines, and comprehensive AOD client assessments.
Competencies
- CHCAOD001 Work in an alcohol and other drugs context
- CHCAOD006 Provide interventions for people with alcohol and other drugs issues
- CHCAOD004 Assess needs of clients with alcohol and other drugs issues
- CHOAOD009 Develop and review individual alcohol and other drugs treatment plans
Delivery format
Odyssey offers students opportunities to access a combination of delivery modes to meets their needs. Delivery modes include optional participation via flexible and blended online delivery that features:
- Anytime-anywhere access to online learning and assessment resources
- Trainer led web-conferenced workshops and tutorials/catch up sessions (recordings available)
- Skills Practice and Observational assessment days held at Footscray or via web conferencing
- Student led study groups with encouragement to form communities of practicE
Assessments: Includes question banks, other written tasks, case study analysis and observation of simulated role plays.
Enrolment to Elevate only does not guarantee enrolment into the course. Contact elevate@vaada.org.au if you have any questions.
Date: Wednesday, 25th June 2025, 9:30AM – 4:30PM
Location: Online (Link will be sent to you closer to the training date)
Description
This session will cover how workers can provide effective brief intervention support to young people unwilling to engage in more traditional, clinical or intensive AOD support. The workshop will also cover other experiential and novel ways to work with young people when traditional approaches aren’t fit for purpose.
Learning Objectives:
- What are and when can we use AOD Brief Interventions with young people
- Experiential and novel approaches to supporting young people experiencing AOD issues
- Exploring creative and tailored ways to meet the needs of young people experiencing AOD issues
Eligibility Criteria
This training has been funded for workers employed in a Victorian State-funded Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) service, including those who are new to the AOD sector or recently employed under the COVID-19 Workforce Initiative and Peer workers.
Who is not eligible?
Students on placement or internships, workers from other community sectors such as Family Violence, Homelessness and Mental Health and AOD workers outside of Victoria.
Terms & Conditions
Please ensure you have clearance from your line manager to attend. If you cannot attend, cancel your registration at least 24 hours before the cancel your registration and make your spot available to someone else on the waitlist.
No shows will be charged a $50 cancellation fee.
Date: Wednesday, 12th February 2025, 9:30AM – 4:30PM
Location: Online (Link will be sent to you closer to the training date)
Description
This session will cover how workers can provide effective brief intervention support to young people unwilling to engage in more traditional, clinical or intensive AOD support. The workshop will also cover other experiential and novel ways to work with young people when traditional approaches aren’t fit for purpose.
Learning Objectives:
- What are and when can we use AOD Brief Interventions with young people
- Experiential and novel approaches to supporting young people experiencing AOD issues
- Exploring creative and tailored ways to meet the needs of young people experiencing AOD issues
Eligibility Criteria
This training has been funded for workers employed in a Victorian State-funded Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) service, including those who are new to the AOD sector or recently employed under the COVID-19 Workforce Initiative and Peer workers.
Who is not eligible?
Students on placement or internships, workers from other community sectors such as Family Violence, Homelessness and Mental Health and AOD workers outside of Victoria.
Terms & Conditions
Please ensure you have clearance from your line manager to attend. If you cannot attend, cancel your registration at least 24 hours before the cancel your registration and make your spot available to someone else on the waitlist.
No shows will be charged a $50 cancellation fee.
This session will cover how workers can provide effective brief intervention support to young people unwilling to engage in more traditional, clinical or intensive AOD support. The workshop will also cover other experiential and novel ways to work with young people who might resist traditional approaches.
Learning Outcomes:
- What are and when can we use AOD Brief Interventions with young people
- Experiential and novel approaches to supporting young people experiencing AOD issues
- Exploring creative and tailored ways to meet the needs of young people experiencing AOD issues
Eligibility Criteria
This training has been funded for workers employed in a Victorian State-funded Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) service, including Peer and LLE workers.
Who is not eligible?
Students on placement or internships, workers from other community sectors such as family violence, homelessness, mental health, and AOD workers outside of Victoria.
Please ensure you have clearance from your line manager to attend. If you cannot attend, cancel your registration and make your spot available to someone else on the waitlist.
No-shows will be charged a $50 cancellation fee.
This session will cover how workers can provide effective brief intervention support to young people unwilling to engage in more traditional, clinical or intensive AOD support. The workshop will also cover other experiential and novel ways to work with young people who might resist traditional approaches.
- What are and when can we use AOD brief Interventions with young people
- Experiential and novel approaches to supporting young people experiencing AOD issues
- Exploring creative and tailored ways to meet the needs of young people experiencing AOD issues
Eligibility Criteria
This training has been funded for workers employed in a Victorian State-funded Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) service, including those who are new to the AOD sector or recently employed under the COVID-19 Workforce Initiative and Peer workers.
Who is not eligible?
Students on placement or internships, workers from other community sectors such as Family Violence, Homelessness and Mental Health and AOD workers outside of Victoria.
Please ensure you have clearance to attend from your line manager. If you cannot attend, even if you find out the day before, please cancel your registration and make your spot available to someone else on the waiting list.
This session will cover ways that workers can provide effective brief intervention support to young people who are not willing to engage in more traditional, clinical or intensive AOD support. The workshop will also cover other experiential and novel ways to work with young people who might be resistant to traditional approaches.
- What are and when can we use AOD brief Interventions with young people
- Experiential and novel approaches to supporting young people experiencing AOD issues
- Exploring creative and tailored ways to meet the needs of young people experiencing AOD issues
IMPORTANT: registrations for training will become live approximately two months prior to start of training. To enrol in this or any training, you must click the link below and fill in the registration. If you do not complete the registration, you will not have a place in the training. If you experience a broken link, please get in touch with us at elevate@vaada.org.au
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Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a collaborative method for guiding conversations about change. More than a set of techniques, MI is a discipline in its own right that brings together a set of values, principles and disciplined use of skills to assist people to resolve ambivalence and deepen motivation to pursue the changes that are meaningful for them.
While the skills do take time and practice, the style of conversation is gentle, curious and comes from a place of faith in the other person. The hope is that, together, we may discover what is meaningful for this person and what choices would work best for them, knowing who they are and what they deep down really want for their future. MI asks us to be mindful of the way our own hopes and assumptions can interfere in the process as much as they can help, and create a space of genuine enquiry and deepening understanding.
Rather than replace other approaches, MI has a capacity to enhance and deepen the full range of interventions we use by bringing a more acute awareness to the how and when of conversation, rather than just what we talk about.
The training is highly interactive, with a focus on practical skill development. The two-day workshop will offer an opportunity to:
- Gain a clear and up-to-date understanding of MI – what it is, how it works and recent changes to the framework
- Increase understanding of the change process
- Review and practice the core skills
- Apply the skills to the change process
- Increase ability to work effectively with resistance and ambivalence
- Practice skills in softening sustain talk and eliciting change talk
- Develop strategies to continue learning and practicing MI.
