The Australian Government has funded the development of the Core Skills for Work Framework which describes the non-technical skills, knowledge and understandings (often referred to as employability or generic skills) that underpin successful participation in work.
The Core Skills for Work Framework groups generic or employability skills into three Skill Clusters and ten Skill Areas while using a developmental approach to describe these skills at five different levels from novice to expert. The Skill Clusters and Skill Areas described in the Framework are:
Cluster 1 - Navigate the world of work
a. Manage career and work life
b. Work with roles, rights and protocols
Cluster 2 - Interact with others
a. Communicate for work
b. Connect and work with others
c. Recognise and utilise diverse perspectives
Cluster 3 - Get the work done
a. Plan and organise
b. Make decisions
c. Identify and solve problems
d. Create and innovate
e. Work in a digital world
The Framework focuses on describing those skills that are teachable, learnable, and can be demonstrated. It is a tool to improve the knowledge and understanding of employability skills for trainers and educators to design, target and deliver training; and to assist those who work with job seekers to prepare people for entering employment or career change.
The Framework describes employability skills in a way that is applicable across industries and levels of employment and it provides a foundation from which relevant learning products can be developed to address these skills across educational settings and sectors in a systematic way.
For more information on the Core Skills for Work Framework visit www.deewr.gov.au/csfw or www.innovation.gov.au/csfw.