Application
This unit applies to Aboriginal worldviews and beliefs as they impact and affect Aboriginal-sites work on Country. The unit applies to working either as an autonomous Sites worker or under the supervision and cultural authority of a Traditional owner and/or Elder for specific Country and is also applicable to the work of repatriation workers and anthropologists. This unit applies to all Aboriginal-sites workers. Cultural beliefs and practices vary across locations and communities however and in some situations non-Aboriginal learners may not be able to access the cultural knowledge and/or materials required to achieve competency in this unit. This applies when restrictions are applied to non-Aboriginal people gaining access to cultural knowledge, material or sites. In these situations the Registered Training Organisation will have to make alternative arrangements for learners that are still consistent with the delivery and assessment requirements for this unit.
Prerequisites
AHCILM306A Follow Aboriginal cultural protocols
Elements and Performance Criteria
ELEMENT | PERFORMANCE CRITERIA |
1. Use an understanding of traditional cultural frameworks for Aboriginal peoples at work | 1.1 Relationship to the land is integrated into daily work routines 1.2 Relationships of Aboriginal objects, features 1.3 The interrelationship of discrete Aboriginal-sites to cultural frameworks is determined 1.4 Traditional knowledge, customs and cultural practices in managing Country are acknowledged and respected |
2. Recognise the traditional social frameworks for Aboriginal peoples | 2.1 Language groups and general lore/laws and customs are shared 2.2 Extended family structures and clans in physical and geographical locations are identified 2.3 Totemic structures and associated stories that relate to ancestral beings from the Creation Period are related to landscape features and sites 2.4 Social structures that define the social positions, behaviours and obligations are classified in kinship names, sections and networks 2.5 The kinship system determining roles and responsibilities, marriage unions, ceremonial relationships, funeral roles and behaviour patterns with other kin are identified 2.6 Marriage relationships resulting from the union of two moieties and/or skin names are determined 2.7 Gender roles are recognised and respected |
3. Relate Aboriginal spirituality to the landscape | 3.1 Aboriginal beliefs that determine Aboriginal cultural protocols are acknowledged and recorded 3.2 The connection between spirituality and the land is defined in local and trans-local terms of identity, culture and food 3.3 The historical and present living environments are related to Dreaming stories and cultural knowledge 3.4 Cultural language and customs embedded in the relationship to the land and Aboriginal-sites are recounted 3.5 Creation stories, oral histories, kinship and totemic relationships to the cultural landscape are defined 3.6 The sense of belonging to the land and culture embedded in landscape are recounted in culturally appropriate ways 3.7 Elements of spirituality are expressed in ceremony, rituals, stories, dance, song, art and language |
4. Relate the interactions between Dreaming, traditional beliefs and ceremonies to Aboriginal-sites work | 4.1 Variable cultural disintegration in modern evolving cultural landscapes is identified 4.2 The effects of cultural disconnection with the land, spirituality and ceremonial expressions of culture are recorded 4.3 Impacts of disintegration and disconnection on Aboriginal-sites are recorded 4.4 The evolving nature of Dreaming is acknowledged and respected 4.5 Current trends in mainstream culture and heritage and opportunities and threats to the Aboriginal-sites work sector are identified and documented |
Required Skills
Required skills include: Ability to: interconnect diverse elements of Aboriginal culture and societies relate and recount Aboriginal spirituality recognise and apply Aboriginal beliefs and protocols use oral communication skills/language competence to question, actively listen, ask for clarification and seek advice from Traditional Owners, and/or Elders use interpersonal skills to relate to people from a range of social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds and with a range of physical and mental abilities research skills to source information orally from Elders, from records in archives, archival programs, archival principles and processes |
Required knowledge includes: Knowledge of: how to source appropriate cultural and lore/law authority for specific Country and/or sites protocols and customs relating to disclosure of knowledge about Country Aboriginal cultural and social frameworks ancestral beliefs genealogy kinship names, sections and networks totems, moieties, skin names Dreaming rules and access to cultural knowledge limitations indigenous communities and social structures indigenous cultural customs and heritage history of Aboriginal dispossession in Australia dispossession and land rights legislation Community guidelines and protocols information collection and documentation procedures Cultural and Heritage Legislation or relevant NPWS legislation |
Evidence Required
The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package. | |
Overview of assessment | |
Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit | The delivery and assessment of this unit must comply with Community protocols and be carried out in consultation with and participation with Traditional Owners and/or Elders and custodians of that specific Country. In accordance with Aboriginal cultural protocols, cultural knowledge copyright considerations and Aboriginal lore/law restrictions, it is essential that this requirement be respected and implemented in the delivery and assessment of Cultural Units to guarantee cultural authenticity and quality control around the delivery of training and assessment for Aboriginal-sites workers. The evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit must be relevant to workplace operations and satisfy holistically all of the requirements of the performance criteria and required skills and knowledge. Candidates must demonstrate evidence of the ability to: explain traditional Aboriginal belief systems identify examples and impacts of disintegration and disconnection with Aboriginal culture describe the relationship between the land and environment and Aboriginal peoples in culturally relevant ways explain the relationship between Dreaming, Traditional beliefs, Ceremony and Sites demonstrate application of conceptual Aboriginal worldview knowledge to practical Sites work under observation |
Context of and specific resources for assessment | Competency requires the application of conceptual knowledge of traditional beliefs in work practices under work conditions. Selection and use of resources for some worksites may differ due to the regional or enterprise circumstances. Assessment must ensure access to and observation by recognised cultural lore/law men and/or women who hold the Certificate III in Aboriginal-sites Work |
Method of assessment | A range of assessment methods should be used to assess comprehension and the application of Aboriginal worldviews and beliefs to practical skills. The following examples are appropriate for this unit: assessment of written reports direct questioning combined with review of portfolios of evidence and third-party workplace reports of on-the-job performance verbal or written questioning Observation of participation in Ceremony and/or Sites work related to the knowledge and skills outlined in this unit Assessment methods should closely reflect workplace demands and the needs of particular client groups (consider the requirements of different age groups, clients with English as a second language, clients with disabilities, etc.). |
Guidance information for assessment | Holistic assessment with other units relevant to the industry sector, workplace and job role is recommended, for example: AHCILM306A Follow Aboriginal cultural protocols AHCASW308A Apply cultural significance to Aboriginal-sites and landscapes Assessment for this unit should comprise a combination of theory and practical application. Both aspects of assessment are best conducted on Country for this unit. |
Range Statement
The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included. | |
Aboriginal objects may include: | physical objects such as stone tools, Aboriginal-built fences and stockyards, scarred trees, the remains of fringe camps material deposited on the land, such as middens the ancestral remains of Aboriginal people art and artworks shells non-human bones and organic materials |
cultural landscapes may include: | places and areas made up of living stories that have connections to the past and can include natural resources, objects, customs and traditions (and their contexts) places of land, sea and air where cultural and natural elements are considered together |
Aboriginal beliefs may refer to: | connection to Country creation events structure of Community such as lore/law men and women, elders and custodians practicality and purpose appropriate behaviour, protocols and restrictions spiritual valueof knowledge and stories communal ownership of some knowledge and material intergenerational ownership of some knowledge and material oral tradition of passing on knowledge and responsibilities roles as custodians of specified knowledge, ceremony, designs, information kinship and relationships storytelling |
Aboriginal-sites may include: | shelters with deposits open camp site midden shelter with midden shelter with art isolated find undefined sites axe grinding grooves bora/ceremonial ring burial site rock engraving scarred tree carved tree natural mythological site restricted site quarry ochre quarry fish trap stone arrangement mound (oven) mia mia waterhole (well) contact/mission abraded grooves Aboriginal Place (declared under NPW Act) Aboriginal Area (declared under NPW Act) protected archaeological site conservation agreement massacre reserve |
Dreaming and Creation Period may be described as: | This is a Western term. According to Aboriginal belief, all life as it is today - Human, Animal, Bird and Fish is part of one vast unchanging network of relationships which can be traced to the Great Spirit Ancestors of the Dreamtime. The Dreamtime is the Aboriginal understanding of the world, of its creation, and it's great stories. The Dreamtime is the beginning of knowledge, from which came the laws of existence. For survival these laws must be observed. The Dreaming world was the old time of the Ancestor Beings. They emerged from the earth at the time of the creation. Time began in the world the moment these supernatural beings were "born out of their own Eternity". The Dreamtime continues as the "Dreaming" in the spiritual lives of aboriginal people today. The events of the ancient era of creation are enacted in ceremonies and danced in mime form. Song lines and song chant relates the story of events of those early times and brings the power of the dreaming to bear of life today. |
Aboriginal cultural protocols may include | gender roles in relation to knowledge and cultural practices information sensitivity and access appropriate information transfer negotiations with local Aboriginal Community about information transfer cultural diversity natural resources and their importance for economy, religion, spirituality, art, environment, values, beliefs and lore/law rights and responsibilities associated with cultural knowledge, story, song, Site, and ceremony interpersonal ways of relating the talking of Community politics repatriation of objects and human remains issues of ownership (clans/nations) ownership of intellectual property acknowledging participation and ownership communicating about cultural material displaying cultural material handling cultural material identifying appropriate people to be consulted occasions when consultation is required ways in which consultations should be conducted |
Cultural knowledge may include: | aboriginal land, landscape features, rivers, lakes and sea resources and their uses, and the relationships between plants, animals and individuals, clans and Community aboriginal beliefs, values, spirituality, language, lore/law, customs, gender roles, kinship networks, factions, moieties, and speaking rights ceremonies, rituals, stories, song, dance and art traditional and current land management practices aboriginal-sites, places, objects, material and landscapes names, locations and meanings aboriginal cultural protocols aboriginal cultural heritage the cultural significance of Aboriginal knowledge |
Cultural disintegration may include: | total loss of languages and/or cultural stories and ceremony for a specific area non-existence of Aboriginal people groups who formerly lived and/or accessed specific lands |
Cultural disconnection may include: | aboriginal people who have little or no cultural and/or language knowledge aboriginal people who may experience varying levels of a lack of knowing of their cultural, language and skin group and associated cultural practices |
Impacts of disintegration and disconnection may include: | social, cultural, religious, economic, spiritual, language factors and outcomes aboriginal perspectives |
Mainstream culture and heritage trends may be governed by: | all States and Territories a range of industry sectors including non-specific sites sectors such as museums. National Parks and Wildlife jurisdictions - state and federal Catchment Management and Authority contexts Office of Environment and Heritage contexts |
Sectors
Aboriginal-sites work
Employability Skills
This unit contains employability skills
Licensing Information
No licensing, legislative, regulatory or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of endorsement.