Name: Naomi Aitken
Title: Head of Education
Q: What brought you to NATA?
A: I saw the role enabling me to combine many of the different skills I had learned over many different roles, and I felt I could make a real difference to the way NATA delivers education. Before joining NATA, I didn’t know who they were or what they did. I just recognised the building as it is across the water at Rhodes from the ferry I used to catch to work every day!
Q: What is your previous experience in training management?
A: I have spent most of my career in adult learning. I have been a trainer, facilitator, assessor and designer and spent many years managing compliance and operations in Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) accredited with the Australian Skills and Quality Authority. I also spent time in consulting roles, conducting audits, managing a business coaching organisation, and running change and organisational development projects.
Q: What do you think sets NATA courses apart from others providing similar material?
A: As we redesign each of our courses we are moving away from lecture-based learning into a learner-focussed delivery approach. There’s lots of discussion as participants engage with activities and real-life scenarios that are based on how facilities apply accreditation standards into their systems and processes.
Q: Can you tell us about your course designer and how that is impacting the delivery of NATA courses?
A: We are very fortunate that all our facilitators come to us with design experience. We are all adult learning experts so the designs we put together come from different backgrounds but are based on solid learning principles. Our Instructional Designer, Lidia, is excellent at translating our varying design ideas into courses that flow well and meet the standard requirements.
Q: Can you tell us why we should attend a NATA course over another provider?
A: NATA are the experts in their field. We know accreditation and while we won’t tell you how to do it, you know that our training comes from a position of authority and expertise. Coupled with learner-focussed content, we ensure that participants leave training with strategies to implement the right solutions into their facilities.
Q: What are your course plans for the coming 12-months?
A: As mentioned earlier, we are working through our current programs to update them. We have the new ISO 15189 standard arriving in November, so we are busy bringing that new course to life. We are looking to offer a course for non-members who are looking to become accredited with NATA to better understand the process. We are also committed to providing best practice internal training for our Lead Assessors and Technical Assessors.
Q: Any additional insights?
A: I feel immense gratitude for my role as Head of Education. NATA is a wonderful organisation, doing amazing work to support our incredible members. I love the work we are doing and the team we have in place. I look forward to the year ahead and the milestones we will achieve.
Thank you for your time, Naomi.
