Effective Community Engagement - Department of Primary Industries –2006 (ongoing)
For this project CRIC is working closely with The Department of Primary Industries (DPI), Minerals and Petroleum Regulation Branch DPI to develop and run a suitable and integrated training program in effective communication and community liaison for its field officers and selected Branch staff. CRIC is also working with DPI to develop and run community consultation workshops for industry; as well as developing community consultation guidelines (‘toolkit’).

The first phase of this project is a situation analysis and audit of key stakeholder in the form of two online surveys, one for DPI staff and one for community members, to inform training requirements. Once this phase is completed a DPI staff training program and industry workshops will be developed and rolled out. CRIC is working with registered training providers to ensure the program will provide DPI staff with accredited training.

Workforce Plan – Rural Ambulance Victoria (RAV),2005 - 2006
The aim of this project was to develop a workforce plan for RAV and to assist the organisation to develop strategies to facilitate the recruitment and retention of career and voluntary personnel, especially in rural and remote areas. The project had a number of stages: including development of a demographic workforce profile, a literature review around the issues of recruitment and retention of personnel in regional areas, a survey of the existing RAV workforce and the development of a model to determine workforce needs over the next 10-year period.

The workforce plan, develop by CRIC in conjunction with RAV, was instigated to address a number of staffing issues. In particular, the project assessed an ageing workforce, difficulties associated with recruitment and retention of personnel in rural and remote branches and additional pressures created by growing demand for ambulance services.

This investigation resulted in a comprehensive profile of existing staff, a model to assist with determining future staffing supply and the identification of staffing requirements over the ten-year planning period. In addition, the project provided RAV with a greater understanding of the barriers that make it difficult to recruit and retain staff in rural and remote locations and a number of strategies to mitigate and/or overcome some of those barriers.

Building Sustainable Community Businesses – Office of Training and Tertiary Education, 2005
In this project, CRIC consultants are identifying key challenges to the sustainability of community based non-profit organisations which deliver Adult and Community Education (ACE) in Victoria. CRIC is developing an instrument to measure and develop organisational capacity and is investigating a range of strategic options and revenue opportunities to develop the sustainability of these organisations.

Building Better Business Online – AusIndustry funded Small Business Capacity Building Program, 2004-2005
In this project, CRIC worked with the Centre for eCommerce and Communication (CECC) to build an online training environment for micro and small tourism businesses. The program was designed as a capacity building program for small tourism firms, who had the option to learn on a needs-basis or to prepare for tourism accreditation. The program was adopted by the Tourism Accreditation Board of Victoria as the model for tourism accreditation and is currently being considered for rollout on a national level.

Regional skills in the hospitality and tourism industries in Western Victoria – University of Ballarat, December 2004
This project required CRIC consultants to conduct a survey of businesses in the Western region of Victoria, investigating current levels of employment, existing human resource practices, future skill requirements and shortages, and future training demand. CRIC also conducted a series of stakeholder interviews with industry representatives, major employers and education providers, along with a review of secondary literature in the field. The outcome of this project was a report providing a profile of future demand for training in hospitality and tourism in the Western region.