Aboriginal Environmental Health Officer Training Program

The Aboriginal Environmental Health Officer Training Program (Training Program) provides traineeships in environmental health for Aboriginal people to become tertiary qualified and comprehensively trained EHOs. This contributes to improving workforce outcomes for Aboriginal people and the environmental health sector.

The NSW Health Aboriginal Environmental Health Unit (AEHU) delivers the Training Program through partnerships with agencies to employ, educate, train and support trainees. Each traineeship is governed through interagency agreement and supported by a traineeship steering group. Most trainees are located in rural or regional workplaces.

Trainees are employed in the partnering agency (mainly local government or public health unit) and undertake a bachelor degree in environmental health. Support includes study leave, tutoring and training placements. Experienced EHOs supervise the trainees and the Workplace Training Kit:

• structures and supports skill development
• aids workplace planning to progress performance throughout the traineeship
• promotes a consistent standard of training and assessment across the trainee cohort.

During a traineeship, trainees are required to submit each workbook for assessment and satisfactorily complete all workbooks in the Workplace Training Kit. When trainees complete a traineeship they are tertiary qualified and (through the workbooks) have been assessed as able to operate at 3rd year EHO level (in NSW Health and local government).

This means they can compete to a high standard in the job market.