We recently wrote to your Executive Director, Andrew Gower, about an email he put out to staff about training, in which he said you could work through an activity workbook at your own pace at home via a specific link.

We asked him whether the training (workbook) is compulsory, and told him if that’s the case, workers need to be paid to complete it, regardless of whether it’s done during work time or at home.

Andrew has now replied to say, "The training is not mandatory training. We provided the resources to everyone as an FYI, as a process that we are looking to roll out to all staff during this calendar year. ‍Further down the track, we may look at making the training mandatory at which time, we will ensure team members are given the opportunity to complete at work or at home, and we will pay for the time spent completing the tasks."

‍So if you want to complete the training (activity workbook) as part of your ongoing learning to have a better understanding of active support, then feel free to do so. But if you don't want to do it, you don’t have to as it's not compulsory.

Whenever there is training at your workplace, remember to ask whether it's mandatory. You will need to be paid to do it if it is compulsory, regardless of where you do it.