How to become a driving instructor in SOUTH AUSTRALIA
A driving instructor course may be the right move if you are looking to make a career change or get a qualification that both improves your job opportunities, job satisfaction and pay bracket.
Intelligent Training Solutions has been involved with the delivery and development of the Car Driving Instructors course since 2001, back when the qualification was a Certificate III in Road Transport (Motor Vehicle Driving Instruction). Since that time, we have designed, developed, sold, tested, delivered and assessed course materials for Kangan Batman Tafe, Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE, and the TDT- South Australia (Transport Industry Skills Council). Intelligent Training Solutions, previously known as Drive National Training, was also the first training provider to offer this qualification throughout multiple states in Australia.
We remain the only provider of the TLI41218 Certificate IV in Transport & Logistics (Road Transport – Car Driving Instructor) qualification to offer South Australian students the addition of the TLISS000162 Driving Instructor Skill Set for those wanting to advance their career and move into licence assessment. We are one of the few, if not the only provider to deliver the TLI41218 Certificate IV in Car Driving Instruction course in its entirety and are well-known throughout the industry for going above and beyond the qualification requirements to ensure you start your new career at the top of the industry.
What is a driving instructor?
A driving instructor is anyone who, for fee or reward, teaches an unlicensed, or overseas licenced person to drive a motor vehicle on a public or open road. In South Australia, you must hold a Motor Driving Instructor’s (MDI) licence before you can train any driver. This blog contains the criteria you must meet and the application process you must go through to become a driving instructor.
The process of becoming a driving instructor in South Australia
The process or application criteria for becoming a driving instructor in South Australia are achieved in two stages. First, you will need to complete the TLI41218 Certificate IV in Transport & Logistics (Road Transport – Car Driving Instruction) course with an approved and registered training organisation listed on www.training.gov.au, and can be completed over a sixteen to twenty-four week period.
Unlike other states, in addition to the TLI41218 qualification, you will also need to demonstrate your understanding of the Australian Road Rules by completing a road rules theory test for MDIs and by successfully completing a regulator assessment, both are conducted by the Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT).
The assessment criteria of the DIT regulator assessment is in addition to the requirements of the nationally recognised qualification. Although the TLI41218 course delivered by Intelligent Training Solutions covers the necessary criteria for the regulator assessment, it has been recommended by Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) that you undertake additional targeted training/practice after your course.
In South Australia, there are no gearbox restrictions or conditions describing vehicle classes on an MDI licence. Therefore, to become an MDI, you must pass a regulator assessment in a vehicle with a manual transmission before a licence can be issued to you.
To pass a DIT regulator assessment you can expect to invest an additional 40 to 50 hours practising the skills and knowledge obtained throughout your course or, for those of you who prefer the trainer-lead approach, you can choose to employ the services of a VORT/CBT&A instructor to assist you with the preparations for your regulator assessment; however, be warned, you still need to practice before sitting your assessment. The great news is that the requirements of the regulator assessment are 100% achievable and in line with the criteria for licence assessment and with a little bit of practice and effort you will be well on your way to a successful and financially rewarding career.
Once you have successfully completed the TLI41218 course and passed your regulator assessment, the rest of the application process is straightforward and simple. The licensing authority in South Australia is known as Department for Infrastructure and Transport or DIT for short, with the rest of the application process requiring you to provide:
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Studying to become a driving instructor: Things to look out for!
Do your homework BEFORE you enrol in a course. Many students make the mistake of not researching their course or the Registered Training Organisation (RTO) behind the qualification before they enrol. There is an increasing number of so-called ‘training providers’ in the market at the moment all claiming to deliver and accredit you with the TLI41218 Certificate IV in Transport & Logistics (Car Driving Instruction) qualification; however, when you look beyond the surface of their marketing and sales pitch you will find something very different.
Over the last 20 years, students who trained with Intelligent Training Solutions have reported on various deceptions or on the shortcomings of ‘training providers’ within the Vocational Education and Training (VET) industry. To be clear, we are not just referring to the Car Driving Instruction qualification, the following is true for any qualification, although this qualification does also have its fair share of questionable arrangements. So what are we talking about and what do you need to watch out for?
Private businesses pretending to be RTOs
Some of the deceptions currently circulating are private businesses (non-RTOs) leading students to believe that they are a Registered Training Provider (RTO) and able to accredit students in Nationally Recognised Qualifications. This includes those businesses advertising a 100% Recognised Prior Learning (RPL) pathway with their unspecified RTO partners. The truth is that no private business (non-RTO) has the authority to issue qualifications recognised within the Australian Quality Training Framework AQTF.
So how are private businesses delivering the course?
When you look beyond the surface of marketing, you will notice a number of things:
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Lack of an RTO number that matches the business name
The first thing to look for is the lack of an RTO number or an RTO number that does not match the business name that is promoting the course. Each registered training organisation is issued with an RTO number, or TOID, that is registered on the public register with training.gov.au. When you search for the RTO in training.gov.au you will be provided with the name of the business, any trading names and the registration status of the RTO. You will see the list of the approved courses that the RTO is authorised to deliver and a list of the states in which the RTO can operate. Businesses masquerading as registered training providers do not have an RTO number or are using someone else’s RTO number. Somewhere in their small print, you will find that they are ‘partnered’ with an RTO and deliver the course on an RTOs behalf. In most situations, these partnerships or ‘third party arrangements’ are not recognised or have not been officially approved by the regulator (ASQA/VRQA). This is especially true in situations where a non-RTO interstate business is claiming to deliver a qualification in South Australia. The problem with this type of arrangement is that it leaves you, the student, vulnerable and dealing with a private business that cannot be held accountable for the quality of their training, or the standard and accuracy of their learning materials. For more information on this topic, please click here to visit the ASQA website. |
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Duration of the course The duration of the course is another important factor in selecting a trustworthy and quality provider. For many people, obtaining a Certificate IV qualification in a couple of weeks has a strong appeal however you must ask yourself, will it serve you well in your new career? It only takes a few minutes of research to know that the TLI41218 Certificate IV in Transport & Logistics (Road Transport – Car Driving Instruction) course is a 435 nominal hour course, and any training provider claiming you can achieve a Certificate IV qualification in a few weeks part-time will not provide you with the quality of training and, more importantly, the depth of information you need to support your lifestyle and be successful in your new career. An Intelligent Training Solutions course deals with a number of skills and tasks that most people aren’t exposed to in their working life. When a person considers a career as a driving instructor, it’s normally because they are confident in their own driving ability or they have taught their own son or daughter to drive, believing that they can teach others to do the same; and in some situations, this is true! It can be easy to teach a young and or mature adult who is coordinated, confident and fearless to take on the driving tasks required to achieve a licence. However, being a professional driving instructor requires more from you than just teaching a skills-based task to a novice learner driver. Being a driving instructor requires you to obtain skills and knowledge to deal with the emotions, learning styles, insecurities, fears and, the lack of physical and mental coordination commonly experienced by young and or mature adults who learn new tasks. Becoming a driving instructor means running your own business which includes sales, marketing, dealing with income tax, superannuation and managing profit and loss, which in itself is another skill set. Being a driving instructor means understanding that this job is more about people and communication skills than telling people what to do. These skills, knowledge and concepts may appear easy on the surface, but can only be truly mastered when studying with an RTO who places worth on the education process and quality outcomes and not on the quickest way to complete the course. A training provider cannot claim to have your best interests at heart with a watered-down version of a course. Every RTO can provide you with a Certificate, but not every RTO will provide you with an education. |
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Transparency in marketing The lack of transparency on a training providers website should be another warning bell when selecting who to study with. An RTO who has nothing to hide will follow the marketing standards issued by the regulators. These marking standards state that an RTO must be transparent when promoting a course with certain information made available to the student. This information includes the total course fees, clearly defined study requirements (how many hours, days weeks etc…), clearly defined delivery method, clear on who the registered training organisation is and much more. You should not need to call or complete a form to gain access to the course fees, delivery information, or your study obligations. The marketing standards require all RTOs to be clear, transparent and PUBLIC with their course information allowing you to understand the full requirements, expectations and financial costs (short and long term) of their course before you enrol. Remember, a training provider cannot claim to have your best interests in mind and breach the fundamentals of student protection. |
Learn to be a driving instructor: What is involved with studying the TLI41218 qualification?
The TLI41218 Certificate IV in Car Driving Instruction course is a 435-hour qualification designed to provide you with the skills and knowledge required to start your new career as an employee of a driving school, a sub-contractor of a driving school, or as a sole trader/small business owner and operator of a driving school. As a student of Intelligent Training Solutions in Adelaide, South Australia you can currently enrolment into an online/blended delivery course completed between sixteen to twenty-four weeks with full-time and or part-time courses scheduled to commence in 2022.
I.T.S students will participate in theory and practical sessions focused and contextualised to the driver training industry. Your practical sessions are conducted on-road in everyday traffic conditions matching the on-road environment of a driving instructor.
This qualification is made up of twelve units of competency, also known as subjects. These subjects provide you with the necessary skills and knowledge required by a professional driving instructor to be successful in their new career and including information on:
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Driving Instructor Training: How long does it take
Completing the TLI41218 Certificate IV Car Driving Instruction will take between sixteen to twenty-four weeks. As with any blended delivery course, the duration of the course will depend on the amount of time you dedicate to your study. The average South Australian student cohort for Intelligent Training Solutions averages 16 weeks to complete the course.
Each unit within the course ranges in hours, varying from five hours to sixty hours. The driving instructor course is a 435 nominal hour nationally accredited course so students should not expect to complete the course three days a week over 3 weeks as it is just impossible to teach 435 hours in 54 hours.
Be sure to watch out for training providers that do not provide you with a timeframe for completing your course. Many of these course providers identify competency-based training as an open-ended incentive but instead, leaves you with no minimum training standard or worse, no course end date requiring an ongoing payment of course fees beyond your original agreement.
Driving Instructor Training: The Cost Of Driving Instructor Courses
Students enrolling in the TLI41218 Certificate IV in Car Driving Instruction course can expect to pay around $7,340.28 for a Certificate IV qualification with payment plans, and interest-free loans available to help get you into a new career.
At the time of writing this blog, the application fee for the Road law test through Services SA was $90 and the Regulator Assessment for a passenger vehicle was $277. A motor vehicle instructors licence for five years will set you back $550.00
Discounts are available for those who are interested in dual qualifications.
Becoming a driving instructor: What happens after the course?
After completing the TLI41218 Certificate IV Car Driving Instruction course, the next step in your journey requires you to meet the South Australian regulator (Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT)) obligations for holding a Motor Driving Instructor’s (MDI). In South Australia, this requires you to complete a road rules theory test for MDIs and a regulator assessment. Refer to the section above titled ”The process of becoming a driving instructor in South Australia’
Choose Intelligent Training Solutions
Speak with any one of our staff or a past student and they will tell you that once you become a student of Intelligent Training Solutions, you become a student for life. We pride ourselves on guiding students through their careers and not just through their period of study. Long after you successfully complete your course, you will continue to be supported by Intelligent Training Solutions through events such as industry days, and free live webinars. As one of the administrators of Australia largest private Driver Training Facebook page and the administrators for the industry’s only Australia Wide newsletter, you will receive free industry updates and advice, and you will always have the option of popping in for a coffee and chat.
As part of Intelligent Training Solutions service to you, the team here are more than happy to help you with the entire process of studying your Certificate IV, obtaining your qualification, submitting your application with DIT (Service SA) and finding employment.
Enrol online today or contact us now for further information.