Unit of Competency Matrix

🔒 Pro feature — requires the Pro plugin.

The Unit of Competency Matrix is part of the Pro RTO module, the Australian Registered Training Organisation vertical. It answers a question every RTO compliance manager is asked at audit: for each unit on our scope, which trainers can deliver or assess it, and is their vocational currency up to date?

The module adds four admin screens and two smaller pieces:

• Matrix: a grid with trainers down the side and units across the top, showing the currency status of each assigned trainer × unit combination.
• Units of Competency: your unit library. You can add units by hand, import them from CSV, or sync them from training.gov.au.
• Qualifications: the Qualification Delivery Summary, a risk view of trainer coverage for each qualification you deliver.
• A Units tab on each trainer’s compliance profile, where you assign units and set delivery scope.
• A Units of Competency step in the setup wizard.

Compliance managers and RTO administrators use these screens. Trainers never see them, but they do see their assigned units and currency status on their own portal profile (see Frontend staff portal).

Switching the RTO module on

The matrix is not shown on a generic install. It appears only when both of these are true:

1. Dantian Attestation Core Pro is installed and active alongside the free plugin.
2. The Industry preset is set to RTO.

To switch it on:

1. Go to Attestation Core → Settings → General.
2. In Industry, choose RTO — Registered Training Organisation (Australia). The default is Generic / Other.
3. Click Save general settings. Changing the industry doesn’t delete any existing data.

With the RTO preset active, the plugin uses RTO wording throughout. “Staff Member” becomes Trainer/Assessor, “Organisation” becomes RTO, “Evidence” becomes Currency Evidence, and units are headed Units of Competency. The ASQA Credential Policy categories (1A–1E and 2A–2C) are also loaded for credentials (see Staff profiles and credentials).

What a Free user sees: without Pro, the Industry list offers only Generic / Other, and none of the screens on this page exist.

What an unlicensed Pro install sees: if the Pro licence is inactive or has expired past its grace period, the Matrix and Units of Competency screens, the trainer Units tab and the wizard step stay available. The Qualifications screen, the qualification filter on the matrix and the training.gov.au panel are hidden until you reactivate the licence. Your data is kept either way.

Using the competency matrix

Go to Attestation Core → Matrix. The page is titled Competency Matrix. It sits just below Compliance Profiles in the menu.

Reading the grid

• Rows are trainers. Click a trainer’s name to open their compliance profile.
• Columns are active units, labelled by unit code. Hover over a code to see the unit title.
• Cells show a symbol and a colour for each unit the trainer is assigned to. A small dot (·) means the trainer isn’t assigned to that unit.

Symbol	Status	Meaning
●	Current	The trainer has validated currency evidence linked to this unit, dated within the recency threshold.
◐	Approaching gap	The latest validated evidence is within two months of reaching the threshold.
○	Gap	The trainer is assigned to the unit but has no validated evidence for it, or the latest evidence is older than the threshold.

A legend under the grid explains the symbols. If a trainer is assigned to Deliver only or Assess only, the cell also shows that scope. Cells for Deliver + Assess (the default) show no scope label.

How the status is worked out

A cell is Current only when all of the following are true:

1. The trainer is assigned to the unit (on the trainer’s Units tab).
2. The trainer has submitted evidence linked to that unit.
3. An administrator has validated the evidence (fully or partially) and confirmed the unit link (see Compliance evidence submission).

The age of the evidence is measured from its evidence date, which is the date of the activity, not the date it was validated. The threshold comes from Settings → General → Currency recency threshold (months). The default is 12 and the allowed range is 1 to 60. The Approaching gap window is fixed at the last two months before the threshold. For example, with a 12-month threshold, evidence that is about 10 months old shows as Approaching gap. Months are counted as 30 days.

Filters

The filter bar above the grid has these options. Click Apply to use them.

Filter	Options	Default
Search trainers	Free text on trainer name	blank
Trainer status	Active trainers, Inactive trainers, All (incl. archived)	Active trainers
Training package	All training packages, or one package code from your library	All
Cluster	All clusters, or one cluster from your library	All
Cell status	All statuses, Current, Approaching gap, Gap, No evidence recorded (assigned units with no evidence show as Gap, so this option currently returns no rows)	All
Qualification (licensed Pro only)	All qualifications, or one active qualification	All

When you pick a qualification, the grid narrows to that qualification’s units and the trainers assigned to them. A summary strip also appears, for example “BSB50420 — 3 trainer(s) covering 12 unit(s)”, with a High, Medium or Low Risk badge. Fewer than 2 trainers is High risk, exactly 2 is Medium, and 3 or more is Low.

Printing and exporting

• Click Print / Save as PDF at the top of the matrix to print it or save it as a PDF from your browser.
• For a spreadsheet, use the Competency Matrix and Currency Gaps reports under Attestation Core → Reports. They offer CSV, and Excel (XLSX) with Pro. See Compliance reporting and audit exports.

Caching

To keep the page fast, the matrix result is cached for up to 5 minutes. When a cached result is shown, a note says “Showing cached result (up to 5 minutes old)”. Changes to trainers, units or assignments, and evidence validations, clear the cache automatically.

Limits

The grid shows up to 500 trainers and 500 active units at a time. For a larger RTO, use the filters to narrow the view. Inactive units never appear as columns.

Managing units

Go to Attestation Core → Units of Competency. Under the generic preset the menu reads Units.

The units list

The list shows Code, Title, Training package, AQF, Type (Core or Elective), Cluster, Qualifications on Scope and Status (Active or Inactive). It shows 30 units per page. You can:

• Search by code or title, and filter by active state (All units, Active only, Inactive only), training package, cluster and unit type (Core, Elective).
• Click Activate or Deactivate on a single row.
• Tick several rows and use Bulk actions: Activate selected, Deactivate selected, Set cluster on selected (type the cluster in the box next to it) or Clear cluster on selected.

Units can’t be deleted, only deactivated. That keeps past evidence and assignment history intact. A deactivated unit drops out of the matrix and can’t be newly assigned to trainers.

Adding or editing a unit

1. Click Add Unit, or click a unit’s code to edit it.
2. Fill in the form:

Field	Rules
Unit code	Required. 2 to 40 characters: letters, digits, dot, hyphen or underscore. Stored in upper case. Must be unique in your library. Example: HLTAID011.
Unit title	Required.
Training package code	Optional. Stored in upper case, for example HLT, TAE or CHC.
AQF level	Optional.
Qualifications	Optional. Hold Ctrl (⌘ on Mac) to select several. Lists only active qualifications. If none exist yet, the form says to import a qualification or package first.
Unit type	Not set (default), Core or Elective.
Cluster	Optional grouping used in reports and matrix filters.
Active	Ticked by default. Means the unit is on your scope of registration and can be assigned to trainers.

1. Click Create Unit (or Save Changes). You’ll see “Unit created.” or “Unit updated.”

With a licensed Pro install, the list page also has a Sync unit from training.gov.au panel. See training.gov.au unit sync.

Assigning units to trainers (the Units tab)

The matrix is read-only. You make assignments on each trainer’s profile.

1. Go to Attestation Core → Compliance Profiles and edit a trainer.
2. Open the Units tab. It lists the assigned units with Code, Title, Qualification, Training package and Scope.
3. Under + Assign unit, choose a Unit. You can also choose a Qualification context, which is useful when the same unit is delivered in a particular qualification stream. Then choose a Scope: Deliver and assess (default), Deliver only or Assess only.
4. Click Assign unit. Assigning a unit that’s already assigned updates its scope.

Click Remove to take a unit off a trainer. The assignment record is kept for audit, but the trainer no longer shows on the matrix for that unit. If every active unit is already assigned, the form tells you to add more units first.

Importing units from CSV

You can bulk-load your scope from a spreadsheet.

1. Go to Attestation Core → Units of Competency and click Import from CSV.
2. Click the CSV template link to download attestation-core-units-template.csv. It contains the header row and two example rows.
3. Fill in one unit per row and save the file as CSV.
4. Choose the file under CSV file and click Upload and import.

Template columns

Column	Required	Notes
code	Yes	2 to 40 characters: letters, digits, dot, hyphen or underscore. Converted to upper case.
title	Yes	The unit title.
training_package_code	No	Converted to upper case.
aqf_level	No	Free text, for example 3.
unit_kind	No	core or c, elective or e, or blank. A column named core_elective is also accepted.
cluster	No	Grouping label.
is_active	No	Blank or any other value means active. 0, false, no, inactive or off means inactive.

Header names aren’t case-sensitive and the columns can be in any order. Only code and title are required.

How rows are applied

• A row whose code matches an existing unit updates that unit. A new code adds a unit.
• Blank rows are skipped.
• Each row is checked separately, so a bad row is skipped and the rest still import.
• Only .csv files are accepted. The maximum file size is your server’s upload limit, which the import page shows. You can import up to 5,000 rows at a time.

After the upload, a Last import result box shows how many units were inserted and updated, plus a table of rows with errors (row number and details). The summary message is one of the following:

• “Import complete. N new, N updated.”
• “Import completed with issues…”: some rows were skipped. The details are listed under the summary.
• “Import did not apply any rows.”

Common import errors

Message	Fix
CSV must include a “code” column and a “title” column.	Check the header row spelling, or start again from the template.
Unit code X is not a valid unit code…	Remove spaces and other punctuation. Only letters, digits, ., - and _ are allowed.
Unit code X appears more than once in the upload.	Each code may appear only once per file. Remove the duplicate.
Unit title is required.	Fill in the title cell for that row.
Unit type must be Core, Elective, or blank.	Use core, elective, c, e or leave the cell empty.
Only .csv files are accepted.	Save the spreadsheet as CSV, not .xlsx.

The setup wizard Units step

When the RTO preset is active, the setup wizard includes a Units of Competency step. There you can upload the same CSV (Upload and continue →) or skip the step. The wizard import follows the rules above, so include both code and title, and use training_package_code as the package column heading. To rerun the wizard later, see Plugin settings.

Qualification delivery summary

Go to Attestation Core → Qualifications. The page heading is Qualification Delivery Risk Matrix. You need the reports permission to open it, and it needs an active Pro licence.

The page lists every active qualification, highest risk first:

Column	Meaning
Code / Qualification	The national qualification code and title.
Units	Number of units linked to the qualification, from the unit form or a training.gov.au import.
Trainers	Number of distinct active trainers assigned to any of those units.
Validated / Val %	Units with a recorded validation date in the last five years, as a count and a percentage.
Risk	High: fewer than 2 trainers, or under 50% validated. Medium: fewer than 3 trainers, or under 80% validated. Low: everything else. A qualification with no units is always High.

Note: in this version, no screen records a unit’s validation date. Saving verdicts on a validation panel doesn’t update it either. As a result, Validated shows 0 and every qualification rates High. For now, use the Trainers column, and the qualification summary strip on the matrix (which looks only at trainer numbers), as your coverage signal.

To add a qualification, click Add Qualification. Fill in Qualification Code (for example BSB50420) and Title, both required, then optionally AQF Level and Status (Active or Inactive). Click Add qualification. Saving a code that already exists updates that record. A training.gov.au qualification import also creates qualifications for you.

Permissions

Screen or action	Who can use it
Matrix, trainer Units tab	Users with the manage-trainers permission: administrators, and Department Coordinators (who see only their department’s trainers)
Units of Competency, CSV import, template download	Users with the manage-units permission (administrators)
Qualifications	Users with the reports permission (administrators)
Industry setting	Users with the manage-settings permission

See User roles and permissions.

Data and privacy

Units, qualifications and trainer assignments are stored in the plugin’s own database tables on your site. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you use training.gov.au sync. Switching the industry back to Generic hides the screens but keeps the data. Data is removed only when you uninstall the plugin with data removal turned on. See Privacy, security and data.

Troubleshooting

• The Matrix menu is missing. Check that Pro is active and that Settings → General → Industry is set to RTO.
• “The matrix is empty.” Add units, then assign them on each trainer’s Units tab. The matrix doesn’t create assignments itself.
• A trainer shows ○ Gap despite submitting evidence. The evidence must be validated or partially validated, its unit link must be confirmed, and its evidence date must fall within the recency threshold. An unvalidated submission doesn’t count.
• A unit doesn’t appear as a column. It’s inactive. Reactivate it on the Units list.
• “Another unit already uses that code.” Unit codes are unique. Edit the existing unit instead of adding a new one.

Worked example

Riverbend Training, a small RTO, delivers BSB50420 Diploma of Leadership and Management with four trainers.

1. The compliance manager sets Industry to RTO and imports 12 BSB units from a CSV built from the template.
2. On Qualifications, she adds BSB50420 and links the 12 units to it from each unit’s edit form.
3. On each trainer’s Units tab, she assigns the units they deliver. One sessional assessor is set to Assess only.
4. Over the following weeks, trainers submit industry placement evidence tagged to their units, and she validates it.
5. On the Matrix she filters to BSB50420 with Cell status: Gap. Two units have only one current trainer, and the strip rates the qualification Medium Risk. She books currency activities for a second trainer and uses Print / Save as PDF to record the action plan for her management meeting.