This unit of competency describes the skills and knowledge required to provide arboricultural consultation in a legal framework, including the analysis of cases and their outcomes, reviewing policies and preparing for and contributing to legal proceedings.

The unit applies to individuals with a broad theoretical and technical knowledge of the legal implications of arboriculture. They have a broad range of cognitive, technical and communication skills and demonstrate autonomy and judgement for a defined area of responsibility, undertaking complex work with broad parameters to provide specialist advice and functions.

No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.

An individual demonstrating competency must satisfy all of the elements and performance criteria in this unit.

There must be evidence that the individual has, on at least two occasions, provided consultation in a legal framework, including:

determined legislation and cases applying to trees within specialist consulting areas of work

reviewed and analysed legislation, statutory regulations and planning instruments

applied legal and ethical standards to professional practice

recognised and used legal terminology in professional practice

analysed jurisdiction of tree matters to specific cases

recognised the legal framework and courts system when managing client legal needs

sought and reviewed precedents in law and published arboriculture related case studies

determined statutes and supporting precedent cases

provided arboricultural information based on the legal context

determined course of action and discussed with client

provided advice within the context of statutes and precedent cases

analysed and reviewed policy documents according to legislation and relevant cases

prepared policy documents based on legislation and relevant cases

determined areas of uncertainty in policy documents

sought legal advice and amended policy documents

identified gaps in own arboriculture knowledge and developed and implemented professional development for improvements

implemented statutory framework when providing advice as an expert

ensured observations and test results were recorded with precision

declared and clarified assumptions underpinning policy documents

substantiated reported opinions using external authorities

prepared and provided a detailed evidentiary report

confirmed status as provider of expert evidence

read and complied with expert witness code of practice

prepared presentation of evidence based on factual data, documented observations and results and complied with the rules of evidence

delivered oral evidence and report to court according to legal proceedings, jurisdiction and client requirements

assisted the court on matters relevant to expert testimony.

An individual must be able to demonstrate the knowledge required to perform the tasks outlined in the elements and performance criteria of this unit. This includes knowledge of:

legislation, statutory regulations, including planning instruments in state, territory and federal jurisdictions affecting the arboriculture industry, including:

environmental planning and management

interactions with people and property

court systems including common law, statute law, civil law, law of torts

precedents to strategies

management of client needs

professional practice and legal and ethical standards, including:

processes and practices of preparing and presenting in court

responsibilities and constraints of legal presentations

developing areas of expertise

precedents in law and working with published case studies for arboriculture testimony

accessing and developing professional and arboricultural knowledge, including:

benefits of accessing legal and arboricultural professional bodies

accessing and studying legal cases

maintaining professional standards

building and developing expertise and specialised arboriculture knowledge

legal terms associated with professional practice in arboriculture, their meaning and common use in discourse

preparation of policy documents based on legislation and relevant cases

preparation of detailed evidentiary reports

oral presentation skills and presenting in court.

Assessment of the skills in this unit of competency must take place under the following conditions:

physical conditions:

courts and court system used for arboriculture cases, or an environment that accurately represents workplace conditions

resources, equipment and materials:

computer

word processing software

specifications:

procedures and processes used in the courts system

court case studies related to arboriculture

relationships

client.

Assessors of this unit must satisfy the requirements for assessors in applicable vocational education and training legislation, frameworks and/or standards. In particular, assessors must have:

arboriculture vocational competencies at least to the level being assessed

current arboriculture industry skills directly relevant to the unit of competency being assessed.

This section describes those language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills that are essential for performance in this unit of competency but are not explicit in the performance criteria.

Arboriculture (ARB)