Australian Immigration Daily News

THE NEGATIVES OF CATEGORY B ACTIVITIES

NEGATIVE NUMBER ONE: CATEGORY B TAKES LONGER TO COMPLETE

The thing about CPD points is this:  Category B points require agents to spend more time to achieve 1 CPD point.   Instead of spending 1 hour to achieve 1 CPD point as is the case with Category A activities, Category B points require an agent to spend 1.5 hours to get one CPD point.  That means if an agent is going to do 5 Category B points, then they are going to spend 7.5 hours to achieve 5 CPD points.   Not very attractive.  In comparison if an agent does 5 Category A points then it would only take them 5 hours to get 5 CPD points.

NEGATIVE NUMBER TWO: CATEGORY B NOT DESIGNED TO BE INTERACTIVE
Category B points are not interactive, meaning the delivery is one way.  There is no requirement for the presenter to allow for questions and answers from the participants in Category B activities.  For this reason, if agents don’t get the answers they are looking for during an activity, then they will need to go elsewhere to get the information.

NEGATIVE NUMBER THREE: OMARA HAS SET A MAXIMUM OF 5 CATEGORY B POINTS IN ONE REGISTRATION YEAR 

Here’s the other downside to Category B points.  The OMARA allows a maximum of 5 Category B CPD points per year for the purposes of re-registration.    In contrast the OMARA has set a minimum of 5 points of CPD from Category A for the purposes of re-registration, and allows agents to do all their 10 points per year from Category A.

THE POSITIVES OF CATEGORY B ACTIVITIES

POSITIVE NUMBER ONE: MAJOR SEMINARS OR CONFERENCES WITH STATE AND TERRITORY GOVERNMENT DELIVERIES 

Agents need to work out whether they want to invest time into Category B points, and if they do, why they are going to spend 1.5 hours per point doing so.  Is it a topic that an agent can learn via Category A?  If so, the agent may as well do the point via Category A.  An agent should be selective about spending time on Category B points to make sure they don't waste time on subjects they can't use for re-registration purposes. Seminars and conferences, whether online or face-to-face delivered by state and regional governments, with associated commentary and summaries, are our number one pick for Category B.  If agents are going to attend government updates throughout the year anyway, they may as well use these sessions to obtain Category B points.   Most of the time the sessions with government and conferences have Q and A as part of the events, so they tend to be interactive anyway (bonus).  Two CPD organisations in the profession offering high-level government seminar and conference activities (Category B activities) are the MIA and LTA.

POSITIVE NUMBER TWO: ONLINE PRIVATE STUDY (DISTANCE LEARNING)

Distance learning is not interactive, but it can be done in an agent's own time, any time of the day or night, any night of the week.  Distance learning tests an agent’s knowledge with an exam, so at least the agent knows where they are falling short, or needs more work to be up to speed on the topic.  A paper accompanies the topic and agents can use this as a reference.  

CONCLUSION  - OUR SUGGESTION

Agents should spend their time wisely.  Spend the time on and in your business, and on your clients instead of sitting through the extra time required to get 1 Category B CPD point.  If an agent is going to sit for 1.5 hours to get 1 Category B point, then they should make sure its delivered by state or regional government, or is an activity an agent can do after-hours in their own time, so that they can spend their precious time attending to their clients and winning new business.  Time is money.  Not all Category B activities are worth it.