The primary objective of the Bureau's training program is to meet current and emerging needs for staff with appropriate management skills and specialised technical and professional skills. A secondary objective is to provide specialised meteorological training to Defence Forces personnel and to the staff of overseas National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs).

To meet these objectives the Bureau of Meteorology Training Centre (BMTC) provides:

• specialised postgraduate meteorological training in operational forecasting for new staff of the Bureau, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and overseas NMHSs;
• technical and general training in specialised meteorological support duties and systems for new Bureau technical staff, trainees from overseas, Defence Force personnel and approved external participants;
• in-service training to maintain professional and technical meteorology-related skills, and to provide management and development training for all categories of Bureau staff;
• curriculum development and the development and delivery of new courses for all training activities, including Computer Aided Learning (CAL) and web-based modules; and
• consultative services on the education and training aspects of major new Bureau projects.

The BMTC also manages the operation of the National Meteorological Library.

INTERNAL TRAINING ACTIVITIES 

During 2003 and 2004, 50 and 31 trainees respectively undertook initial training (initial training courses are conducted in each calendar year). Of these, 51 were studying the 40- week Graduate Diploma in Meteorology course (including six from the Navy and nine from overseas), 17 were undertaking the 30-week Technical Officer (Observer) course and 13 the Technical Officer (Engineering) course.

Approximately 440 staff received specialised technical or professional in-service training. This included courses, amongst others, in First-in Maintenance, Electrolyser, Autosonde and Digicora III training for Technical Officers (Observer); and Radar, National Restricted Electrical License (NREL) training and Frontline Management for Technical Officers (Engineering). Professional inservice training undertaken by Meteorologists included the Advanced Forecaster Course and training in the National Thunderstorm Forecast Guidance system as well as competency training throughout the regions for the forecasting of severe thunderstorms, tropical cyclones and fire weather. A five-day Introductory Meteorology course was conducted for non-meteorological staff to provide an improved understanding of the context for their work.

More than 1030 staff undertook short, in-service management development training courses, ranging in length from one day to one week. These courses covered such areas as project, change or time management, client service, policy development, presentation and communication skills, and performance management. A series of seminars was developed to focus on APS Values and the APS Code of Conduct.

A Bureau-specific Management Education Program (MEP) was conducted by the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA) and LaTrobe University. The MEP provides formal qualifications at the Certificate and Graduate Certificate levels. During 2003-04, 16 staff were enrolled in the MEP. During the 13th year of the Bureau's Studybank scheme, 71 staff enrolled or continued as part-time students. Two staff were awarded scholarships to further their tertiary studies on a full-time basis. Workshops held for the first time this year focused on the National Thunderstorm Forecast Guidance System. These workshops were linked to the Bureau's Radar Network and Doppler Services Upgrade Project (RNDSUP).

Bureau staff at Pearce (Western Australia) and East Sale (Victoria) Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) training bases provided meteorological training for RAAF personnel. Some 210 RAAF pilots, air traffic controllers, navigators and flying instructors undertook meteorological training courses during 2003-04.

In support of the Bureau's corporate strategic objective of commitment to university education in meteorology and related fields, the BMTC maintained strong links with several tertiary education institutions, in particular with Monash University, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and the University of Melbourne.

The BMTC continued to provide reciprocal lecturing arrangements on specialised graduate- level meteorology courses with Monash University. A one-week Synoptic Laboratory seminar was conducted for honours and post-graduate students, to provide them with some insight into operational forecasting procedures, with 10 attendees from Melbourne and Monash universities, and five from interstate universities.

A Bureau officer shows the 2004 Graduate Diploma in Meteorology trainees an instrument enclosure.

INTERNATIONAL TRAINING ACTIVITIES 

The Bureau maintained a strong involvement in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Education and Training Programme and attended key coordination meetings and training symposia. The BMTC conducted a five-day WMO workshop for Regional Meteorological Training Centre instructors from Africa, and also contributed to the development of several WMO education and training initiatives covering satellite meteorology and access to training resources and material.

In support of the Bureau's international activities, the BMTC conducted a two-week Computer Aided Learning (CAL) Workshop. The workshop covered the latest techniques employed in the development of CAL packages with an emphasis on developing material that could be used within the resources available to NMHSs participants.

A joint project with the US Cooperative Program for Meteorological Education and Training (COMET) continued the development of severe weather Web-based case studies. These studies form part of the series of severe weather training modules now used by Bureau forecasters around Australia.