New pathway attracts award

An armament technician has been awarded the Conspicuous Service Medal (CSM) for his role in developing a system which helped over 600 Australians join Defence.

In a recruiting process all about velocity and volume, SGT Lawson Alick noticed a ‘speed bump’ causing potential candidates to drop out.

When they couldn’t prove their Year 10 schooling, whether due to lost certificates or international education, candidates would have to go through a lengthy process to get the right paperwork.

“If we don’t maintain the velocity, and a candidate has to wait three months because of [their] education, they might potentially not join,” SGT Alick said.

With help from his chain of command, SGT Alick created the Alternative Education Entry Pathway, which uses the Basic Key Skill Builder from Queensland TAFE to prove education levels.

The system allowed the recruiters to prove a candidate’s equivalent education level in hours, rather than weeks or months.

After implementing the system, over 600 potential recruits – who would have otherwise been knocked back for not having the means to produce education documents – were able to progress.

In one case, a candidate only days away from enlistment was flagged as not having education documents.

“We are not sure how that slipped through the cracks, but within 12 hours we were able to prove their education standards and get their paperwork sorted so they were able to enlist,” SGT Alick said.

SGT Alick built a dashboard, trackers and coded the app that would facilitate system access for more than 350 military recruiters across Australia.

For his role in the development of the Alternative Education Entry Pathway, SGT Alick was awarded the CSM as part of the King's Birthday Honours.

He said being recognised for his work meant a lot, but it also highlighted the importance of grassroots innovations in Defence.

“If there is an idea, if you dig in, and get support, it’ll get across the line and you will have the ability to provide meaningful capability improvements to the Defence force,” he said.

“I wasn’t expecting any awards. All I wanted to do was advocate for my candidates as a military recruiter. I had a pipeline of over 250 candidates, and I wanted to see every single one of them join Defence.”