RMIT will develop two new micro-credentials to equip fire safety engineers and building surveyors with the skills to assess and design for emerging fire risks from batteries, solar and other renewable energy systems, after securing funding in Round 3 of the Victorian Government's Skills Solutions Partnerships (SSP) program.
RMIT's project will be delivered through the University's Security and Resilience Hub in partnership with CSIRO, STRATEG consulting, Holmes Group and Arup Australia.
It will train the professionals responsible for keeping buildings safe as renewable energy technologies become standard in homes, workplaces and critical infrastructure.
The project was announced as one of the successful projects for Round 3 of the SSP Program. The program provides funding for Victorian tertiary institutions to work together with industry, to co-design and pilot short training courses that quickly address industry skills gaps in priority sectors.
The program is co-led by Professor Kate Nguyen, Deputy Head Research & Innovation of the Department of Civil and Infrastructure Engineering in STEM College, alongside Professor John Thangarajah, Director of RMIT's Security and Resilience Hub, as co-lead. They are joined by Dr Thomas Loh and Dr Wei Wang from RMIT's School of Engineering.
Nguyen said the project was not just about safety awareness, but providing practical, useable skills in for current and future safety risks.
"This partnership is ultimately about giving practising professionals the analytical and digital modelling skills to make defensible decisions on real projects, backed by testing data," she explained.
Thangarajah, who led RMIT's successful Round 2 SSP on Digital Technologies for National Security, said RMIT's continued success with SSP proposals shows that the co-design model delivered tangible workforce results.
"Winning a second consecutive round through the Hub shows the model works," he said.
"This is exactly what the RMIT Security and Reslience Hub, and all our research hubs, are created for: to be a front door for industry and government, and a nexus where research, teaching and the real workforce coalesce to deliver practical solutions of national importance.
A skills gap created by the energy transition
The latest successful project is the third consecutive SSP round in which RMIT has been successful.
It follows a partnership with Cisco and Grampians Health to upskill healthcare sector, and a program to develop four new micro-credentials in high-demand fields, including Model-Based Systems Engineering, Digital Mission Engineering, Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy, and Cybersecurity. The latter program was also delivered through the RMIT Security and Resilience Hub.
The program addresses an issue caused by the rapid technological advances and mass adoption of batteries in the last decade.
Battery energy storage systems, rooftop solar and connected energy assets introduce fire hazards that conventional safety practice was not designed to address, including thermal runaway, toxic gas emissions and fire spread across interconnected assets.
Thangarajah said that workforce capability has not kept pace with the scale and speed of this rollout, with costly and even dangerous implications.
"The consequences are very practical: delays in fire safety design, assessment and approval slow housing delivery and infrastructure projects, while inadequate capability can lead to suboptimal designs, higher costs and increased risk in high-consequence environments," he explained.
"Australia's fire safety training market is fragmented and lacks a coordinated domestic pathway. Existing offerings are often not aligned with Australian regulation, focus heavily on theory, and are not designed for professionals already working in industry.
The project will deliver two stackable micro-credentials: Introduction to Emerging Fire Risks of Renewable Energy in the Built Environment, and Digital Tools for Fire Safety Design Involving Energy Systems. The training will be complemented by Australia-first fire testing and demonstrations delivered in partnership with CSIRO.
The initial target group is fire safety engineers and building surveyors. Following the pilot, the program is expected to expand to first responders, facility managers, trades and other related professionals, with RMIT intending to embed the micro-credentials within its Graduate Certificate and Master of Engineering programs and pursue recognition through Engineers Education Australia to support pathways to Chartered Engineer status.
More info: Round 3 announcement - DJSIR.
