Of course, the PMG's Dept/Telecom Australia went their own way.
Way back when,there were "5 year trained Techs",who went to the PMG Training School for part of their training,& into the field for the rest.
There were also people who came in from outside who passed the Technician's Exam--I was one of them.
Passing this exam put you at the same level as the 5 year people,so the next step up the ladder was the "Senior Tech's Exam".
Strangely enough,the external exams which the PMG operated ,such as the "Broadcast Operator's Certificate of Proficiency",which were
required in the Private Sector for jobs looking after Radio Transmitters were not accepted,or necessary within the Department.
The Tech/Senior Tech progression was extremely rigorous,& produced some extremely well trained people.
That was the situation when Telecom Aust was formed.
The Tech/Senior Techs believed that they were working at a level higher than the usual Tradesman in the Private Sector,& began agitating for "Sub-Professional status".
This came,with the Senior Techs becoming Tech Officers (TO1),the existing Techs having to pass a new,& even tougher TO's Exam to get further up the ladder.
The 5 year courses were replaced by a shorter course to the position of "Telecom Tradesman",& a new Diploma course to produce TO1s from scratch instituted.
The idea was Techs would eventually disappear,as they all upgraded.
It didn't work,however,with the Tradesmen wanting the "more prestigious" label of Technician,& not enough Techs passing the exam.
So they made the Tradesmen Techs,& introduced a "Bridging Training Scheme" so Techs could become TO1s.(I was one of these"retreads").
A few years later,they changed it all over again!!!--But by that time,I was working for the Seven Network.
In Broadcasting & TV the qualifications were pretty clearcut:-
The "Broadcast Operator's Certificate of Proficiency" (BOCP) allowed you to perform technical work in Broadcast Transmitters & Studios
The "Television Operator's Certificate of Proficiency" (TVOCP) allowed you to perform technical work in TV Transmitters & Studios.
The BOCP was a prerequisite for the TVOCP.
(The Chief Engineer of a station may or may not have had a degree!)
About that time,the licencing authority of the time passed off these qualifications to TAFE,who made an unholy mess of it!
Eventually both these requirements became redundant,with the individual station determining if the person could do the job.
There are many excellent Techs who never had the chance to pass these exams,but there are also some who are not so good!
Large organisations,such as Telecom,OTC,DOA,& the various broadcasting organisations were the backbone of Electronics training over the previous years,but the "suits" couldn't see much advantage in it,so it has been allowed to "die on the vine".
VK6ZGO