Rocky Bay

20th, May 2026

8 min read

Rocky Bay Certificate IV in Leadreship and Management

Industry Sector: Disability

Project: Certificate IV in Leadership and Management

Rocky Bay partnered with Future Institute of Australia to design, deliver and assess the nationally recognised Certificate IV in Leadership and Management for frontline leaders.

Over the past two years, Future Institute has delivered the qualification to two cohorts, supporting 15 Rocky Bay frontline leaders through each program. In 2026, the partnership continues with a third cohort.

Each cohort runs over 12 months and is delivered through four learning blocks. Each learning block covers three units of the nationally accredited course and is delivered through a two-day workshop with John Scotland, a senior facilitator with Future Institute.

The Need

Rocky Bay wanted to strengthen leadership capability across the organisation in a way that would benefit both their teams and their customers.

The Certificate IV has become an important part of Rocky Bay’s leadership development pathway. After completing Rocky Bay’s in-house Emerging Leaders Program, leaders can be nominated for the Certificate IV with Future Institute. Following completion, they can also progress to the Diploma of Leadership in Disability, which is being designed and delivered in-house by the Rocky Bay Training team.

For Rocky Bay, the program is not only about building the skills and capability of frontline leaders. It also supports staff retention and succession planning, helping create a clear learning progression for leaders across the organisation.

Why Rocky Bay Chose Future Institute

Rocky Bay wanted to work with an established registered training organisation that understood its organisation, its people and the disability industry.

It was important that the course was engaging, contextualised to Rocky Bay, and supported by measurable outcomes. Future Institute’s approach has delivered on each of these priorities.

Rocky Bay particularly valued:

Having one knowledgeable and experienced facilitator, John Scotland, across each cohort, bringing consistency and continuity to the program.
Future Institute’s efficient design team, who worked closely with Rocky Bay Training to ensure each unit and assessment was contextualised to the organisation.
The use of pre- and post-participant surveys, along with manager feedback, to strengthen program delivery and help demonstrate return on investment.
Clear and informative reporting after each learning block, giving the Rocky Bay Learning team practical updates they could use to support participants who may be struggling with assessments.

The Training Delivered

Future Institute worked closely with Rocky Bay Training to ensure the Certificate IV was not a generic leadership program, but one that was relevant to Rocky Bay employees and their work.

Each unit was specifically designed and contextualised so the assessment pieces were meaningful for participants. The 12-month structure gives leaders time to build their knowledge, apply their learning and receive support across the program.

The course is delivered through four learning blocks, with each block covering three accredited units and delivered through a two-day workshop.

Outcomes and Impact

Feedback from the first two cohorts has shown that participants have found the program practical, relevant and valuable in their leadership roles.

Participants shared that the program helped validate what they already knew, while also giving them additional strategies to use when leading their teams. This included practical approaches for holding performance conversations, managing change and building business acumen.

Participants also valued having John Scotland as the facilitator throughout the whole course. His knowledge, consistency and lived experience were highlighted as strengths of the program.

While the accredited assessments were recognised as significant, participants also appreciated the support available to them. John provided guidance during the course, including working through some assessments in class, while Rocky Bay’s in-house trainer, Tracey, ran assessment support sessions after each learning block to help participants stay on track.

Client Testimonial

For Rocky Bay, the experience of working with Future Institute has been straightforward, supportive and highly valued.

Tracey Russon described the partnership simply as:

“It’s just easy!!!!”

She explained that each Future Institute team member has a clear role, whether in administration and reporting, assessment design, costing or invoicing. As the program coordinator, Tracey always knows who to contact for each part of the program.

She also highlighted Future Institute’s proactive communication, ongoing contact, quick responses to queries and easy-to-understand reporting. The reporting has provided tangible results that Rocky Bay can present to its executive team.

“Their communication is proactive, they are in constant contact, the reporting is easy to understand and provides tangible results that we can present to exec, and I have been impressed with their quick responses to any queries. I would highly recommend them as an external training partner.”

Tracey Russon, Rocky Bay