Horatio, if ATO attendance to CASA briefings is mandatory, that is an encouraging step in the right direction, but it falls short of a standardised training program to gain the qualification in the first place.
I accept that there could be some 'grand fathering' for old crusties (like me; pick me, pick me....) but for my continued education, are industry ATOs tested to a common syllabus for their own flying and general knowledge skills, then tested routinely by an FOI observing them assessing a real candidate, or is it done only once in the ATO's career with a suitably-competent candidate acting as 'meat in the seat'?
At one stage it was mooted that all ATO renewals had to be done with a CASA FOI in attendance, if not actually conducting. Is this so, and how standardised are those FOIs in the way they administer the tests?