The move by training and educational institutions in Australia toward the use of multimedia to facilitate effective and cost effective training and professional development has grown at a substantial pace. This paper focuses on the impact of multimedia on the areas of training and professional development. Benefits of the technology are described, including: cost and time savings; high student-teacher/trainee interaction; immediate feedback; consistent presentation; improved management of the learning process; content change management; flexible delivery; safe simulation environments; privacy; and increased instructional availability. Additional discussion includes professional development and training on the World Wide Web; differences between education and industry based training; the multimedia development process (job analysis, training needs analysis, instructional materials development, assessment, and evaluation); and criteria for evaluating computer assisted learning packages. (AEF)