MEM Manufacturing and Engineering training package communique

16 December 2019

The Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) approved the Manufacturing and Engineering (MEM) training package (Release 2.0) (the training package) for implementation in April 2019. The training package was released on training.gov.au on 26 June 2019.

Concerns were subsequently raised about the implementation of units with workplace hours requirements in the assessment conditions.

To address the concerns, and ensure a smooth transition for industry and employers to the new requirements, the MEM Industry Reference Committee (IRC) has undertaken to prepare a range of support materials, including an updated Companion Volume and Essential Features Guide, and information and tools to clarify the intent and operation of the workplace hours requirements. The updated Companion Volume and Essential Features Guide are expected early in the new year.

To support these arrangements, ASQA has extended the transition period to 31 December 2020 for ten MEM05 qualifications that are affected by the inclusion of workplace hours requirements. Please note learners can continue to be enrolled in the superseded qualifications until the end of the transition period. The transition extension notice is available on ASQA’s website:  https://www.asqa.gov.au/news-publications/news/asqa-approves-extended-transition-period-10-mem05-qualifications-until-31.

For further information regarding the training package, please contact Innovation and Business Skills Australia Manufacturing on (03) 9815 7099 or via email at manufacturing@ibsa.org.au
 

Have your say! Help improve the delivery of careers information in Australia

13 December 2019

Presently, online information about career opportunities and pathways in Australia is provided across a myriad of websites published by a range of organisations such as governments, industry associations and bodies, businesses, education providers and training providers.

People searching for career pathways, employment outcomes, qualifications or salary guides, may gain varied results across these sites, and therefore find it difficult to find the information they need.

The National Careers Institute (the Institute) was established on 1 July 2019 to assist people to find accurate and authoritative careers information and advice on learning, training and work pathways.

One of the Institute’s key projects to achieve this goal is the design and development of a careers focused digital platform to deliver relevant, up to date careers information and empower people to make better career choices.

The Institute has commenced co-designing the digital platform by undertaking targeted research with career advisors, influencers, employers and career seekers – and welcomes your feedback.

To participate, please complete the ‘Career Journey Survey’ on the Institute's e-Hub.

2019 Australian Training Awards Winners Announced! 

22 November 2019

Nearly 800 people gathered in Brisbane at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre to celebrate the 2019 Australian Training Awards finalists and winners. 

The evening brought together the nation’s best in the vocational education and training (VET) sector. The 77 finalists comprising of apprentices, trainees, VET students, teachers, practitioners, employers and training providers were rewarded and recognised for demonstrating excellence in VET. 

Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, presented the the Lifetime Achievement Award to recipient Wayne Collyer. Wayne was celebrated for his contribution to VET through the education of thousands of students and his long membership of the TAFE Directors Australia Board. The evening concluded with the final award won by Rory Milner from the Northern Territory, the Australian Apprentice of the Year. 

The master of ceremonies was Amanda Blair, journalist, Co-Chair of the South Australian Premiers Council for Women and passionate charity worker.  

The Awards demonstrate how a vocational pathway leads to real skills for real careers and how important VET is for industry and students to prepare for the jobs of today, and the increasingly complex and globalised future of work. 

All finalists, winners and runners up are invited to become Australian VET Alumni – a national community of VET graduates, registered training organisations, VET practitioners and businesses dedicated to sharing their VET journey with Australians to encourage greater participation and best practice in VET.

Profiles of all finalists are available on the 2019 Winners and Finalists page. 

AVETRA 2020 conference

19 November 2019

The Australasian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) is holding its 23rd annual conference on April 23rd-24th in Melbourne. The theme is ‘20/20 vision for VET: Research at the centre of future policy and practice’.

Returning to its usual April time of year, the conference has already secured leading overseas and Australian keynote speakers:

• Professor Stephanie Allais, Research Chair of Skills Development, University of the Witwatersrand and Special Advisor to the Minister of Higher Education and Training: TVET in developing countries: Constraints and possibilities
• Professor Rod McDonald, Principal, Ithaca Group, former Special Advisor to Australian National Training Authority; author of seminal report on VET research: No Small Change: Research at the centre of policy and practice - is it too much to expect?
• Professor Ann-Marie Bathmaker, Professor of Vocational and Higher Education, University of Birmingham: Leadership dilemmas & incompatible goals? Pursuing access, social inclusion, social mobility & employability in public further education

There will also be two panels of experts: One on VET and careers; and one on VET policy.

If you would like to present a paper on your recent research, please submit a 250-300 word abstract by December 5th 2019, to AVETRA2020@federation.edu.au. Full information on the conference and on submitting abstracts can be found at https://www.avetra.org.au/pages/avetra-annual-conference.html. Registration will open by the end of November.

National Careers Institute e-Hub and National Careers Ambassador, Scott Cam

14 October 2019

Business owner, former apprentice and television presenter Scott Cam has been named the National Careers Ambassador.

As National Careers Ambassador, Scott will help promote the importance of career information, both when starting out and at key transition points throughout a career.

Scott will also help the National Careers Institute promote the variety of career pathways available, including vocational education and training (VET), something he’s well placed to do as a VET graduate.

Scott was appointed by the National Careers Institute, a new national organisation tasked with helping Australians make career decisions by strengthening and simplifying the careers information available to them.

The National Careers Institute is part of the Government’s $525 million skills package Delivering Skills for Today and Tomorrow to improve the VET system.

The Institute will work with industry, governments, employers, schools and tertiary providers to better connect information about learning, training and work pathways.

The National Careers Institute is co-designing its role, priorities and projects through a range of interactions - including an online Engagement Hub (e-Hub).

Engage and have your say about the work of the Institute at nci.employment.gov.au

2018 student outcomes data now available for RTOs

14 May 2019

NCVER's National Student Outcomes Survey is sent to VET graduates and subject completers who completed their training in the previous year. The results of the 2018 survey were released in December.

Where enough responses were received to provide accurate results, eligible RTOs can now access free individual reports of employment outcomes, training satisfaction, perceived benefits and relevance of training as reported by their students (alongside state/territory and national results for comparison).

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for a report, your RTO must have 100 or more domestic graduates and/or 860 or more domestic subject completers during 2017, and enough survey responses to provide accurate results.

How to access your report

The reports are available free of charge from NCVER.  Please complete the RTO report form to nominate a representative from your RTO to access the secure portal.

2019 National Student Outcomes Survey

The 2019 National Student Outcomes Survey opens on Friday 31 May for students who completed a training qualification or subject during 2018.
From late December, eligible RTOs will again be able to access data as reported by their students.
Take advantage of NCVER’s free kit to help you promote the survey to former students.

2019-20 Budget announcement - Skills package

The 2019-20 Budget announced on 2 April 2019 provides dedicated funding of $525.3 million for the Skills Package, Delivering Skills for Today and Tomorrow. The Skills Package will ensure that the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system can deliver the skills critical to the economy now and into the future. This package will also work to create stronger pathways for school students into quality training and apprenticeships and into jobs in areas of skills shortage.

For more information on the 2019-20 Budget and the Skills Package visit the Department of Education and Training website.

Update to questions and answers for trainer and assessor credential requirements

19 March 2019

Recent updates have been made to the department’s questions and answers to clarify the trainer and assessor credential requirements under the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015. These changes specifically address the requirements for individuals working under the supervision of a trainer. Further information is available on the Australian Government Department of Education and Training’s website at www.education.gov.au/trainer-and-assessor-credential-requirements.

Background

The Training and Education Training Package was updated in April 2016. The core units of the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment were updated to include the ‘Design and develop assessment tools’ and ‘Address adult language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) skills’ units of competency. The core units of the Assessor Skill Set were updated to include the ‘Design and develop assessment tools’ unit of competency.

To ensure the VET workforce has appropriate skills in designing and developing assessment tools and identifying and evaluating LLN requirements, Skills Ministers agreed to update the training and assessment credential requirements in line with the changes to the TAE Training Package. The changes are outlined in the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015.

The VET Workforce Survey – sizing up the sector

27 February 2019

The first survey of Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) workforce will launch in March 2019.

This Australia-wide survey will provide a more accurate picture of those working in registered training organisations, which will help with future planning and to better support the VET workforce.

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) and Ipsos are conducting the survey on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Education and Training.

The survey will collect information from RTOs on:

• the number of staff they employ
• employee roles, employment status, and any relevant qualifications
• training delivery methods and locations.

RTOs will soon be invited to complete the survey, so keep an eye on your email for your invitation!

Only one person per RTO is required to complete the survey and it should only take around 10 minutes. It is best answered by someone with detailed knowledge of staff within your organisation.

NCVER will publish data from the survey in July 2019.

The survey is supported by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) and the Western Australian Training Accreditation Council (TAC).

For more information, visit the NCVER Portal.

Procurement of assessment services from Australian Registered Training Organisations (RTOs)

This is a pre-release notice only.

The Department of Education and Training anticipates it will release an RFT for the procurement of assessment services from Australian Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) in quarter 2 of the 2018/19 financial year. The RFT will be available on AusTender.

The procurement will be for the following Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) programs:

• Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) Program
• Offshore Skills Assessment Program (OSAP)
• Trades Recognition Service (TRS).

For more information, including the full Planned Procurement Notice, please go to AusTender www.tenders.gov.au.

Change to the level of information publicly available on VET accredited courses

On 12 July 2018, the Australian Government amended the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Regulations 2011. This amendment requires the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) to publish certain information about VET accredited courses including:

• the titles and codes of units of competency or modules comprising a VET accredited course for current accredited courses and expired courses with training delivery reported through the Total VET Activity collections since 2015;
• a description of the course for those courses newly accredited or reaccredited from now; and
• a reference to an earlier (previous) or later version of a course that is accredited on or after 1 September 2018.

This additional information will be entered on to the National Register over the coming months. As a result, course owners and registered training organisations (RTOs) with an accredited course on their scope of registration are likely to receive notifications that there has been a change to their course when the regulators enter this additional information. This change however will not be referring to a change to the course, but rather a change to the information available on the course.

Ensuring these additional matters are entered on the National Register increases the transparency of accredited course information and enables Unique Student Identifier (USI) transcripts to include information on units of competency/modules. Once the information has been published on the National Register, it will be used to improve the information available on the My Skills website (www.myskills.gov.au), which will enable prospective students and employers to better understand course content and suitability.

For further information on this measure, please visit the recently updated FAQs on ASQA’s website at www.asqa.gov.au/faqs.

While this amendment only requires ASQA to publish this additional information on the National Register, the Training Accreditation Council of Western Australia will also be entering this information for courses that it has accredited to ensure that the level of information available on accredited courses is nationally consistent. For further details, please visit the Council’s website at http://www.tac.wa.gov.au/Pages/Accredited-Course-Transparency.aspx.

In addition to codes and titles of units of competency, the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) will publish a brief description and links to a previous version of each VRQA-accredited course when applicable.

This is to ensure that the information available about these courses is nationally consistent. For more details, see the information on the VRQA website