The Client and Student Voice Action Group is to develop recommendations on the following two client related issues:
1. National Client Advisory Mechanisms
- the best mechanisms to support ongoing high level advice on the needs of all learners, particularly people with a disability and Indigenous Australians.
2. National Priorities, Strategies and Performance Measures
- develop national priorities for improving outcomes for Indigenous Australians and people with a disability, drawn from the revised Blueprints, Partners in a Learning Culture and Bridging Pathways for the multilateral and bilateral funding agreements for the new national training system;
- develop strategies to address each of these priorities; and
- develop performance measures for the Multilateral and Bilateral funding agreements.
Activities of the Client and Student Voice Action Group will include:
National Client Advisory Mechanisms
- investigation of advisory models used by other sectors in Australia;
- consideration of a range of mechanisms for engaging with clients including representative committees, roundtables, forums, focus groups and surveys;
- consultation with key stakeholders at a national and State and Territory level about the range of advisory mechanisms;
- preparation of a report outlining detailed proposals for new client advisory arrangements, including any financial requirements; and
- overseeing the establishment of the new proposed arrangements once they have been agreed by Ministers, ensuring that they are in place by the end of June 2006.
National Priorities, Strategies and Performance Measures
- development of a framework, drawn from revised Blueprints, that identifies priorities, strategies and key performance measures that can be included in the bilateral and multilateral funding agreements.
General
- preparation of a work and finance plan for the Action Group to be approved out-of-session by the National Senior Officials Committee; and
- development of a strategy to communicate with stakeholders about the Action Group’s activities including arrangements to distribute the final report findings, following approval of the report by Ministers.
National Client Advisory Mechanisms
- In developing national client advisory mechanisms, it is recognised that one model may not meet the needs of all client groups. For this reason, it is proposed the Action Group split into the following three sub-groups to develop appropriate client advisory models:
- Indigenous clients;
- People with a disability; and
- All other client groups.
- The three sub-groups will consult with the State representatives not already represented on the Action Group and can, as appropriate, draw on the expertise of others through the formation of reference groups. These groups could include:
- Representatives from relevant previous client advisory committees;
- Representatives from DEST and other relevant Commonwealth Departments.
- Australian Indigenous Training Advisory Council (AITAC) and Australian Disability Training Advisory Council (ADTAC) have both prepared papers outlining their preferred client voice model and these should be taken into consideration when developing new client advisory arrangements.
National Priorities, Strategies and Performance Measures
- In developing advice on national priorities, strategies and performance measures, the Action Group will operate as a whole.
General
- The Action Group/sub Groups should consult appropriately in order to achieve the purposes as set out above.
- Stakeholders should be kept informed of the Action Group’s progress.
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The Action Group will be established for a maximum of 9 months. It is proposed that the three sub-groups be established in November 2005.
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Funding for the operations of the Action Group will be provided from National Project/Strategic National Initiatives funds up to a maximum of $50,000.
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All Government representatives on the Action Group will meet the costs associated with the membership of the Action Group (including travel and accommodation). Industry and client group representatives will be assisted, where necessary, with the costs of attending meetings.
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The Secretariat function will be provided by the State or Territory chairing the Action Group.
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The Chair of the Action Group will be responsible for approving all Action Group costs in line with the approved finance plan.
- The Action Group will report against the approved work plan to the National Senior Officials Committee.
- Proposed key milestones are as follows:
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WORK REQUIREMENT |
DUE DATE |
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A work and finance plan for the Action Group and a set of recommendations for establishing the sub-groups |
November 2005 |
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A report outlining
- Detailed models on future advisory arrangements for all client groups, including financial requirements.
- Advice on national priorities, strategies and performance measures for the multilateral and bilateral funding agreements.
- A communications strategy for all relevant stakeholders
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Next MINCO meeting/ or out of session |
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New client advisory arrangements in place |
June 2006 |
Given its focus, an appropriate, balanced membership for the Client and Student Voice Action Group will necessarily include broad representation from a range of client groups and, thus, may be a larger sized group compared with future Action Groups. In addition, a larger group would facilitate the Action Group splitting into a number of sub-groups. The Action Group will be comprised of around 10 people from the sectors listed below:
- Chair: Mr Brian Cunningham, Chief Executive, Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology, South Australia.
- 3 State and Territory representatives;
- Commonwealth representative;
- 3 Industry representatives;
- Indigenous representative;
- Disability representative; and
- Other client group representatives (eg Youth, Women, Mature Age, Non-English Speaking Background (NESB)).
Membership selection process:
- In future, industry representation on Action Groups would be sought from the National Industry Skills Committee (NISC). As this Committee has not yet been set up, it is proposed the Industry representatives be selected by the Action Group Chair following receipt of nominations from ACCI, AiG, BCA, NFF, and the ACTU.
- The Indigenous representative would be nominated by former AITAC members.
- The Disability representative would be nominated by former ADTAC members.
- The other client group representatives would be selected by the Action Group Chair following receipt of nominations from appropriate organisations. In the case of the mature age and youth client groups, nominations would be sought from Adult Learning Australia and the National Youth Roundtable. State and Territories are invited to identify appropriate organisations with interests in the women and NESB client groups who could be approached for nominations.
Consideration was given to including Training Provider/Industry Skills Council (ISC) representation on the Action Group. However, due to the number of client group representatives on this Action Group, the inclusion of Training Provider/ISC representatives could make the size of the Action Group difficult to manage and reduce its capacity to deliver results quickly. As a compromise, it is proposed the Action Group consult with relevant bodies such as ACPET, TDA, GTA and the ISCs.