2009 BIG Skills Conference – register now

The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations will host a conference on 2-5 March 2009 which will address the best way to meet future skills needs in a globally competitive world.

The BIG Skills Conference is the first major conference on skills and training hosted at the Federal level in recent times, and it has the support of many organisations and individuals involved in tertiary education and training. It is timely to reinvigorate further education and identify how skills and training can help address the big challenges of productivity, participation and social inclusion.

The conference will be forward looking and it will bring together major national and international players to debate issues, think differently and stimulate change in the Australian tertiary sector.

The conference aims to:

• Challenge conventional wisdom and get people to think differently about skills for the future in Australia and the region;
• Compare what works and what needs to be improved by sharing good national and international practice, and learning from experience and evaluation;
• Link national and international research and policy to help inform future decision making;
• Enable national and international networking to increase connections and collaborations on skills training; and
• Provide opportunities for professional development and learning.

• New thinking about learning, skills and work
• Strengthening the tertiary sector
• Partnerships between industry/employers, providers, community and government
• Workforce development including skilling and re-training adults already in the workforce
• Training in green skills
• Workforce participation and social inclusion
• International engagement in vocational education and training
• Learning and development for training and education professionals and practitioners

• People from industry and business – company executives, industry association personnel, professional associates, members of industry skills councils and advisory boards, employers, unionists, enterprise trainers, human resource specialists;
• Tertiary sector professionals and practitioners – group training specialists, public and private training providers from vocational education and training institutions and universities; senior executives, managers, planners, human resource staff from these institutions; teachers, trainers and lecturers;
• Leading researchers and consultants;
• People from governments (local, state, federal);
• Employment Service providers;
• Community representatives - community leaders, students.

Australian Apprenticeships Roundtable

The Australian Apprenticeships Roundtable members invite VET Stakeholders to a presentation of issues affecting them as clients of the National Training System on Thursday, 20 November 2008 at the Brolga Room, Novotel Hotel, 100 The Esplanade Darwin, NT.  Refreshments will be served at 2.00pm followed by their presentation, questions and discussion time.
If you would like to attend please contact Mary Gilmore Mary.Gilmore@deewr.gov.au (Numbers are limited and bookings are essential).

AVETRA Annual Conference

The 12th annual conference of the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) will be in Sydney on 16 and 17 April 2009, with pre-conference workshops and a welcome reception the afternoon and evening before.
If you would like to present a paper at the conference we would like to invite you to submit an abstract by 28 November 2008.  Full details can be found on the AVETRA web site at http://www.avetra.org.au/annual_conference/index.shtml

Conference showcases e-learning for industry

A one day conference will demonstrate to interested industry sectors the benefits they can achieve by incorporating e-learning into workforce development plans.

To be held on Wednesday 26 November 2008 in Sydney, the 2008 Industry e-learning forum will showcase the experiences of six industry sectors where e-learning is making a positive impact on staff training and development.

The conference will canvass how partnerships between registered training organisations and industry enable innovative solutions, and will include presentations by Skills Australia as well as the National Industry Skills Council on its Workforce Development Starter tool.

The forum is an initiative of the national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework.

Businesses and industry sectors interested in the 2008 Industry e-learning forum can register at: http://flexiblelearning.net.au/industry. Unfortunately, spaces for this event are limited and will be restricted to one participant per business.

Do you look forward to your fortnightly edition of Fast Facts? Why not refer a friend?

If you know anyone who would like to be kept informed of what’s happening in the VET Sector, send them a copy of this newsletter for their information.  To subscribe, please see easy to follow instructions below.

1. Go to www.deewr.gov.au/dss/ - please read the instructions then press the 'Continue' button

2. Enter your email address in the email form field then press the 'Continue' button

3. A confirmation email will be sent to the email address you entered

4. Click the link in the email to activate your account.  A list of departmental newsletters will be displayed

5. Select FAST FACTS (and any other newsletter(s) of interest to you)

6. Click the 'Save changes' button at the bottom of the page

7. Your details will be added to the database and you will regularly receive Australian Training Fast Facts and any other new newsletter(s) you have selected.

For more information visit www.deewr.gov.au/dss/