Training Talk - September 2002 - Issue 3

The third VETnetwork Australia National Conference will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from Wednesday 23 October to Friday 25 October 2002. It is the only national conference focusing specifically on VET in schools issues and is held only once every two years.

The theme for the conference is Enterprising People and Partnerships: vocational education and careers for a changing world. The purpose of the conference is to inform and inspire a critical mass of people within the vocational education environment to embrace change, explore innovation, achieve success and celebrate enterprise.

The conference is relevant to all professionals working with VET in schools including, VET Coordinators and teachers, school administrators, teacher educators, workplace coordinators, government departments, registered training organisations, VET researchers, career educators, group training companies, employer groups and VET/post compulsory organisations.

Conference highlights include keynote speakers, case studies of successful partnerships, ‘Spotlight on Success’ panel presentation, industry visits, a trade display, youth participation and networking opportunities. There are also planned sessions where practitioners will be sharing their knowledge on various aspects surrounding VET in schools.

Social events include a welcome reception at sunset, conference dinner “A Night in the Tropics”, and a Harley Ride and Champagne Breakfast.

The inaugural VETnetwork Australia Excellence Awards, celebrating the “quiet achievers” working with VET in schools, will be presented at the conference dinner. Each state and territory will be represented at these awards with each finalist’s attendance being sponsored by DEST.

Keynote speakers are: Margot Cairnes, international author and speaker: Steve Balzary from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and Associate Professor Wendy Patton from the Queensland University of Technology.

The conference will feature a number of concurrent sessions on issues such as:

• Leading Young People into the 21st Century
• National Evaluation of School-based New Apprenticeships
• Vocational Learning, Features of Effective VET in Schools Curriculum
• Selling VET to Secondary Students
• Quality Teacher Program in Vocational Learning

Major conference sponsors are the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), the Enterprise and Career Education Foundation (ECEF), Education Queensland, the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), Interactive Business Solutions and the Queensland Department of Employment and Training.

Already, over 450 registrations have been received and phone enquiries are still flowing into the national office and conference secretariat. Places are filling up quickly – those delegates intending to register should do so now to avoid disappointment.

For further information, conference brochure and registration form, contact Sandra Kenman on tel (07) 3366 0111, email kenman@edserve.com.au or visit the website http://www.vetnetwork.org.au/ .

Further information on VETNETwork Australia can be obtained from Julie Samuels Green on 6241 4777 or email vetnetwork@bigpond.com.

For further details on DEST’s involvement in the conference contact Ian Laughton-Smith on 39214 or email ian.laughton-smith@dest.gov.au.

On 26 August 2002 DEST released an Overview Paper outlining its proposed arrangements for the next New Apprenticeships Support Services Contract due to commence on 1 July 2003.

The Department sought comments by 13 September 2002 on the proposals outlined in the Overview Paper from potential tenderers, including current New Apprenticeships Centres, and other interested parties prior to finalising arrangements for the next contract period.

The Overview Paper is available at www.newapprenticeships.gov.au/nass3/index.asp .

A number of comments and submissions providing feedback on the proposals outlined in the Overview Paper have now been received by DEST.  Although the Department cannot guarantee that comments received after this date will be considered, interested parties still seeking to provide further comments or questions regarding the Overview Paper can e-mail them to:  NACTender@dest.gov.au

Or alternatively send to:

Branch Manager
New Apprenticeships Branch
Location Code 733
Department of Education, Science and Training
GPO Box 9880
Canberra ACT 2601

Prospective tenderers are encouraged to visit the New Apprenticeships website on a regular basis to obtain up to date information regarding the tender process.

Note: The Overview Paper is in respect of New Apprenticeships Support Services in all parts of Australia except the Northern Territory. The Commonwealth currently has a joint contract with the Northern Territory Government for the delivery of New Apprenticeships Support Services and both parties intend to continue with similar arrangements. While this Overview Paper is relevant to the Commonwealth’s views regarding the delivery of services in the Northern Territory, the details of those arrangements will be subject to further negotiation with the Northern Territory Government.

Want to know about over 400 different occupations- what the general rate of pay is? what the chances are of getting a job? what education is needed for a particular job? where the jobs are? how to find the training needed to do the job?, then look no further than; - http://www.jobsearch.gov.au/   – check out Careers and Training on the top black navigation bar.

Australian Careers- Job Outlook: gives information on occupational trends, characteristics and prospects for around 400 occupations. This site will help you find out about job prospects for an occupation, where to get the training for that occupation and finally it takes you to all the current vacancies for that occupation. You can also find out the Educational Profile for an occupation. There are graphs on key indicators (includes recent and prospective employment growth), job turnover, vacancy levels, employment size and unemployment rates all on an easy to read table. There is also a print friendly two page summary for each occupation.

CareerQuiz is another feature of Careers. A fast online preference indicator, which helps you to select career interest areas and then provides links to relevant occupations listed in Job Outlook.

We also have a link to New Apprenticeships. Find your New Apprenticeships vacancies by entering the 'location/postcode' and/or 'occupation title'.

Want to find out what training a bar attendant needs or to how to become an IT consultant? Click on Training and select the occupation you are interested in and see what courses are available. You get comprehensive information on accredited education and training courses and providers, for localities across Australia. You are able to search for education and training courses– by location, provider, courses and keyword. There are also links between higher education and VET courses and occupations.

Australian JobSearch, which is part of the portal site WorkPlace (http://www.workplace.gov.au/ ), is provided free of charge by the Commonwealth Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

myfuture.edu.au

Launched nationally by the Commonwealth Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson on 22 July 2002, myfuture has been promoted extensively throughout the Commonwealth, States and Territories. At a local launch at the Alice Springs Futures Expo from 24-26 August, it received the attention of the Prime Minister John Howard who was there to open the Youth Muster.

myfuture.edu.au is for all Australians exploring their career options, especially students in the 16 to 24 year age group. Individuals are able to explore their skills and interests, identify their career ideas, develop their career plan and research options for further study or training. They can access information on occupations, industries, small business, courses, training providers, financial support and much more.

myfuture.edu.au is for all Australians exploring their career options, especially students in the 16 to 24 year age group. Individuals are able to explore their skills and interests, identify their career ideas, develop their career plan and research options for further study or training. They can access information on occupations, industries, small business, courses, training providers, financial support and much more.

The Prime Minister, John Howard, with students at the myfuture stall at the Futures Expo in Alice Springs, held 24-26 August 2002.

The Prime Minister, John Howard, with students at the myfuture stall at the Futures Expo in Alice Springs, held 24-26 August 2002.

The Facts section provides comprehensive career information and statistics about occupations, education and training options, industries, regional labour markets and income data, employment conditions, sources of support and financial assistance for study as well as numerous articles on career related subjects.

My Guide section provides an individualised career exploration tool that assists users with career decision-making. It helps users to identify their interests and capabilities, to match these with potential occupations and to plan how to achieve their career goals. Users are able to identify their age and/or stage of life and have appropriate options presented for consideration.

Assist Others section helps parents, guardians, influencers (such as youth workers, coaches and cultural and religious leaders), careers advisors and teachers with providing support and guidance for those individuals making career decisions.

myfuture is a joint initiative of Commonwealth, State and Territory governments.

The web address of myfuture is http://www.myfuture.edu.au/   – check it out now!

Since 1996 ANTA has provided $2 million each year to the Commonwealth Department of Education Science and Training (DEST) for the Adult Literacy National Project. Funds are allocated:

• to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) for adult literacy research;
• to the Reading Writing Hotline that provides information to callers on literacy courses in their area;
• to Australian Council of Adult Literacy (ACAL) for the delivery of forums on relevant topics and also for the production of Literacy Link, and;
• around $750,000 of these funds is allocated to innovative adult literacy projects. Grants of up to $50,000 are made for each of these projects.

In the following stories Training Talk looks at some of the current range of innovative adult literacy projects now underway around the country. Most of these began in mid 2001 and have either just been concluded or are due for completion in the next few months.

Go to Making a Difference for more information.

For project reports, and further information about adult literacy programs, contact
Catherine Gyngell at DEST on 02 6240 9406 email: Catherine.Gyngell@dest.gov.au or Louise Wignall at ANTA on 03 9630 9857 email: wignalll@anta.gov.au.

On 4 September 2002, children and traditional elders danced to celebrate the graduation of 184 locals in the town of Nguiu on Bathurst Island. They were presented with certificates for the training they completed with the Tiwi Islands Training and Employment Board (TITEB). Very successful outcomes were achieved in the Community Services sector (health, education, aged care and child care) as well as in the Civil Operations area including mechanical maintenance.

One particular field of interest was the ‘Regional Area Local Government’ with about 30 people being trained in this area.

Certificates were also presented in a wide range of fields including bakery, carpentry, horticulture, forestry, fish farming, electrical and essential services, automotive and construction, first aid, water rescue and tourism.

Norm Buchan, from TITEB, explained that the aim of the courses is to develop a pool of skills that will enable the graduates to take over positions on the islands that have traditionally gone to non-indigenous people. The graduation represents a great investment in the community with all but two of the graduates doing their training on the islands.

Almost 500 people from the local community attended the ceremony which included a special “congratulations” song performed by the Tiwi women’s choir.

On Friday 16 August 2002, the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson, Minister for Education, Science and Training, announced the winners of the Minister’s Awards for Excellence – Rural and Regional Employers of New Apprentices in Albury, NSW.

The sixteen winners were selected from over 200 nominations because of their best practice approaches to implementing New Apprenticeships. Entries came from all sorts of businesses - from a nursing home to a mining company – reflecting the diversity of occupations and industries that now offer New Apprenticeships. One thing they all had in common,
though, was that they impressed the selection panels with the quality of training and support they provided their New Apprentices, often overcoming considerable difficulties in order to do so.

Each winner received a $5,000 cash prize and a hand-crafted award.

There are case studies of the winners on the New Apprenticeships website (http://www.newapprenticeships.gov.au/ ). A selection of images from the presentation is also available on the website.

For further inquires please contact Catherine Hope on (02) 6240 8461 or catherine.hope@dest.gov.au.

3 February 2003

Approving Authorities - ANTA - Careers Directory - EdNA - ECEF - Go Career - Green Corps
JPET - JPP - Literacy Net - Minister - NAAP - New Apprenticeships - NISI 
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This page was last updated on: Monday, 09 February 2004
Department of Education, Science and Training.