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Award winners with Dr Brendan Nelson |
Sixteen rural and regional employers from around Australia have been celebrated for their role in using New Apprenticeships to provide quality training in their local communities.
Presented with their awards by the Minister, Dr Brendan Nelson in Coffs Harbour on the New South Wales north coast on 17 November, each winning employer received $5,000, a certificate and specially designed trophy. |
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Djerringal Gaykamangu (Traditional Credit Union) with Dr Brendan Nelson |
The 2003 Minister’s Awards for Excellence – Rural and Regional Employers of New Apprentices recognised winners from a diverse range of industries including traditional trades such as automotive, electrical, plumbing and carpentry. The awards are now in their third year.
Over one third (about 156,000) of all New Apprenticeships are in regional and rural areas. The winning employers all benefited from the flexibility that New Apprenticeships offer in overcoming the challenges to training in rural and regional Australia, such as lower school retention rates, the drift of young people to cities, remote locations and limited access to training facilities. |
For more information on the awards go to the
New Apprenticeships Media Page 
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Johnathon Kemble
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No butchers, bakers, or candlestickmakers, but Australia’s newest training stars do include a female electrician, a male nurse, a designer jeweller, a chef, and a luxury boat exporter, following the 2003 Australian Training Awards. The Awards were presented on Friday 21 November at a gala dinner at the Conrad Jupiters Hotel on Queensland's Gold Coast.
A huge range of individuals and organisations, including retail giant Woolworths Ltd, employer of 6000 apprentices and trainees, were honoured at the gala awards ceremony on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
The Victorians took home the heaviest bag of trophies, with two individual and two organisational awards. |
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Mark Devery
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Adelaide chef Jonathan Kemble bypassed university to follow his heart into cookery and is now the New Apprenticeships Apprentice of the Year, and determined to become the best chef in Australia.
From Canberra, recreational trainer Mark Devery was named Australia’s newly-crowned New Apprenticeships Trainee of the Year. Mark had searched for the right career for years until he took up a traineeship with Outward Bound Australia. As soon as he completed his training, Outward Bound offered him a job and now, at 34, he’s doing something he enjoys, in the outdoor environment he loves. |
Minister Brendan Nelson with Vanessa Wood |
Melbourne electrician Vanessa Wood, who works for the Holden Engine Company, was named Vocational Student of the Year. Currently studying for an advanced diploma in mechatronics at Victoria University’s TAFE division, 24-year-old Vanessa, from the Melbourne suburb of Taylors Hill, impressed the judges with her extraordinary drive and patience and achievements in a non-traditional trade. |
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Corey Murray
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Koorie nursing graduate Corey Murray was named Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year. Corey, 30, from Shepparton in northern Victoria, completed his studies at the Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE and wants to encourage other Indigenous men to become nurses. The judges noted Corey’s role model potential with his resilience and determination in achieving his goals.
“Because I’ve finished the training a lot of young people around town are inspired to go back to school and have a go. If I can do it…. I think anyone can do it,” he says. |
Queensland enterprises took out both employer awards. Stephen Dibb Jewellery from Brisbane’s southside won the Prime Minister’s Small Business of the Year award and Australia’s largest pleasure boat builder The Riviera Group was named Large Employer of the Year.
Woolworths, Australia’s largest private employer, took out the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) Board Award.
The ANTA Board uses the award to recognise outstanding achievers outside the regular training award categories.
Woolworths employs around 145,000 people - 6,000 of them apprentices and trainees, and is a registered training organisation in its own right with partnerships with TAFE and other training providers.
The Board also made a special commendation - the first time such an award has been made - to the Northern Territory’s Traditional Credit Union, a not-for-profit organisation set up 10 years ago when major banks withdrew services for remote communities.
Other awardwinners were:
- Large Training Provider of the Year – Torrens Valley Institute of TAFE on Adelaide’s north-east
- Small Training Provider of the Year - the Kyabram Community and Learning Centre, a not-for-profit registered training organisation (RTO) in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley
- Australian Training Initiative Award for excellence and innovation - dual award for a partnership between RMIT University and the Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association that’s recognising and nurturing current and future Koorie leaders and a Brisbane City Council traineeship initiative for young people who’ve completed drug rehabilitation programs
Vocational Education in Schools Excellence Award - a partnership between local schools, hospitals, community organisations and a TAFE in South Australia’s Riverland
Hosted by the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), the Australian Training Awards recognise Australia’s best apprentices, trainees, students, and organisations, and acknowledge the contribution of vocational education, training, and skills development to Australian economy and society.
Retiring ANTA Board chairman Stuart Hornery said all of the winners and finalists deserved the nation’s support for their own achievements and for providing inspiring examples for others to follow.
Around 1000 of the country’s training decision-makers and achievers from industry and government attended the event, which is supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Education, Science and Training.
More information can be found on ANTA's Website
Torrens Valley TAFE has been recognised as one of Australia’s most outstanding vocational training providers, winning the prestigious National Large Training Provider of the Year award, at the 2003 Australian Training Awards held on Friday the 21 November.
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Nancye Stanelis - acting Director of Torrens Valley TAFE accepting the award at the gala dinner
Nancye Stanelis - acting Director of Torrens Valley TAFE |
Torrens Valley TAFE, winner of the SA Training Provider of the Year award in September 2003, successfully competed against other state winners from around Australia for the award. The judging panel’s assessment considered Torrens Valley TAFE’s outstanding achievements in all aspects of the delivery of vocational education and training.
“It is an honour to be given this acknowledgement. Considering there are over 4000 registered training providers in Australia, this award is a credit to our staff, industry associates and of course our students,” said Nancye Stanelis, acting Director of the institute.
Torrens Valley TAFE adds this to a growing collection of other state and national training awards and nominations gained over the years.
Nancye Stanelis attributes these accolades to Torrens Valley TAFE’s responsiveness. “We are constantly adapting courses in response to our students’ needs. For example, many of our students have busy lives, with work and family. We offer part time and external options, so that students can learn when and how it suits them. An increasing number of courses are now available online.”
Check out the full story on the Torrens Valley TAFE website |
On 19 November, Australia’s online career exploration service, myfuture.edu.au, was recognised in the 2003 Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in the Public Sector. The awards were presented in front of almost 400 guests at a dinner in the Federation Room at the Hyatt Hotel. The event was hosted by the Australian Public Service Commission and the Institute of Public Administration Australia (ACT Division).
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myfuture was one of five finalists from a field of over 30 nominees and was Highly Commended. The certificate was presented by Employment Minister Kevin Andrews, who is also Public Service Minister, and was accepted on behalf of DEST by Tony Greer (Group Manager, Indigenous and Transitions), Robyn Bergin (Director, Career Education Section, Transitions Branch) and Gerry White from education.au, the organisation that was engaged to design, build and enhance the website. |
myfuture is a world standard, interactive, online career exploration service and was launched in July 2002 after over four years of planning and behind the scenes work to turn a vision into reality. The service is freely available on the Internet and is designed for all Australians wishing to explore their career options. myfuture is assisting thousands of Australians who wish to explore their career options and develop their career plans using the best available occupational and labour market information. Since its launch the site has registered 45,557,649 hits, 9,287,691 page requests and the number of active users to the end of October 2003 was 91,825. For further information go to
http://www.myfuture.edu.au/
The Prime Minister’s Award recognises the hard work and dedication of all the people, within and beyond the Department, who have been involved in bringing myfuture into existence.
The needs of a growing numbers of disadvantaged learners are being increasingly recognised with a host of endorsed, state-of-the-art electronic learning support materials – but is industry listening?
Equity resources are designed to assist learners in areas where it has been identified that special initiatives are required to encourage access to training. Some of these areas include learners with disabilities and literary needs, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders, women, and rural or remote learners.
Yet while enthusiastic uptake of electronic and on-line resources has been evident by sales in key categories such as construction, community services and electrotechnology, the same could not be said for the equity arena according to Australian Training Products General Manager Robyn Francis.
“The message has to get out. Toolboxes are unique in their flexibility, as well as their innovative approach to fostering skills. They engage the learner in real life settings, encourage meaningful online communication and interaction (between learners as well as between teachers and learners) and contain content resources which are visually attractive, motivating to use and organised logically for ease of navigation.”
Ms Francis said there was still a large number of registered training organisations who believed implementation of training was made difficult because of a lack of quality resource materials. She said training organisations needed to look beyond traditional methods and explore the broad range of resource options available.
“Just as skills are developed throughout life and are fostered in a wide variety of contexts essential for sustained employability, so do trainees require learning materials based on real experience in a variety of contexts,” Ms Francis said. She added that, complementing the available online Equity training material, there was a mountain of generic skills e-resources ranging from communication to occupational health and safety, leadership, customer service and working in teams which could be used in different contexts or subject areas.
The full story is available via the ATP website
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Port Arthur
Strahan
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VETnetwork Australia’s next national biennial conference will be held at the beautiful Wrest Point Convention Centre in Hobart, Tasmania.
It’s still a long way off, but this is one you won’t want to miss! – Just ask anyone who attended, or missed out on, the 2002 National Biennial Conference in Brisbane!
The 2004 Conference theme will be Stand and Deliver: Delivery Strategies for Vocational Learning.
Delegates can expect a conference programme with a significant focus on the practical delivery of broad vocational learning and education, with a simplified and thematic format customised to stakeholder needs. The needs of those delivering all aspects of vocational and related post-compulsory education and training will be particularly targeted. |
No conference is complete without a mix of special activities, and this year they are planning a broad program involving school and industry visits, post-conference activities, a leisure and recreation program and tourist options will be developed in association with the Tasmanian Convention Bureau.
So, block out Wednesday 17 November - Friday 19 November 2004 in your diary and register your interest at:
VETnetwork Australia vetnetwork@bigpond.com.au
Tel: 07 3254 1431
www.vetnetwork.org.au
"Remember the 2002 conference? ...Lot's of interesting people and great speakers!.... you won't want to miss 2004"
The Department of Education, Science and Training has called for proposals for new projects under the 2003-4 funding round of the Group Training New Apprenticeships Targeted Initiatives Programme (TIP).
TIP generates additional New Apprenticeship opportunities by supporting group training activities in critical, challenging or under-serviced markets.
Funding priorities for 2003-04 include New Apprenticeship arrangements in: traditional trades; skills shortages; and emerging, high technology and/or innovation industries. Priority will also be given to projects that target New Apprenticeship participation by: school students; mature aged people; Indigenous people; and people with disabilities.
For further information on TIP, see http://grouptraining.dest.gov.au/
A new strategic agreement will reduce the timetaken from a Training Package to be endorsed, to it becoming available on the market from months to just days.
Long delays will be a thing of the past under the agreement between Australian Training Products (ATP) and the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), which will see ATP assume responsibility for managing Training Packages prior to endorsement, as well as publishing the approved materials.
ATP General Manager Robyn Francis said the move had major implications for registered training organisations, who deliver accredited training based on Training Packages.
"Australia's vocational education and training industry is world class, but there is always room for improvement," she said. "We were concerned by the significant lag time between a Training Package being endorsed, and our accessing the materials, which then had to be processed and published. This caused delays of up to six months from the time of endorsement until it became available to the public."
Ms Francis said under the new agreement, ATP would work closely with ANTA and industry bodies to assist the process from development to endorsement. She stressed that while ATP would not be involved in the development of the Training Packages, just the final stages of publication and release, it would still mean significant time savings for customers.
"Under this agreement, we become a vital cog in the endorsement process, including negotiating changes, quality control and the final release of the endorsed materials," she said. "This means we can release products to the market in a fraction of the time, almost as soon as approval is granted."
Training Packages are key features of vocational education and training in Australia. Funded by ANTA, they are developed by recognised industry bodies and industry training advisory bodies to outline industry standards and qualifications. Described as 'working documents' Training Packages can be updated numerous times before being reviewed every three years.
For more information, or to arrange an interview, contact Ricci on (03) 9655 0600 or hoffmanr@atpl.net.au.
Australian Training Products is the pre-eminent national publisher and distributor, on a not-for-profit basis, of training materials to the vocational education and training sector. Its role is to market nationally endorsed Training Packages and Curriculum on behalf of the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) and the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), and to distribute quality assured national support materials to ensure Australian industry is appropriately skilled and nationally competitive. http://www.atpl.net.au/
Getting practical experience can be difficult for disadvantaged job seekers, especially in industries that deal with expensive equipment or require specific training facilities. A New Apprenticeship Access Programme (NAAP), conducted by the Civil Skills and Technology Centre (CSTC) and supported by Mission Australia, is assisting one group of job seekers overcome barriers to finding a NewApprenticeship. In civil construction, a wide range of vehicles are used - front end loaders, graders,excavators and rollers. It cancost around $100 an hour to operate these machines.In South Australia, NAAP job seekers are being trainedto use this equipment, as they reclaim the Dry Creekland fill. This project, arranged between the State Government and CSTC, involves reclaiming land that has fordecades been an industrial dumping ground. At the CSTC training facility, NAAP participants are also busy constructing a Bio-waste sewage system. The sewage system will take sewage from the training facility; run it through sterilisation processes with any run off being pumped into the facility’s gardens. Participants have learnt a diverse range of skills being involved in this project – planning sites, surveying,foundation work, levelling and construction – whichthey can take into the workplace.
NAAP helps disadvantaged job seekers improve their skills and better their chances of getting a New Apprenticeship through:
- training in both basic industry skills and general work skills
- supporting job seekers while they are looking for work
- providing post placement support for the first 13 weeks of a New Apprenticeship.
Job seekers who maybe eligible for NAAP include:
- mature aged job seekers (over 45)
- early school leavers
- Indigenous Australians
- long term unemployed.
For more information visit the NAAP website
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This page was last updated on: Monday, 09 February 2004
Department of Education, Science and Training.