On 6 April 2004, the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Dr Brendan Nelson announced the National Skills Shortages Strategy – a co-operative and comprehensive approach to addressing skills shortages in critical industries, particularly the traditional trades, throughout Australia and also a ‘one-stop shop’ web site for students, parents, careers advisers, and industry on skill shortage careers: www.getatrade.gov.au
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The Strategy will build on the significant outcomes in addressing skills shortages that have been achieved through a number of Australian government initiatives including the National Industry Skills Initiative, the marketing of New Apprenticeships and the targeting of incentives, and the intensive work to support students’ transition from school to work and further education and training. |
The new Strategy will work in partnership with industry and local communities in tackling many of the significant disincentives which can turn young people away from choosing trades as a career.
Under the Strategy, fresh approaches to New Apprenticeships in key skill shortage industries will be tested, such as shorter apprenticeships in the building and construction and automotive retail service and repair industries, and specialised apprenticeship pathways in the housing sector of the building and construction industry.
In addition to working in partnership with key industries such as engineering, energy and utilities, skill shortages on a regional basis will be addressed. Local communities are facing skill shortages as a result of the introduction of new industries, or the departure of existing ones, resulting in the need for communities to "reinvent" themselves through training, education and employment.
| Industries will be encouraged and assisted to "adopt a school" – regularly meeting with school students and their careers advisers and teachers to broaden their understanding of trade industries. The Australian government is also supporting the provision of quality career information on the trades and other occupations, including science and emerging technologies, and the development of professional standards and a national accreditation scheme for careers advisers. |
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The Minister will meet annually with New Apprentices in traditional trades to obtain feedback on what encourages or discourages those considering careers in the trades. Their insights will help dislodge outdated views that trades are "dirty, dangerous and difficult".
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Through "fast tracked" training programmes involving people with relevant existing skills, mature-age workers, parents returning to work, and people looking for a career change will be especially targeted towards New Apprenticeships.
The Government recognises the importance to Australian industry of having a workforce with the right skills to ensure continued competitiveness. Under the Strategy, the Australian Government will also review the quality and usefulness of labour market forecasting, with a robust data base to be used for the development of industry-specific skills policy. |
The National Skills Shortages Strategy is the next phase of the Government’s vital work in partnership with industry and local communities to address current and future skills needs and to assist the 70% of students who do not go directly from school to university.
To access more information on the new strategy go to www.getatrade.gov.au/fact_sheets/fact.htm.
Taking the time to complete an online survey for training.com.au will put you in the draw to win a AUD$1,000 training voucher.
The training.com.au website is a national initiative designed to help people discover and access information about the vocational education and training (VET) sector in Australia.
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Each state and territory, as well as the Department of Education, Science and Training, has participated in the development of training.com.au and the site is managed by the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) on their behalf. |
For the past year, the training.com.au website has aimed to provide information about VET including news and events, case studies, and e-learning training products and resources to employers and enterprises. Access the survey document at http://training.com.au/ 
to give your feedback about how effective the website has been in providing information about VET to employers and enterprises.
In the future the training.com.au website will be developed further to provide information targeted at public and private training providers.
For more information contact the training.com.au project team.
Ph: (07) 3246 2468
Email: feedback@training.com.au
The Australian Government is establishing a new programme, the VET Priority Places Programme, to directly purchase vocation education and training places for people with a disability, older workers and parents entering or re-entering the workforce to assist them to participate in the workforce. Training places, of up to 12 months duration, which result in at least a nationally recognised Certificate II qualification under the Australian Qualifications Framework, will be provided under this programme.
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The Fab Five from the VET Priority Places Programme Tender Team
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Up to 10,000 training opportunities, worth $29.4 million, are expected to be available in 2004. Initially the Department will fund 7,500 places with a further 2,500 places to become available once legislation associated with disability reforms is passed.
The Department released the VET Priority Places Programme Request for Tender on 20 March 2004. Through this tender process the Department is seeking tenders from suitable organisations to provide brokerage services for the delivery of these training places. |
Tenders closed on 16 April 2004 and registration and compliance commenced on 19 April 2004. Assessments of tenders will commence on 21 April 2004 and it is expected that this process will be completed by 30 April 2004 with announcement of successful tenders to be made mid to late May 2004.
It may be surprising to many that people in employment are often those most in need of literacy skills training. Latest figures from the Reading Writing Hotline indicate that during 2003/2004, 47 per cent of those who sought information and referral assistance from the Hotline were employed. This compares to 26 percent for people not employed but looking for work.
In today’s work environment, whether it is in manufacturing, retail or construction, there is an increasing demand for the individual worker to be literate and to have effective workplace communication skills. Such skills can range from reading and understanding workplace signs, filling in documentation, communicating effectively with co-workers, to basic computer literacy skills. Increases in Information Communication and Technology (ICT) in the workplace and changes to legislation are two important factors driving the need for improved literacy skills in the workplace. Workers need to have up to date literacy and workplace communication skills to ensure they are working productively and to progress their careers.
One Australian Government programme that provides workers with literacy and workplace communication skills training is the Workplace English Language and Literacy (WELL) Programme. The WELL Programme provides seed funding to employers of up to 75 per cent funding in the first year, and 50 per cent for an additional 2 years of training. All WELL training must support units from a national training package, and training funded through WELL can be used to provide ‘literacy support’ for mainstream workplace training.
In 2002/2003, over 25,000 workers received training through WELL in workplaces in all States and Territories. Projects can be funded in workplaces where training is provided to as few as 15 employees and as many as 300 - in positions ranging from process workers to frontline management.
Businesses also benefit through WELL training with many citing improvements in worker attitudes and confidence on the job - as one employer organisation recently stated “The greatest visible improvement was the change in confidence and communications skills”. And while WELL training can improve the skills of individual workers, these benefits translate directly to the employer - as we all know, a confident and capable workplace is a productive workplace.
If you would like to find out more about the WELL Programme visit the website /www.dest.gov.au/ty/well or call the WELL Hotline on (02) 6240 7333.
Businesses across Australia are encouraged to nominate for the annual Australian Government’s Minister's Awards for Excellence - Employers of New of $5,000.
2003 Winners of the Minister's Awards for Excellence |
The fourth annual awards represent a great opportunity for all businesses, no matter how big or small, to be recognised for their important work in providing training opportunities to local communities.
The Australian Government’s New Apprenticeships initiative provides financial incentives to employers contributing to the nation’s training needs by taking on a New Apprentice. New Apprenticeships are available in hundreds of occupations ranging from the traditional trades, right the way through to farming and information technology.
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Phone 1800 639 629 to locate your nearest New Apprenticeships Centre to find out more. Nominations for this year’s awards close on Friday 14 May 2004.
More information and nomination forms are available at: www.newapprenticeships.gov.au
New ATP Website Now Live! http://www.atpl.net.au/
Australian Training Products (ATP) has announced the release of its new website. The site at
www.atpl.net.au will improve access to product information and corporate communication, and position.
ATP as knowledge and information managers, rather than just a marketer and distributor of nationally endorsed training materials.
Major benefits of the new site include:
- Improved access to training product information
- More products
- Free product downloads
- Easy access to product previews - sample before you buy
- Secure and simple online order facility
- Allows customers to track sales
- Reduced time in processing orders
Marketing Manager Mark Robertson said the new system streamlined the way ATP would do business. He said winners would be Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers including teachers, directors, coordinators, librarians, Human Resource and Training Managers, TAFEs, private providers and consultants, schools, government, industry, universities and bookshops servicing the VET sector. Some international customers as well. "After a review of internal processes, we found the most notable areas of concern were search capabilities, registration, access to sample information, navigation and content creation and maintenance," Mr Robertson said. "This website not only makes finding the right products and purchasing online simple, it heralds a change in corporate philosophy and a fantastic opportunity to extend ATP’s presence at a national level," he said.
Important News For Customers: What’s Changed?
Search
The new search engine now looks for keyword(s) in all products and matches the results according to how many times the keyword appears. The product with the highest number of matches appears first. There are two main ways people can conduct a search – by using the search bar on the top right or the Online Catalogue link in the left navigational bar.
Login
The Login button is now located top right. Customers will notice that their User ID is no longer valid. Simply use your email address and password to Login.
For more information or to arrange an interview contact -
Phone - Ricci Hoffman +61 3 9655 0600
Email - hoffmanr@atpl.net.au.
Australian Training Products is the national not-for-profit publisher and distributor of training materials to the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. See http://www.atpl.net.au/
The new buzz word for computer system compatibility is 'interoperability' and it's gaining rapid importance for creating business-to-business and business-to-training technology links.
The emerging prominence of interoperability is evident from a simple web-based engine search. Google, for example, produces more than two million global references and offers the following definition: interoperability is … "the ability of software and hardware on multiple machines from multiple vendors to communicate".
In Australia, the vocational education and training (VET) sector is undertaking a range of initiatives to create an interoperable environment. One of these is an initiative by the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework) to create an interoperability website http://flexiblelearning.net.au/interop
Established in 2000, the Framework is an $AUD80 million five-year national collaboration by all states and territories and the Australian Government to accelerate the take-up of flexible learning to achieve a shared vision of a skilled Australian workforce.
While at present there are no mandatory levels of interoperability, the VET sector is collectively working towards adopting preferred standards. The website offers some factors for teaching and training professionals to consider when implementing interoperability. Some of these include preferred standards endorsed by Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) CEOs, national legal obligations in relation to non-discrimination and contractual obligations.
"The VET Interoperability Framework website is a vital source of information for anyone in the VET sector or in industry or enterprise who is involved in developing, delivering or sharing resources. The information is designed to help support and implement interoperable resources and systems so training providers can be flexible, more efficient and responsive to the needs of learners," said Project Manager Helen Neaton.
"Early e-learning content was sometimes produced in proprietary formats that could only be used in a particular learning management system," Ms Neaton said. "There is now general recognition that content needs to be developed to standards which make it portable between different web browsers and different learning management systems."
The website outlines how interoperability supports:
- universal access to education and training opportunities
- sharing and reuse of training resources
- collaboration and team processes
- reduces risk and cost in technology purchasing
- administration efficiency.
Other features of the new website include:
- case studies and scenarios highlighting the benefits of interoperability
- information and recommendations about standards
- useful tools for planning and developing resources and delivery systems that are easy to access and share.
Access to the website, its reference materials and resources is FREE. Visit the VET Interoperability Framework website at: flexiblelearning.net.au/interop
For further information about this story contact Framework Communications:
Email: flexenews@flexiblelearning.net.au or phone: (07) 3247 5511.
To view the whole article go to http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/newsandevents/features.htm