Apprenticeship Employment Network

AE News Volume 12, Issue 40

Friday, 25th October 2019
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Upcoming Events


31 October - Regional Workshop Day 1
1 November - Regional Workshop Day 2
6 November - Enhancing Workplace Relationships Workshop
Click here for all upcoming events.

Interim National Skills Commissioner Appointed

On Thursday this week the Commonwealth Government announced the appointment of Mr Adam Boyton as the interim National Skills Commissioner.

This coincides with the skills co-design process to strengthen key elements of Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) sector.

Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash, said Mr Boyton will play a critical role in leading engagement with stakeholders and overseeing foundational work that will better match investment to the skills needs in the Australian economy.

“With years of industry experience, Mr Boyton will ensure the design of the National Skills Commission is fit for purpose for our current and future skills needs,” Minister Cash said.

“The newly appointed Commissioner will oversee the early design work on how to nationally forecast skills demand in industry and options for a new funding model for VET qualifications.”

September marked the beginning of the co-design process for the National Skills Commission, National Careers Institute and Skills Organisation Pilots.

“We want to see these new initiatives place industry at the centre of the skills training system. The Morrison Government, working with the states and territories, wants to make it easier for students and employees to access the training they need at the time they need it,” Minister Cash said.

“The three programs announced as part of our $525 million Delivering skills for today and tomorrow package, will strengthen the architecture of our national skills system, ensuring Australia continues to provide high quality training and job-ready employees,” Minister Cash said.

“I encourage everyone with an interest in the sector to read the information provided online and engage with the process. We are looking to collaborate with industry, employers, providers, students and all levels of government to deliver the reforms necessary to keep the vocational and education training system world-class.”

More information on the three co-design consultations please see Co-designing the National Skills Commission, National Careers Institute and Skills Organisation Pilots.

For further information on the New Interim Skills Commissioner please visit the Ministers' Media Centre.

2019 Annual AEN & GAN Australia Awards - Nominations Close 1 November

AEN Awards Open
Nominations are open for the 2019 Annual AEN & GAN Australia Awards.

This year promises to be bigger and better than ever, with more award categories to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of the Victorian apprenticeship employment network.

Applications can be submitted online at AEN Awards with the application closing next week on Friday 1 November 2019.

Awards will be presented for the following categories:

Individual Categories

ATOA Apprentice of the Year – Sponsored by Apprenticeship Support Australia
Trainee of the Year – Sponsored by VicSuper
Inspiration Award: Indigenous Student of the Year – Sponsored by Apprenticeship Support Australia
Inspiration Award: Overcoming Adversity – Sponsored by RMIT University
Inspiration Award: Women in Trades – Sponsored by AATIS
School-based Apprentice/Trainee of the Year – Sponsored by Australian Super
STAR (OH&S) Award – Sponsored by Marsh Advantage Insurance

GTO Categories

GTO Service Excellence Award – Sponsored by Bunnings Warehouse
GTO Industry Service Awards
Outstanding OHS Initiative – Sponsored by EML
AEN Fellowship
AEN Lifetime Achievement Award

GAN Awards

GAN International Apprentice Scholarship
National Youth Initiative Award

To access all the awards nomination information, online application forms and past winners please visit AEN Awards.

Nominations close 6pm Friday 1st November 2019.

Awards will be presented at the annual dinner on Friday 6 December – Victorian Parliament House, Queen’s Hall 6:00pm – 10:30pm. Tickets available here.

Best of luck!

Vocational Education and Training for a Global Economy
Lessons from Four Countries

Although vocational education and training (VET) systems are often an afterthought in education policy, they can play a critical role in economic development.

So concludes the new book, Vocational Education and Training for a Global Economy: Lessons from Four Countries, edited by National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) founder and senior fellow Marc Tucker and published by Harvard Education Press.

The book provides in-depth case studies of the VET systems of Switzerland, Singapore, China and the United States—showing in detail how these VET systems evolved over time and how the systems relate to the countries’ economies.
Vocational Education and Training for a Global Economy
With the advancement of technologies such as artificial intelligence, the kinds of skills that will be needed in a workforce composed of both humans and intelligent machines will be transformed, observes Tucker.

In the book, Tucker suggests the principles that could underlie a well-designed, future-ready VET system, given the rapid and expansive change in the global economy.

Robert B. Schwartz, senior research fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Nancy Hoffman, senior advisor at Jobs for the Future authored the Switzerland and United States case studies.

While Vivien Stewart, senior advisor for education and former vice president at the Asia Society, and Tucker authored the China and Singapore case studies respectively.

On November 7 2019, New America will host a live event with Tucker to discuss the book’s findings and its implications for policy makers and practitioners.

For further information please visit the National Center on Education and the Economy.

Building Gender Equality in Victoria’s Construction Sector

The Victorian Government is launching a new strategy to encourage more women to consider a career in construction.

Minister for Industrial Relations, Tim Pallas this week announced the launch of Victoria’s first Women in Construction Strategy, which will kick off with three initial programs to help make the strategy’s goals a reality.

The $500,000 strategy will include:
  • A new online jobs portal for women candidates who are looking for roles in the construction industry, providing employment opportunities as well as recruitment and training support, career counselling and resume services.
  • A training program developed by the Victorian Trades Hall Council to create respectful relationships on construction sites. Trained officers will visit sites to educate workers and employers about gendered violence in the workplace and how best to support others.
  • A new set of recruitment standards and practices for the construction industry, to be developed by the Master Buildings Association of Victoria.
Existing recruitment practices and policies will be reviewed to identify gender bias in current industry thinking and the notions around “fitting in”.

More women are active in the Victorian labour market than ever before, but they make up only 2 per cent of the workers in Australian construction – the country’s most male-dominated industry.

The Victorian Government is taking a lead role in championing gender equality, setting a 50 per cent target for women on Victorian Government boards and having pledged to eliminate the gender pay gap.

Since 2015, the number of women on Victorian Government boards has increased from 39 per cent to 53 per cent. The gender pay gap in the Victoria Public Service (VPS) has almost halved in five years, from 6.1 per cent to 3.3 per cent.

Under the Government’s Gender Equality Strategy: Safe and Strong, we’ve pledged to appoint 50 per cent women executives in the Victorian Public Service.

The Women in Construction Strategy is based on three key themes: Attract, Recruit and Retain.

It was developed together with the Building Industry Consultative Council, which is made up of employers, industry associations and unions.

For more information please see Victoria's Women in Construction Strategy.

AEN Mini Conference

The Apprenticeship Employment Network will be holding a Mini Conference on Wednesday 13 November at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Tom Wills Room.

The Mini Conference will include updates from Steven Joyce on the Commonwealth VET review as well as an update from Carl Walsh from the Victorian Department of Education and Training.

The AEN 2019 AGM will follow the Mini Conference.

Book your tickets via the AEN Event Calendar.

Brotherhood of St Laurence - Given the Chance

On Thursday morning this week, the Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) held a breakfast showcasing the Given the Chance program, community partners and to honour their employers and participants.

The focus was on Social Procurement, in Theory & in Practice, and the release of a new research report, Social Procurement: Creating Employment Opportunities Through Purchasing Expenditure, created by BSL’s Research and Policy Centre.
BSL - Given the Chance
The event also explored Social Procurement in practice by showcasing the program with Citywide in Melton, as part of Melton Council’s Social Procurement agenda for the maintenance of local roads, drainage, parks and trees.

Key note speaker, Wade Noonan Associate director of RMIT & WOMEDA and chair of Jobsbank 2.0 spoke on the role of social procurement in creating social impact.

Congratulations to the team at BSL.

For further information please visit the Given the Chance website.
Given the Chance Event

OctoberVET - 14 November 2019 in Ballarat

AVETRA
OctoberVET
Federation University

Supporting young people into their futures: Research and practice

A free research-based event in Ballarat.

How young people in non-metropolitan areas in Victoria imagine their futures: A Department of Education and Training (Victoria) funded research project.
Professor Erica Smith & Associate Professor Annette Foley, Federation University.

Presentation title to be announced.
Bernadette Gigliotti, CEO, Career Education Association of Victoria.

Tracking apprenticeship vacancy trends to identify skill shortages.
Gary Workman, Executive Director, Apprenticeship Employment Network, Victoria.

Learning about environmental sustainability practices.
Erica Smith, Annette Foley & Morgan Wise, School of Education, Federation University.

VET teachers’ strategies to engage young learners who have left school early.
Annette Foley, School of Education, Federation University.

More presentations yet to be announced.

Discussion sessions on policy and practice implications will be scheduled, and the event will end with an expert panel to respond to audience questions.

Please support Ballarat’s twelfth annual OctoberVET event, mounted by Fed Uni’s VET research group RAVE – Researching Adult and Vocational Education.

For more information, please visit Federation University.

Event Details


Thursday 14th November 2019, 12:30pm – 4.30 pm
Registration and light lunch from 12:30pm.
Afternoon tea also provided.

Ballarat Technology Park, SMB Campus, Lydiard St, Ballarat city centre
Seminar theatre, Tech Park Central (previously the Brewery building).
Campus map
Easy access from the train station.

Registration: Email vet.research@federation.edu.au
Please indicate any dietary requirements.
Note: If demand for places is heavy, we may have to charge for later registrations to cover catering costs.

The Australasian Vocational Educational and Training Research Association (AVETRA) is committed to building and promoting research capability to ensure a rigorous and well informed VET system.

OctoberVET is the name given to a series of events held throughout Australia to showcase VET research. For more information, please visit AVETRA.

Gforce Annual Awards

Gforce Awards 2019
On Thursday evening this week, Gforce held their annual awards at the Geelong Library.

Winner Summary

Apprentice of the Year - Patrick Lowrey
Trainee of the Year - Connor Lay
School Based Trainee of the Year - Heidi Rasmussen
Aboriginal Trainee of the Year - Dean Taylor
Apprentice Safety Award - Aidan Barrow

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners of this years awards.

For further information please visit Gforce Employment Solutions.

The Apprenticeship Factory Annual Awards

Paula Ryan presenting cheque
On Thursday evening this week The Apprenticeship Factory held it's annual awards night in Shepparton.

With over 300 guests in attendance, a range of awards were handed out for apprentices and trainees across categories including Apprentice of the Year, Trainee of the Year as well as the award for the Host Employer of the Year.

Winner Summary

Best 1st Year Apprentice - Will Allen
Best 2nd Year Apprentice - Ed Thomson
Best 3rd Year Apprentice - James Macadam
Best 4th Year Apprentice - Tim Wilson
Apprentice of the Year - Tim Wilson

Best Trainee Cert III - Nathan Grace
Best Trainee Cert III and IV (Education) - Jordan Hurdes
Trainee of the Year - Nathan Grace

Host of the Year - Verney Road School

A number of cheques were presented to community recipients through The Apprenticeship Factory's Giving Back Program - an initiative dating back to 1986 that supports local community initiatives through sponsorship.

The night was a huge success celebrated by all in attendance and we are proud to have sponsored the event. Congratulations to all the award finalists and winners.

For further information please visit The Apprenticeship Factory.

Foundations Skills Training Package Updated

The New Foundation Skills (FSK) training package 2.0 has been approved.

The case for endorsement for Foundation Skills (FSK) was approved by the AISC in August 2019.

The new training package and related information should be available on the training.gov.au website by the end of October, but you can also access the documents now from the PWC website.

For further information please visit PwC’s Skills for Australia.

Portable Long Service Leave

Guidance Note for applying the predominance rule in community services

The Portable Long Service Authority has released, Guidance Note 1 – Applying the predominance test to community services.

The Guidance Note has been developed to assist employers in the community services sector to better understand the operation of the predominance test that is set-out in Regulation 9(3) of the Long Service Benefits Portability Regulations 2019 (Vic).

The Guidance Note can be found in full on the PLSL website, along with a PDF download.

NCVER Update

Online delivery of VET qualifications: current use and outcomes

This week the NCVER released a new report on the Online delivery of VET Qualification - VET courses delivered entirely online have higher non-completion levels than other modes of training, but for students who do complete, employment outcomes can be comparable to those delivered via other modes according to a new report from the NCVER.

“Little is known about the online delivery of entire VET qualifications,” said Simon Walker, Managing Director, NCVER.

“We estimate that around 8.6% of all VET program commencements in 2017 were in courses delivered fully online, which is not an insignificant figure.”

“Since the VET sector is underpinned by a competency-based training system, it can experience some unique challenges in the use of online learning. This study shows us that a high-quality online course can result in good outcomes for those students who do complete the course.”
GAN Subscribe to Newsletter
Do you want to be kept up to date with everything that’s happening with GAN Australia and the wider VET sector?

Head on over to GAN Australia and subscribe now.

WorkSafe Victoria – Health and Safety Month Series of Information Sessions in October

October is National Health and Safety Month. As part of raising the awareness of OHS issues, WorkSafe Victoria is hosting a series of information sessions.

Seminars will be held across the state on a range of topics including;
  • keynote presentations on mental health & wellbeing
  • information on silicosis
  • conversations about sexual harassment and workplace equality
  • managing dangerous goods
  • preventing mental injury in the workplace
  • identifying stress and bullying in the workplace
  • the safety of young workers
  • drugs and alcohol in the workplace - how to implement testing
  • occupational violence and aggression in healthcare.
For further information and to register for a free information session near you, please visit WorkSafe Victoria.

AEN Upcoming Events & PD Sessions

We have a busy end to the year planned with plenty of member network meetings and professional development sessions scheduled.

Check out the list of upcoming events below and go to our Events Calendar to RSVP.

Enhancing Workplace Relationships Workshop - Wednesday 6 November
OHS Network - Tuesday 12 November
Code House User Group - Wednesday 13 November
AGM & Mini Conference - Wednesday 13 November
Confidence, Self Esteem & Assertiveness Workshop - Tuesday 26 November
2019 Awards Dinner - Friday 6 December

These are free events for AEN members to attend.

Thanks to our Industry Partners

aatis
ApprenticeshipSupportAustralia
AustralianApprenticeshipsPathways
AustralianSuper
Bunnings-Warehouse-Logo-Small
EML
Marsh
SafetyFirst
VicSuper
VictorianChamberOfCommerceAndIndustry
WorkSight

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