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AE News Volume 14, Issue 33
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Upcoming Events
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7 Sep - Inspiration in Leadership
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15 Sep - IR & FC Network Meeting
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21 Sep - Mental Health at Work in a COVID World
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6 & 7 Oct - Youth Mental Health First Aid (Accredited)
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National Skills Week: 23-29 August
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This week is the official National Skills Week with a number of events promoting VET around the country.
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The Hon Stuart Robert MP, Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, launched National Skills Week through an online session on Tuesday morning. To view the full zoom webinar of the launch (54 minutes), please visit National Skills Week launch.
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To view Minister Robert's message on National Skills Week (45 seconds), please visit National Skills Week.
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Victorian Training Awards 2021 Finalists Announced
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A pool of 44 finalists have been announced for the 67th Victorian Training Awards, recognising the achievements of apprentices, students, teachers, trainers and employers.
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Minister for Training and Skills Gayle Tierney this week announced the finalists and said this year’s event would acknowledge the resilience and innovation of the sector amid the ongoing challenges of the pandemic.
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Finalists have been named across six award categories for individuals, four for employers and four for training organisations as well as the Industry Collaboration Award.
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This year’s awards received the highest number of nominations in more than a decade, with individual award categories proving most popular among nominees.
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Award recipients will receive $5000 prize money and a selection of award recipients will have the opportunity to represent Victoria at the Australian Training Awards.
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The event is supported by principal partner Apprenticeship Employment Network (AEN) and the Global Apprenticeship Network (GAN Australia).
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Congratulations to all the finalists.
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COVID-19 Updates
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The Victorian Government has reintroduced restrictions in regional Victoria to align with metropolitan Melbourne. This does not include the curfew enforced in metropolitan Melbourne. Restrictions began from 1pm on Saturday 21 August 2021 and will be in place until 11.59pm on Thursday 2 September 2021.
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There are only five reasons to leave your home:
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- shopping for necessary items – one person, once per day
- care and caregiving
- authorised work and education
- exercise for up to two hours a day
- to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
TAFE, training, university and adult education campuses across Victoria are closed and can only deliver remote learning. The only exceptions for on-campus learning are essential adult education and training as specified in the Authorised provider and authorised worker list.
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Authorised worker permits
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Permits will be required to leave the house for authorised work or study, or to travel to and from authorised work or study. Permits must be carried by higher education, training and university students who are permitted on-site if their research, study, training or work placement is on the Authorised provider and authorised worker list. Those on the Authorised provider and authorised worker list will be allowed to send their children to childcare, and construction will reduce to 25 per cent capacity.
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Authorised provider and authorised worker list
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The Authorised provider and authorised worker list has been updated to include all mandatory work placements in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services. This is in addition to student placements for those studying nursing, aged care and disability courses and final year pre-service early childhood and schoolteachers.
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Authorised provider and authorised worker permits are required for these students to attend their placement, and these should be issued by the education provider. Many ECEC students have had their learning disrupted by COVID-19, and placements ensure they can fulfill their study requirements while ensuring the sector retains a pipeline of skilled staff for the future.
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We encourage all higher education and training provider staff and students to get vaccinated where eligible. Further information on vaccinations and eligibility can be found at:
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The Victorian Department of Health has scheduled a webinar for higher education, training and adult education staff on Thursday 9 September from 6pm to 7pm. This webinar will offer an in-depth discussion about the COVID-19 immunisation program and is presented by medical practitioners. Book online: COVID-19 vaccination webinar for HE and training staff.
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The Department of Education and Training COVID-19 hotline on 1800 338 663 is open from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday.
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Kangan Institute's Trades + Skills Centre Virtual Preview: 3 September
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Construction is well underway at Kangan Institute’s new Trades + Skills Centre. The Centre is located at the Broadmeadows Campus and is supported by an injection of $5.6M from the Victorian Government’s TAFE Maintenance Fund. The Trades + Skills Centre features new state-of-the-art plumbing training facilities that will enable Kangan Institute to offer training in the Certificate III in Plumbing (CPC32420) to first year apprentices commencing October 2021.
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To join this virtual event for an exclusive look at the soon be complete Trades + Skills Centre:
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For queries, please contact Kangan Institute’s Manager Apprenticeship Development, Erinn Freeburn at efreeburn@kangan.edu.au.
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August is Tradie Health Month!
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Now more than ever, workers' physical and mental safety should be top of mind.
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Get the right tools for the job by taking advantage of free WorkSafe programs designed to help small and medium businesses build physically and mentally safe workplaces.
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The tools available for trade based industries include:
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- Workwell Toolkit - For creating a mentally healthy workplace
- OHS Essentials Program - For free and confidential safety advice from an OHS consultant
- Advice to Prevent Physical Injury - To reduce injuries in your workplace.
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When OH&S Standards Fall – Workers can Fall
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There’s a lot of stress and uncertainty in Victoria at the moment and while that stress can impact our decision making, it’s important to make sure our safety standards don’t slip.
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After some recent tragic falls at worksites this year – including the death of a 23-year-old carpenter – WorkSafe inspectors across the state will be focusing on fall prevention at every construction worksite they visit over the next 6 weeks.
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Keeping workers safe while working at heights is the responsibility of all employers. To learn more about how to prevent falls, please visit WorkSafe - Working with Heights.
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National Wage Gap Day – 31 August 2021
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The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has released the new national gender pay gap figure of 14.2%, a rise of 0.8 percentage points over the last six months.
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This means Equal Pay Day 2021 will be on 31 August, marking the 61 extra days from the end of the previous financial year that women, on average, must work to earn the same annual pay as men.
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NCVER Update
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The online delivery of VET during COVID-19: part 1
In a year when total subject enrolments in VET declined by approximately 4% and repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic were being felt around Australia, there was substantial shift in the delivery of online training.
Online training delivery increased by nearly 24% between 2019 and 2020, with the uptake more pronounced for government-funded subject enrolments (up 40.4%) compared with domestic fee-for-service (up 15.7%).
The findings in this initial report are based on analysis of Total VET Activity data for 2019 and 2020 and preliminary findings from an online survey of RTOs administered in collaboration with the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA).
A second and final report will build on the findings of this work, explore factors involved in future plans for online delivery through additional analysis of survey data, semi-structured interviews with RTOs and key findings from NCVER’s Student Outcomes Survey.
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Government-funded students and courses provides a summary of data relating to domestic government-funded VET activity delivered in Australia. It contains information on students, programs, subjects and training providers.
In the first three months to March 31, 2021, 748 500 students were enrolled in government-funded VET. Of those, 735 800 students were enrolled in nationally recognised training.
Compared to the same period in 2020, considerable changes were observed in January to March 2021 in the number of students enrolled in:
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- Training package skill sets (up 262.5%)
- Locally developed skill sets comprised of at least one nationally recognised subject (up 31.5%)
- Training package qualifications (up 11.2%).
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The COVID-19 pandemic, and states and territories economic responses may have impacted training data, particularly from March 2020 onwards.
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Retrenched Apprentices and Trainees Program
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This program has now supported 822 participants since May 2020, and 326 apprentices and trainees have commenced with a new employer.
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Currently, there are 48 participants on our active caseload.
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- Electrical
- Plumbing
- Carpentry
- Hair & Beauty
- Chefs
- General Mechanic
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Apprentices and trainees who have lost employment are encouraged to register.
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Once on the register, apprentices and trainees will be assisted by one of our program officers until placed with a host employer through a Group Training Organisation (GTO), or directly with an employer, whilst also directing you to the most appropriate advice and assistance while you remain out of employment.
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If you have an apprenticeship or traineeship position you would like to fill, please contact the AEN Office so we can forward potential candidates that meet your criteria.
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Do you want to be kept up to date with everything that’s happening with GAN Australia and the wider VET sector?
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Thanks to our Industry Partners
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