Apprenticeship Employment Network

AE News Volume 15, Issue 5

Friday, 4th March 2022
Hi Reader!

Upcoming Events

1457023190_Calendar
8 Mar - QA Standards Network
10 Mar - OHS Network Meeting
29 Mar - Safe & Respectful Workplaces (GTO Op/Snr Mgrs)
6 Apr - Safe & Respectful Workplaces (GTO Field Officers)
2 May - Youth Mental Health First Aid (Accredited)

AEN Apprenticeship Luncheon

On Thursday this week, AEN held our annual apprenticeship luncheon for the first time in two years. It was great to see people from the GTO and wider VET network at the event.

Special thank you to our two guest speakers – Craig Robertson, CEO Victorian Skills Authority, and Trevor Schwenke, CEO WorldSkills Australia.

Presentations will be available to members shortly.
Craig Robertson presenting at Luncheon

Upcoming AEN Events

Event
Date/Time
Venue
QA Standards Network Meeting
Tuesday 8 March
10.30am - 12.30pm
AEN Office, 83 Hobsons Road, Kensington, or
MS Teams
OHS Network Meeting
Thursday 10 March
10.30am - 12.00pm
AEN Office, 83 Hobsons Road, Kensington, or
MS Teams
AEN Members: to RSVP, please login to Members' area and select Events & Media/Events Calendar.

For a copy of the Agenda or to join via MS Teams, please contact Anna Bejanoff at admin@aen.org.au.

Safe Respectful Workplaces - GTO workshops

The mission at Women Onsite is to support committed women of all ages and from all walks of life into apprenticeships or traineeships. Part of their role in creating change is to work with the teaching systems and employers to build capacity and ensure they are meeting their OH&S requirements to keep women safe, including from gendered violence.
women onsiste
In collaboration with Women Onsite, the AEN is coordinating two workshops for GTO members:

Target audience: GTO operations/senior managers
Date: 29 March 2022
Time: 10.00am - 2.00pm
Venue: AEN training room, 83 Hobsons Road, Kensington 3031

Target audience: GTO Field Officers
Date: 6 April 2022
Time: 10.00am - 2.00pm
Venue: AEN training room, 83 Hobsons Road, Kensington 3031

Event Pricing (incl. GST)
AEN Members
Free (with coupon code) *
Non Members
$55pp

* Members: If you do not have a coupon code, please contact Anna Bejanoff at admin@aen.org.au

For further information and to register for the event, please visit AEN - Events Calendar.

Enquiries: Anna Bejanoff, admin@aen.org.au or 03 9639 3955.

Youth Mental Health First Aid (Accredited)

Youth-Course
Mental health first aid is the help provided to someone who is developing a mental health problem, has a worsening of an existing mental health problem or is in a mental health crisis. Mental health first aid strategies are taught in evidence-based training programs authored by Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Australia and conducted by accredited MHFA Instructors across Australia.

The Youth Mental Health First Aid Course is for adults working with adolescents (those aged between 12 and 18 years), however, the course can be relevant for those helping people who are a little older.
Date/Time

Self-paced interactive eLearning (7 hours) - completed before 29 April

Instructor-led delivered in-person workshop on Monday 2 May, 10.30am - 3.30pm
Cost (incl. GST)

Member: $242
Non Member: $292


For further information and to register, go to AEN Events Calendar and select the course.

Registrations close: 8 April 2022

Enquiries: Anna Bejanoff, admin@aen.org.au or 03 9639 3955.

Women in Trades - Upcoming Chisholm Course

The Women in Trades – Multi Industry Pre-Apprenticeship Support Project is supported by the Victorian Department of Education and Training – Apprenticeships Victoria and aims to provide female participants with the opportunity to have a “hands-on” trial of a range of vocational trade occupations. Participants will experience first-hand what it really takes to be successful in a variety of industries.
women in trades 3
Chisholm Institute is running a program commencing on 28 March. It will run over 4 weeks covering 3 different trades: Building and Construction, Plumbing and Electrical.

Week One – Commencing Monday 28 March at 9.00am
Cranbourne Campus – New Holland Drive, Cranbourne VIC 3977
Building E – Safety (Construction Induction -CISS units)

Week Two, Three & Four
Dandenong Campus – 121 Stud Road, Dandneong VIC 3175
Building N – Building and Construction
Building V – Electrical
Building L – Plumbing

For program details, please visit Women in Trades - Chisholm Institute.

To register, please visit AEN - Women in Trades.

Jobs Victoria – Backing You Campaign

Backing you
Jobs Victoria’s major new advertising campaign Backing You was launched earlier this week.

It celebrates Victorians’ resilience and encourages people looking for work and businesses to connect with Jobs Victoria’s free services, including those you provide. It features television, radio, print, outdoor and online advertising.

The Backing You campaign recognises the value and worth of every person who lives in Victoria. It inspires a sense of hope and opportunity, motivating people looking for work and businesses to seek support, with Jobs Victoria’s backing.

For further details, please visit Jobs Victoria.

Transition to Work – New Providers Announced

The Department of Education, Skills and Employment released the Request for Tender for Transition to Work 2022–27 (RFT) on 25 August 2021 seeking responses from Tenderers interested in delivering Workforce Australia – Transition to Work 2022–27 from 1 July 2022.

Transition to Work is the Australian Government’s youth-specialist employment service that helps disadvantaged young people to develop practical skills to get a job or connect with education or training.

On 11 May 2021, as part of the 2021–22 Federal Budget, the Government announced the continuation and expansion of Transition to Work, confirming that a further $481.2 million will be invested into the service over the 4 years from 2022.

For further information, please visit Request for Tender - DESE.

NSW Skills Conference - 15 June

AEN NSW conf
NSW Skills Conference is on Wednesday 15 June at Dockside Darling Harbour. This year there are some great speakers lined up and we hope you can continue to support and attend.

AEN NSW & ACT would like to continue to offer Victorian GTOs a discount to attend the conference. They are currently offering all AEN Member GTOs registrations at AEN Member rates. Should you wish to access the discounted rate you must initially register as an “AEN MEMBER”, then when prompted during the process enter “AENMEMBEREB” as the discount code.

For details on the conference including the program, please visit Skills Conference.

Permanent Acceptance for Electronic Meetings and Execution of Company Documents

Summary of Hall and Wilcox advice

After almost two years of consideration, including the circulation of an exposure draft in mid-2021, the Corporations Amendment (Meetings and Documents) Bill 2021 (Bill) was passed by Commonwealth Parliament on 10 February 2022.

The Bill amends the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act), to permanently enshrine the ability to hold virtual and hybrid meetings, electronic distribution of meeting materials and electronic execution of company documents. The Bill also provides much-needed clarity on the issue of sole directors in circumstances where there is no company secretary.

Key takeaways
  • Under the Bill, companies and registered schemes will be permitted to hold meetings physically and/or through the use of technology, subject to the entity ensuring that the members have a reasonable opportunity to participate.
  • Despite these changes, a virtual meeting (as opposed to a hybrid meeting) may only be held by a company or registered scheme if virtual meetings are expressly permitted by their constitution. While many entities have taken the opportunity in recent times to provide for hybrid and virtual meetings in their constitution, it will be necessary for entities to ensure virtual meetings are expressly permitted by their constitution and if not, consider making changes to their constitution to permit virtual meetings at the earliest opportunity.
  • Companies and registered schemes will be able to circulate meeting materials to members through electronic means. However, members will retain the ability to elect to receive documents relating to a meeting in a physical form, and entities will need to take appropriate steps to allow for, identify, and act in accordance with, such elections.
  • Companies will now be permitted to execute documents (including deeds) electronically. It will be necessary for companies to update their processes in this space to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to meet the new legislative requirements relating to identity and intention.
  • The confusion around proprietary companies with a sole director (where there is no company secretary) has been rectified, with these entities now canvassed by amended sections 127 and 129 in respect of document execution.
Background

The Bill will create permanency after two years of various temporary legislative changes aimed at combatting the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the Corporations (Coronavirus Economic Response) Determination (No 3) 2020 was introduced in order to provide guidance and comfort to companies while lockdowns and border closures began to take hold throughout the country.

Prior to the expiry of the determination in March 2021, draft legislation was introduced to Parliament with the hope of making permanent changes to the laws surrounding electronic meetings and execution of documents. However, this initial bill stalled as opinions diverged on a number of issues around amendments to the continuous disclosure regime. To fill the void created by the expiry of the relief measures, ASIC issued a temporary ‘no-action’ position in respect of meetings hosted through the use of technology and the provision of electronic notices of meeting. Given the restrictions on ASIC’s regulatory ambit, it was not able to extend the no-action position to electronic execution of documents.

Subsequently, the Commonwealth introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No.1) Act 2021 (Cth) which again made temporary amendments to the Corporations Act to facilitate electronic execution of documents, and ‘hybrid’ meetings held both physically and virtually. With this latest round of regulatory relief set to expire on 31 March 2022, Parliament has moved to cement many of these temporary changes, thereby enshrining a COVID-19 legacy that will modernise the operation of the Corporations Act.

Holding meetings

In making the temporary changes surrounding electronic meetings of companies and registered schemes permanent, the Bill introduces a number of amendments to enable meetings of members to be held:
  • at one physical location;
  • in a hybrid format, allowing members to attend at a physical location or to join the meeting virtually; or
  • entirely virtually (subject to the constitution providing for this option).
The overriding proviso to these methods of holding meetings is the requirement that the company or registered scheme must give the members entitled to attend the meeting, as a whole, a reasonable opportunity to participate.

For further details, please visit Hall and Wilcox.

NCVER Update

Apprentice and trainee outcomes 2021
A higher proportion of apprentices and trainees are being employed after completing vocational education and training.

The latest data shows that 94.0% of apprentices and trainees who completed their training in a trade occupation were employed after training. For those in non-trade occupations, 88.4% were employed after training. These figures are up 2.5 percentage points and 3.5 percentage points respectively from 2019.

Employment outcomes improved the most for those who trained in electrotechnology and telecommunications, construction, sales, and clerical and administrative occupations, compared with 2019.

Government-funded students and courses January – September 2021
This report 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 nine months to 30 September 2021, there were 1 124 100 students enrolled in government-funded VET. Of those, 1 096 100 were enrolled in nationally recognised training.
Compared to the same period in 2020, the largest absolute changes were observed in January to September 2021 in the number of students enrolled in:
  • training package qualifications (up 84 900 students)
  • locally developed skill sets (down 34 400 students).
The COVID-19 pandemic, and states and territories economic responses may have impacted training data, particularly from March 2020 onwards.

Retrenched Apprentices and Trainees Program

Retrenched Apprentices and Trainees Program Logo
Out of Trade Banner
Since the program commenced in May 2020, a total of 875 participants have been supported with 784 currently in training.

    Currently, there are 25 participants on our active caseload:
    • Electrical - 10
    • Plumbing - 6
    • Carpentry - 5
    • Other trades - 4
    For Individuals
    Apprentices and trainees who have lost employment are encouraged to register.

    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.
    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.

    For further information or to register for the program, please visit Apprenticeship Employment Network.
    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.
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    Thanks to our Industry Partners

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    ApprenticeshipSupportAustralia
    AustralianApprenticeshipsPathways
    AustralianSuper
    VictorianChamberOfCommerceAndIndustry
    WorkSight
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    Marsh
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