Apprenticeship Employment Network

AE News Volume 10, Issue 45

Friday, 15th December 2017
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Upcoming Events

7 Feb - Financial Controllers
21 Feb - QA Standards
1 Mar - Apprentice Luncheon

New Laws To Make Things Fair For Local Labour Hire Workers

The Andrews Labor Government is introducing new laws to make things fair for labour hire workers in Victoria.

Premier Daniel Andrews and the Acting Minister for Industrial Relations Luke Donnellan announced the Government’s tough new Labour Hire Licensing legislation, which will be introduced into Parliament today.

The Labour Hire Licensing Bill 2017 will protect labour hire workers from being underpaid and exploited by labour hire businesses and hosts.

The new scheme is in response to the Victorian Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work – a key election promise – which uncovered widespread abuse and exploitation of workers across Victoria.

To stop this exploitation, the Labor Government will introduce a universal licensing scheme to protect labour hire workers across all sectors and will be run by an independent Labour Hire Licensing Authority.

Under the new scheme:
  • providers of labour hire services will be required to hold a licence, and hosts will be required to only use licensed providers
  • to obtain a licence, providers will be required to pass “a fit and proper person test” and show compliance with workplace laws, labour hire laws, and minimum accommodation standards
  • licensed providers will be listed on a publicly accessible register
  • an inspectorate within the Authority will monitor and investigate compliance with the scheme
  • rogue operators that do not comply or attempt to flout the scheme will be liable for hefty civil and criminal penalties
The scheme is broadly similar to labour hire licensing schemes being developed in South Australia and Queensland, and will provide continuing impetus for a national scheme.

Nominations Open For 2018 Victorian Training Awards

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Victorians are being urged to nominate outstanding apprentices, trainees and vocational education and training teachers for the 2018 Victorian Training Awards.

Minister for Training and Skills Gayle Tierney this week officially opened nominations for the awards, which highlight collaboration and innovation in the training sector.

Now in their 64th year, the Victorian Training Awards recognise and honour the outstanding achievements of vocational education and training students, teachers and the businesses and training providers who train them.

Winners and finalists gain state-wide recognition from the training and TAFE sector, industry experts, peers and the Victorian community. The winners will be announced at the gala awards ceremony in August.

The 2018 winners will each receive $5,000 prize money and will represent Victoria at the 2018 Australian Training Awards.

Victoria won seven awards at this year’s Australian Training Awards, which were held last week, including Large Training Provider of the Year, International Training Provider of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award and Australian Apprentice (Trainee) of the Year.

To nominate for the 2018 Victorian Training Awards visit the awards website. Applications close midnight on Monday 2 April 2018.

Chisholm NEW CEO Announced

Earlier this week, Chisholm Institute announced the appointment of Dr Richard Ede as its new Chief Executive Officer following the retirement of Ms Maria Peters.

Chairman, Mr Stephen Marks said the Board was pleased to welcome Dr Ede and looked forward to working with him on the next steps in Chisholm’s journey as a premier TAFE Institution.

Dr Ede is currently Chief Executive of Unitec, New Zealand’s largest Institute of Technology, after leading the institution for almost 10 years.

Prior to his role in New Zealand, Dr Ede had a successful tenure with the Australian Government’s CSIRO. Over nine years he led industry and research initiatives with public and commercial clients and oversaw joint ventures, large staff teams and multi-million dollar budgets. Prior to his career with CSIRO, Dr Ede had a significant period teaching in the tertiary sector.

We look forward to working with Dr Ede and wish him well in this role.

For further information visit Chisholm Institute's website.

New National VET Data Policy Closes Data Gaps

A new National VET Data Policy was agreed by Skills Ministers at the COAG Industry and Skills Council meeting on Friday 24 November. Skills Ministers are committed to progressing reforms that help students make better decisions and simplify regulation for RTOs. This Policy sets the framework for other data reforms that will be progressed through the Performance Information for VET (PIVET) initiative, which will transform the data available to consumers, governments and regulators over the next three years.

The new Policy is the result of a sector-wide public consultation process, and closes information gaps by reducing reporting exemptions. It also updates data use information, and consolidates VET data collection and use of VET information into a single reference document.

The new Policy takes effect from 1 January 2018, with a six-month transition period until 1 July 2018. RTOs may have to take action to update student enrolment processes and the wording of their Privacy Notice and Student Declaration. RTOs are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the changed requirements under the new Policy including to reporting exemptions, which is available on the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training’s website.

RTOs delivering VET courses in a single day or less are reminded the temporary exemption allowing the issue of a VET qualification or statement of attainment to a student who has not provided their Unique Student Identifier will lapse on 31 December 2017, as scheduled.

Reminder - Rural and Regional Enterprise Scholarships Open for Applications

Applications for the 2018 round of the Rural and Regional Enterprise Scholarship program are open from Monday, 4 December 2017 and close on Monday, 8 January 2018.

The Scholarships will provide Australian Government support to up to 1,200 regional and remote students to undertake STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) studies, including in the fields of agriculture and health.

The scholarships are for undergraduate, postgraduate and vocational education students and cover courses from Certificate IV to PhD level.

Scholarships are valued at up to $18,000 each for six months to four year qualifications (or the part-time equivalent) and will assist scholarship recipients with the costs of study for the duration of their course. The scholarships will also support flexible study by including part-time and online students.

More information about the scholarships, including eligibility and application details, is available on the department's website.

Office Closure Over Christmas

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The AEN office will be closing over the Christmas and new year period. Our last day will be Friday 22 December 2017 and the office will re-open on Monday 8 January 2018.

This will be our last newsletter for the year. We will resume again on Friday 19th January 2018.

If you would like to send through any stories for inclusion in our newsletter please do so at admin@aen.org.au.

We hope you all have a safe and enjoyable holiday season and look forward to working with you again in 2018.

NCVER Update

Apprentices and trainees 2017: June quarter - Australia
There were 268 600 apprentices and trainees in-training as at 30 June 2017, a decrease of 4.7% from 30 June 2016.

Research report: Are we all speaking the same language? Understanding ‘quality’ in the VET sector


The definition of ‘quality’ when describing Australia's VET system can vary widely according to stakeholder group and expected training outcomes. This can make explaining, measuring, and even discussing 'quality' in our VET sector deceptively difficult.

This new research examines how five key stakeholder groups – learners, employers, providers, government and regulators – define quality in the VET system by exploring what they consider important and what the barriers and enablers are for a system that meets their expectations.

To learn more, please visit download the report


Research report: Australian apprenticeships: trends, challenges and future opportunities for dealing with Industry 4.0


With their deep connections to industry, employers and the world of work, Australian apprenticeships have the potential to address some of the skills challenges being posed by industry 4.0.

This paper, presented by NCVER’s Phil Loveder at the KRIVET Apprenticeships Conference in Seoul, Korea on 28 September 2017, explores the challenges and constraints within the Australian apprenticeships system in addressing these issues.

It also presents some of the current directions in government policy and explores opportunities within industries and the training system itself to create change.

To learn more, please visit download the paper

ACNC Update

Dr Gary Johns announced as new ACNC Commissioner

The Assistant Minister to the Treasurer, the Hon. Michael Sukkar MP, announced this week that Dr Gary Johns has been appointed as ACNC Commissioner for a term of five years.

An Adjunct Professor at the Queensland University of Technology Business School, Dr Johns has served as a member of the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership, and has wide-ranging experience in regulation, public service and policy. He has also served as an Associate Commissioner of the Productivity Commission, and represented the electorate of Petrie in the Federal Government from 1987 to 1996.

For further information please visit the ACNC Latest News page.

Australian charity revenue grows

The Australian Charities Report 2016, launched this week, has found that charities recorded total revenue over $142.8 billion, with the sector spending more that $137.1 billion pursuing their charitable purpose.

The Australian Charities Report 2016 analyses the annual reporting data from more than 52,000 registered charities, providing invaluable insights into the impact Australia's charity sector has on the community.

Visit the link below to access the full report and interactive datacube.

For further information please visit the ACNC Website.

New AISC Resource to Help Industry Prepare for Future Skills Needs

The Australian Industry and Skills Committee’s (AISC) new National Industry Insights website aims to assist industry in preparing for future skills needs by providing easy-to-access information on economic and employment trends, education and training patterns.

In particular, it is designed to support Industry Reference Committees to make informed decisions about the review and development of training packages.

The dynamic web-based resource, developed by NCVER for the AISC, combines on-the-ground intelligence from industry with labour market and training data, providing both industry level information and an overarching national view. NCVER have worked with Industry Reference Committees in developing the website to ensure it meets their needs as well as being of broader interest.

Information for additional industries will be added over the coming weeks.

For further information please visit the website.

Thanks to our Industry Partners

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