Newsletter: 9 June 2008

• MEETING BETWEEN TAFE INSTITUTE DIRECTORS AND INDUSTRY SKILLS COUNCILS
• NEW PRODUCTIVITY PROGRAM MEETING SKILLS NEEDS
• NSW BUDGET RECORD $11.8 BILLION FOR SCHOOLS AND TAFE
• INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN A JOINT TDA / ERTOA NETWORK
• TDA DEVELOPS A NEW STRATEGIC PLAN 2008-2010
• AUSTRALIA'S SKILL AND TRADE ELITE PREPARE FOR NATIONAL SHOWCASE
• A NEW ERA FOR AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH
• AUSTRALIAN TRAINING AWARDS
• ELICOS STATISTICS SEMINARS AND NETWORKING FUNCTIONS
• DIARY DATES

MEETING BETWEEN TAFE INSTITUTE DIRECTORS AND INDUSTRY SKILLS COUNCILS

Directors of TAFE institutes are invited to a meeting with the CEOs of the 11 Industry Skills Councils on 8 July in Sydney. The ISC/TDA meeting will be held on the eve of WorldSkills Australia Competition, scheduled to be staged at Sydney's Darling Harbour.

In the past TDA members have collaborated with ISC's on Training Package development and maintenance, and held a joint meeting in Hobart in November. 

Under the Skilling Australia legislation the role of Australia's 11 ISC's has been strengthened giving even greater importance to collaboration between ISC's and TDA members.

The aim of the TDA/ISC meeting in July is to give both ISC's and TAFE Directors an opportunity to discuss how to work collaboratively within this new framework. 

For further information, click here or contact Pam Caven, Director Stakeholder Engagement on pamcaven@bigpond.com

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NEW PRODUCTIVITY PROGRAM MEETING SKILLS NEEDS

The Federal Government's new Productivity Places Program has begun allocating RTOs across 567 qualifications. 

The early data was released last week by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, the Hon Julia Gillard MP.

On 1 April the Australian Government released 20,000 training places for people outside the workforce to undertake Certificate II and III courses in areas of skills shortage.

More than 6 300 people have already enrolled to undertake training providing a new stream of skilled workers in much needed skills shortage areas.
Some 340 Registered Training Organisations have been contracted to deliver 1,430 qualifications in 1,225 sites and a further 130 contract offers have been made for another 567 qualifications.
Minister Gillard says a "crucial part of its success" is the enhanced role of Industry Skills Councils (ISC's), which will work with Skills Australia to ensure that the training places respond to industry demands.

To read Minister Gillard's media release, click here.

To see the list of top thirty qualifications by enrolment, click here.

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NSW BUDGET RECORD $11.8 BILLION FOR SCHOOLS AND TAFE 

The NSW Government will increase funding to schools and TAFE by $614 million. NSW Minister for Education and Training, the Hon John Della Bosca said a record $11.8 billion would be spent on school education and vocational training to improve student learning and facilities - an increase of 5.5% on 2007-08.

"We are equipping our students for the future with a broad range of education and training opportunities to prepare them for the workforce or further study," Mr Della Bosca said.

Funding to TAFE and other vocational education and training programs will be further increased with almost $1.9 billion in recurrent funding - an increase of $90 million on the previous financial year.

To read the Minister's media release, click here.

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INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN A JOINT TDA / ERTOA NETWORK

TAFE Institutes are invited to participate in a new ReFraming the Future project, on enterprise training.

TAFE Directors Australia (TDA) and the Enterprise Registered Training Organisations Association ERTOA were successful in May, on ReFraming the Future with a 2008 Network grant.

ERTOA is an association of mainly large companies where training is embedded in the organization. Its members include Defence, Westpac, ABC, Qantas, the ATO, Toyota and OneSteel. This will be a hands on and practical project that will look in detail at how Enterprise RTOs and TAFE Institutes operate, their different operational models and, most importantly, the many similarities.

The outcomes of the project for TDA Institute participants are anticipated to be greater awareness of the operations of enterprise RTOs, benchmarking of work practices and opportunities for future collaboration. Anthony Tyrrel from ERTOA and Pam Caven from TDA will manage the project.

Applications for TDA participants close on 12 June 2008. To apply, click here.

For further information please contact Pam Caven at pamcaven@bigpond.com

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TDA DEVELOPS A NEW STRATEGIC PLAN 2008-2010

Over coming months the TDA Board will be seeking input from TDA members and key stakeholders as to how the organisation should be positioning itself to strengthen its voice as the peak body for Australia's TAFE institutes.

In drafting a new strategic plan, the Board has established a policy committee which will meet 10 June to commence this process. At its first meeting the subcommittee will seek to understand the new context in which TDA is operating through an environmental scan.

The strategic planning process requires answers to three fundamental questions: Where are we now? Where do we want to be? How will we get there? … Stay tuned..!

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AUSTRALIA'S SKILL AND TRADE ELITE PREPARE FOR NATIONAL SHOWCASE

Some 500 young trade and skill technicians are preparing for the WorldSkills Australia National Competition - Australia's biennial showcase of skills and trades excellence being held at Sydney Darling Harbour 11-13 July.

Organisers expect 60,000 visitors this year to the National Competition.

"The WorldSkills competitions show the rest of the country what remarkable talent we have here and prove that the future of skills and trades is worth investing in," WorldSkills Australia CEO Mark Callaghan said.

To read the media release, click here.

To visit the WorldSkills Australia website, click here.

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A NEW ERA FOR AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH 

Interested stakeholders are being encouraged by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, to assist in the development of the Government's new Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative.

Releasing a consultation paper on the initiative, Senator Carr said that only by involving those affected by ERA could the Government expect to build stakeholder confidence in, and ownership of, the important new evaluation framework.

The ERA consultation paper seeks feedback on a range of issues, including the attribution of publications and other indicators of research, which will be crucial to ERA's shape and utility.

The closing date for responses is Monday, 30 June.

To read Minister Carr's media release, click here.

For more information, including the consultation paper, visit www.arc.gov.au/era

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AUSTRALIAN TRAINING AWARDS

The Australian Training Awards, the peak national awards for vocational education and training, will be held in Darwin on 20 November.

The event comprises eleven awards, including six organisational categories and five student categories.

Entry is open to state and territory award winners, with winners from each state and territory competing in the national finals.

Registration to attend the awards will be open from 1 July.

Fore more information, click here.

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ELICOS STATISTICS SEMINARS AND NETWORKING FUNCTIONS

English Australia is organising a series of seminars around Australia to share the latest market trends and developments for the ELICOS sector as outlined in the new English Australia Survey of Major Regional Markets in 2007. Each presentation will cover national data and then provide a specific focus on the data for each state.

Click on the destination name below for venue details and registration forms. Bookings are essential.

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DIARY DATES

AUSTRALIAN FLEXIBLE LEARNING FRAMEWORK
e-Exemplars online mini-conference

AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF INDEPENDENT COLLEGES
Annual Conference

DEPARTMENT OF FURTHER EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (DFEEST)
2008 Training Sector Forum - Better skills, brighter futures

ACIVC
2008 ACIVC Annual Conference

NCVER & TAFE TASMANIA
17th National Vocational Education and Training Research 'No Frills' Conference

MINISTRY FOR NATIONAL EDUCATION, REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA & TT-TVET EU-ASIA-LINK PROJECT PARTNERS
First World Congress on teacher education for TVET

NCVER
Apprenticeships: Sustaining Australia's skills - NCVER Research Forum

VETNETWORK
VETNetwork National Conference

GROUP TRAINING AUSTRALIA
2008 Group Training National Conference

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