Calendars

MEGT PD elearning Webinar Workshops

VELG Webinars

VELG Mentoring Mondays

ACPET Calendar

Reminder: Registrations closing for the second Professional Development Workshop:

Unpacking the ACT Quality Framework

Following the success of the first professional development workshop in April, Training and Tertiary Education is hosting a second session on 6 May 2016. The workshop is for RTOs delivering funded training in the ACT, under an ACT Funding Agreement (ACTFA) and will focus on supporting RTOs with meeting the requirements of the ACT Quality Framework.

ASQA announces regulatory strategy

Learner protection, the amount of training being provided and the capability of trainers and assessors will be target areas for the national skills regulator over the next 14 months.

New Department of Education and Training Secretary

Dr Michele Bruniges AM has been appointed Secretary of the Department of Education and Training. Dr Bruniges has more than 25 years’ experience in the education sector and has been leading the NSW Department of Education since 2011.

ASQA Update

Please, read the April 2016 edition of the ASQA Update newsletter.

ASQA to launch two new national strategic reviews

ASQA will undertake two further national strategic reviews in 2016-17.

The first will be a review into the duration of training across the Australian vocational education and training sector, following considerable concerns being raised about very short courses.

The second will be a continuing focus on some providers approved to offer courses under the Australian Government’s VET FEE-HELP (VFH) program.

Update —Training provider and course owner briefing sessions

ASQA’s 2016 program of training provider and course owner briefing sessions is now in full swing. To date sessions have been held in Sydney, Darwin, Perth, Alice Springs, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane. A further 25 sessions will be held through to 2 June. The training provider briefing sessions cover a range of topics including:

• current risk areas in the VET sector

• compliance issues

• validation of assessment

• the temporary extension to transition periods

• the updated TAE Training Package

• data reporting requirements, and

• the new-look ASQAnet, which is currently being developed.

Requirement to upgrade TAE qualification

The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) has been made aware that some registered training organisations (RTOs) are distributing marketing information by e-mail indicating that all trainers and assessors must ‘upgrade’ their qualifications in order to comply with the Standards for RTOs 2015 as a result of revised qualifications in the TAE Training and Assessment Training Package, including the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. This information is not correct.

While the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) has recently made a recommendation to the COAG Industry and Skills Council that the changes to the TAE training package be applied to the existing VET workforce, no decision has been made on this matter.

Administration

Win 

File compliance rates on initial submission are increasing on completed files.

Focus 

Keep your eyes out for the Smart and Skilled Update spreadsheet from Amy which has a list of trainees where training cannot commence until Commitment IDs have been generated.

Promotional - International Students

Nominate your International Students to feature in a project film with the ABC

Study NSW is partnering with the ABC to produce a series of four short films that will feature international students and ACPET would like to encourage its members to consider nominating one of their international students to be part of this experience.

The aim will be to depict the students in a variety of contexts whether this be through their study, work or home life. It might follow the journey of a student who is actively contributing to community harmony initiatives, or another who contributes in quieter ways through companionship and care work with elderly community members.

Training Awards

NSW Training Awards

NSW having 3 trainees at interview stage and 2 have been selected for the finalist stage.

2016 ACT Training Awards – Nominations Now Open

Nominations for the 2016 ACT Training Awards are now open.

NCVER Reports

Trends in public and private VET outcomes

The report, Trends in public and private VET provision: participation, financing and outcomes, accessed NCVER’s own National VET Provider collection, supplemented by preliminary Total VET Activity (TVA) data for 2014, and included, for the first time, an analysis of the Commonwealth’s official VET FEE-HELP data.

The performance of Australia’s 57 TAFE Institutes emerges strongly, dominating all major state and territory VET-funded ‘fields of education’ and trade apprenticeships.

NCVER Reports

Apprentice and trainee data

The latest release of apprentice and trainee data published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) provides a picture of apprenticeship and traineeship activity nationally and by state and territory.

The release shows there were 295 300 people undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship at the end of September 2015, a decrease of 13.7% compared with the same time in 2014. Previous NCVER research has shown that a subdued labour market and the uncapping of university places have an impact on the number of people entering into apprenticeships and traineeships.

A wide range of research on apprenticeships, traineeships and other issues is available on the NCVER website.

ASIC Smart Money

Be MoneySmart has been designed to support the delivery of the unit of competency FNSFLT301 - Be MoneySmart, either as an imported unit in a variety of courses, or as part of the Certificate III in Financial Services (FNS30111).

The online modules can also be used as part of non-accredited training for general money management skills programs.

Be MoneySmart can be accessed for free.

NCVER Reports

Nationally agreed nominal hours

Nationally agreed nominal hours

These nationally agreed hours data have been agreed to by all States and Territories for use in national reporting of VET data only. NCVER sources the nominal hours externally or via state and territory submissions to the National VET Provider Collection and updates the system file on a quarterly basis.

Requirement to upgrade TAE qualification

ASQA’s 2016 Training Provider Briefing Sessions are currently underway in cities across Australia.

The slides from these sessions are now available as a PDF or for viewing via SlideShare.

Once the sessions are completed, ASQA will also be publishing responses online to attendees’ questions. Attendees will be notified when this information is published.

TradePapers App

Keep all of your trade documents in one secure location that you can access anytime, anywhere, from any mobile device with TradePapers. This app allows you to take and store up to 10 images of licenses, tickets and other documents as well as 10 additional reminders directly into the app.

TradePapers costs $2.99 to download. In-app purchases are available for greater storage and more reminders, while a premium version to be released in coming weeks lets users

Strengthened requirements for delivery of training and assessment qualifications

The skills and knowledge of the VET workforce are essential to ensuring high quality, valid assessment across all training products. Trainers and assessors in the VET workforce are required to hold specific qualifications from the Training and Education (TAE) Training Package.

It is critical that the TAE Training Package training products are delivered to the highest levels of quality, so that trainers and assessors hold all the skills and knowledge required. The Australian Industry and Skills Committee endorsed an updated version of the TAE Training Package in February 2016.

Smart and Skilled Updates

No 22 and Fee Free scholarships 

• WAIVER STRATEGIES
• SMART AND SKILLED TARGETED PRIORITIES PREVOCATIONAL AND PART QUALIFICATIONS PROGRAM – COMMITMENT IDS NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH BULK UPLOAD 
• CHANGE TO REPORTING UNITS OF COMPETENCY FOR DISCONTINUED STUDENTS 
• SMART AND SKILLED USER GUIDES UPDATED 
• SUPERSEDED QUALIFICATIONS 
•  IMPLEMENTATION OF TEMPORARY 18 MONTH TRANSITION PERIOD 
• TRANSITION ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUPERSEDED QUALIFICATIONS IN VOCATIONAL TRAINING ORDERS (VTOS) 
• OUTCOME IDENTIFIER CODES NOT PERMITTED UNDER SMART AND SKILLED 
• USI REGISTRY SYSTEM UPDATES 

No 21 

1. Retrospective Commitments IDS and Training Activity Data reporting available until 23 May 

No 20 

1. Jobs of Tomorrow Scholarships – Applications now open 

The NSW Government is offering $1,000 Jobs of Tomorrow Scholarships with an approved Smart and Skilled training provider to students who commenced training in areas related to science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) on or after 1 January 2016. More information about the scholarships is available on the Smart and Skilled website. 

1. Clarification re: Smart and Skilled VTOs and the transition period 
2. Smart and Skilled Targeted Priorities Prevocational and Part Qualification Program

TAE Qualifications

By way of a summary:

• TAE40110 – Certificate IV in Training and Assessment has been superseded by TAE40116 –Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. MEGT does not have the new qualification on Scope and needs to apply (meeting stringent additional requirements)
• TAE50111 - Diploma of Vocational Education and Training has been superseded by TAE50116 - Diploma of Vocational Education and Training. MEGT does not have the new qualification on Scope and needs to apply (meeting stringent additional requirements)
• TA50211 – Diploma of Training Design and Development has been superseded by TAE50216 – Diploma of Training Design and Development. MEGT has already this new qualification on Scope (by automatic update on TGA), however TAS and related delivery materials are still in development.
• 18 months transition/teach out apply to TAE40110, TAE5011 and TAE50211, with the last date any student can remain enrol in these qualifications being 5 October 2017.
• At this time there has been no determination requiring existing trainers and assessors to update to the new versions of TAE qualifications. Trainers and Assessors holding the TAE40110 – Certificate IV in Training and Assessment are compliant with SRTO 2015 requirements (for now, and until further advice).

Mary Pyle (Program Leader LLN and TAE) is currently working on preparing the required evidence (see additional evidence requirements), allowing us to lodge addition to Scope applications for the TAE40116 –Certificate IV in Training and Assessment and TAE50116 - Diploma of Vocational Education and Training. 

I understand there is already some external interest for the new qualifications and MEGT is steaming ahead towards the position where we can have these on our Scope as a result of quality submissions, underpinned by quality products. Until then, please inform external and internal channels of the work being undertaken towards Scope updates.

Finding Unique Student Identifiers

With over 4 million USIs already created, an increasing number of Australians will already have a USI when they next enrol in training.

The USI Office is currently trialling a new search tool which will enable RTOs to help students to find their existing USI. Please note that RTOs will still need the student’s permission prior to using this function.

Before trying to create a USI on behalf of a student, RTOs can use this simpler search tool to first determine if the student already has an existing USI. This will ensure training outcomes are recorded against the correct USI.

If RTOs have been having trouble verifying a student‘s USI, trying this simplified search tool may help retrieve the correct USI information for their student. 

For more information on how to use or access this new search tool, please refer to the USI website.

National WPD Trainer SOP’s

National WPD Trainer SOP’s have been released and are now located on the intranet, on the Education homepage. These will be reviewed at the Quarterly WPD Team Meeting in May.

Marike has developed flow charts and email templates for the following two processes:

• Smart and Skilled, from TPP received to first visit
• Process for the short course in Pharmacy retail - S2 S3 SIRCHC201

These can be found on the State Page under Library links>NSW/ACT Documents>Smart and skilled or Templates and S2 S3 SIRCHC201.

These are ready to use, however feedback would be appreciated to assist with continuous improvement.

Request for Tender for Audit, Accredited Course Evaluation, Investigation and Related Services Panel

The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) has published a Request for Tender (RFT) on AusTender for the establishment of an Audit, Accredited Course Evaluation, Investigation and Related Services Panel to operate from 1 July 2016.

Staying Connected in VET

You can stay Connected in VET through the VELG eMagazine

VET PD Network

The VET PD Network seeks to support the capability and capacity of the VET sector by providing a range of professional development opportunities for RTOs, including practical, solution based face to face workshops.

Visit the VET PD Network website for additional titles and more information or go to their Contact page to register for a workshop in your location or discuss other professional development services.

Skills Bites

Get a taste of your favourite skills and trades in 15 seconds!

The SKILLS BITES channel, a series of social media videos depicting skills and trades in 15–30 second videos, has been created to get people excited about vocational careers. 

Watch the videos or contact SkillsOne to request information about having your own SKILLS BITE video created.

Newly endorsed Certificate IV in Training and Assessment

The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) welcomes the announcement by the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) of an updated Training and Education training package which includes a newly approved Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (Cert IV TAE*) which introduces higher standards for trainers and assessors across the vocational education and training (VET) workforce.

The newly-endorsed qualification includes an additional core unit on the development of effective assessment tools (Design and develop assessment tools). The additional unit aims to ensure that trainers and assessors have a greater depth of knowledge about good assessment tools and students graduating from VET courses will be more effectively assessed as having the necessary skills and knowledge to do the job.

ASQA News for further details.

Policy of the month

Review of SOPs

Could all trainers read through SOPs and provide feedback as part of our continuous improvement process?