When you apply to become an RTO, ASQA requires you to demonstrate financial viability by submitting the Financial viability risk assessment tool. This existing obligation under the NVR Act is enacted through a legislative instrument known as the Financial Viability Risk Assessment requirements (FVRAR). With the existing 2011 FVRAR instrument due to expire on 1 October 2021, an instrument with no change in terms, has been made, The National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Financial Viability Risk Assessment Requirements) Instrument 2021.

Read more.

For those who may have missed the recent ASQA webinar ‘Spotlight On Assessment Validation’ as part of the second Spotlight On series, the webinar recording is now available to view.

The webinar discussed assessment validation and answered questions about the benefits of validation, how to assemble a team, the difference between key concepts, TAE validation and much more.

View the recording here.

The Morrison Government is investing more than $120 million to improve the lives of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children through better access to quality early childhood education. The package forms part of the Commonwealth’s Closing the Gap Implementation Plan, includes:

• $81.8 million to expand the Connected Beginnings program in 27 new sites, helping to ensure an additional 8,550 children are safe, healthy, and ready to start school by the age of five;
• $29.8 million to expand the Community Child Care Fund Restricted Program and fund up to 20 additional mostly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-run child care services in remote communities, benefitting around 3,500 children;
• $9 million to expand the Early Years Education Program to create four new replication sites in Queensland and Victoria, to connect highly disadvantaged children with child care services and targeted health, nutrition, mental health services.
• $1.9 million to trial a new early learning teaching model to strengthen literacy and numeracy through explicit instruction, with a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in two early learning centres.

Read more.

The Human Services Skills Organisation (HSSO) is conducting a survey about Mandatory Work Placement for students completing the Certificate III in Individual Support. The HSSO represents employers across aged care, disability support, allied health, veterans’ services, youth services, and early childhood education and care.

RTOs delivering the Certificate III in Individual Support qualification are encouraged to share their feedback to address their  experiences in accessing the mandatory work placements.

Participate here.

The Australian Government will invest $100,000 over two years for the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA) to continue its longstanding advocacy role in improving education opportunities for geographically isolated families. From 2020-21 to 2023-24, $400 million will be spent to support regional and remote students to attend university, including:

• $177.8 million over four years for a new $5,000 Tertiary Access Payment to encourage and assist outer regional and remote school leavers to access tertiary study immediately following Year 12.
• $146 million over four years to increase Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding for regional university campuses by 3.5 per cent a year.
• $6 million over four years to establish a Regional Education Commissioner to oversee the implementation of the Napthine Review recommendations and measures and report to the Government on progress of regional education.

Read more.

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt in some industries more than in others. Individual businesses within industry sectors have also responded in different ways. Some businesses with products relevant to the pandemic have capitalised on the situation by making innovations in their products and in their operations. Many others have merely adapted to the changed conditions, making changes to survive while under intense strain, as a result of reduced demand, disrupted supply chains and labour shortages. This project identified how businesses have innovated in their practices or markets to remain financially viable during the pandemic and whether the vocational education and training (VET) sector assisted them to equip their staff for these changes.

Read the full paper here.

The National Skills Commission has released new, downloadable labour market data dashboards covering all 51 employment regions in Australia as well as at the national, state and territory level.
The dashboards bring together a range of data in the one place for the first time to provide a comprehensive picture of how a region’s jobs market is performing. It will allow users to quickly find key labour market data for their area of interest. The dashboards include insights on:

• how many people are employed and unemployed in a region
• workforce participation rates
• youth unemployment
• number of online job ads by occupation and qualification levels
• jobactive caseload data
• largest employing industries and employers’ future staffing expectations (state and territory level only).

View.

In July 2021, 45% of employers were recruiting or had recruited in the past month, 4 percentage points lower compared with June 2021 (49%).

The recruitment rate has decreased significantly in Capital Cities (from 49% to 43%), while in Rest of State areas it stands at the same level (48%) compared with a month ago. Not surprisingly, given the current restrictions in the state, NSW had the lowest recruitment rate of the states (40%), followed by South Australia (41%). On the other hand, Western Australia had the highest recruitment rate (51%).

The proportion of recruiting employers who reported recruitment difficulty increased slightly to 52% in July 2021, up from 50% in June 2021 but slightly below the 53% recorded in May 2021.

View the data here.

ASQA has recently approved an extended transition period for NWP30215 Certificate III in Water Industry Operations and NWP20115 Certificate II in Water Industry Operations. The extended training, assessment and certification issuance period for this qualification ends on 31 December 2021.

For further information, click here.