The Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business and the Minister for Education and Youth announced that ASQA will extend fee relief for vocational education and training (VET) providers and accredited course owners until 31 December 2021 to lift the financial pressures on VET providers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more.

The new Standards for VET Accredited Courses 2021 came into effect on 23 March 2021. The new standards now include course monitoring and evaluation processes as well as updates to the course document and unit of competency template.

If you are a course owner or developer who has commenced development of a course, ASQA encourages you to refer to the updated standards, application form and templates to ensure the courses are developed against the new Standards.

For further information and to access the updated forms and templates, click here.

The Australian Government is developing a new Australian Strategy for International Education 2021-2030 (the Strategy). The new Strategy will:

• respond to the changing environment
• guide the recovery of the sector
• outline our goals and approach to international education over the next 10 years
• equip the sector’s innovation and responsiveness
• respond to emerging opportunities, including changes in student demands
• maintain our position as an effective and trusted partner in international education. 

Read more.

The Partnership Grants offers funding opportunities to assist organisations to deliver innovative career guidance services for people at all stages of their careers. The program is a key part of the Australian Government’s $585m Delivering Skills for Today and Tomorrow package.

Applications are now open for Round Two of the National Careers Institute’s Partnership Grants program and close 23rd June 2021.

For more information, click here.

International onshore VET qualification completer outcomes 2020 provides a summary of the outcomes of international students who completed their VET qualification in Australia in 2019. Overall 69.0% of international onshore qualification completers undertook training for employment-related reasons, 26.7% for personal reasons, and 4.2% for further study reasons.

Read the full report here.

This summary brings together findings primarily from international country comparisons on industry’s role in VET over the last decade, identifying the key characteristics of industry’s successful engagement in VET governance. In many countries, including Australia, sub-national industry or sectoral skills councils, are particularly successful in strengthening partnerships between employers, training providers and local governments, consequently improving the quality of VET programs.

Read more.

Employment is projected to increase in 17 of the 19 broad industries over the five years to November 2025. Health Care and Social Assistance is projected to make the largest contribution to employment growth over the period (increasing by 249,500), followed by Accommodation and Food Services (139,900), Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (131,100), and Education and Training (118,600). Together, these four industries are projected to generate over three-fifths (or 64.4 per cent) of total employment growth over the five years to November 2025.

Read more. 

The following training packages have been updated on training.gov.au:

• MAR: Maritime
  Revised 13th May 2021.
• FWP: Forest and Wood Products
  Revised 29th April 2021.
• CSC: Correctional Services
  Revised 30th April 2021.
• HLT: Health
  Revised 30th April 2021.
• PMA: Chemical, Hydrocarbons and Refining
  Revised 5th May 2021.
• CHC: Community Services
  Revised 5th May 2021.
• NWP: National Water
  Revised 6th May 2021.
• CPC: Construction, Plumbing and Services
  Revised 6th May 2021.

ASQA has recently approved an extended transition period for NWP30219 Certificate III in Water Industry Operations. The extended training, assessment and certification issuance period for this qualification ends on 31 December 2021.

Read more.

ASQA has recently approved an extended transition period for AHC30816 Certificate III in Arboriculture. The extended training, assessment and certification issuance period for this qualification ends on 16 December 2022.

Read more.

ASQA has recently approved an extended transition period for the below qualifications for apprentice learners. The extended training, assessment and certification issuance period for this qualification ends on 1 April 2024:

• ICP31215 Certificate III in Printing
• ICP31315 Certificate III in Print Manufacturing
• ICP31415 Certificate III in Print Communications

Read more.

• CPP40507 Certificate IV in Property Services (Business Broking)
• CPP40307 Certificate IV in Property Services (Real Estate)Read more.
• CPP40611 Certificate IV in Property Services (Operations)
• CPP40407 Certificate IV in Property Services (Stock and Station Agency)
• CPP50307 Diploma of Property Services (Agency Management)
• 62 CPP Property Services units of competency

• ACM20117 Certificate II in Animal Studies
• ACM30117 Certificate III in Animal StudiesACM40317 Certificate IV in Companion Animal Services
• ACM30417 Certificate III in Companion Animal Services
• ACM30617 Certificate III in Pet Grooming
• ACM40217 Certificate IV in Captive Animals

AATIS will be hosting a free webinar each day at 2PM AEDT between Monday May 17th – Friday May 21st. There will be a variety of topics being discussed including Resources for Schools, Job Hunters and Employers as well as ‘Social Marketing in the VET Sector’ and ‘The Value of the Network: The AATIS Partners Program’.

Register here.

WorldSkills Australia has partnered with AWS, Keysight Technologies and CloudShare to create Virtual Skills Week 2021 – where Australia’s top up-and-coming IT talent will battle for medals, prizes and a potential spot at the WorldSkills Australia National Championships. Registrations are now open.

Register here.