Fee relief is available to eligible registered training organisations (RTOs) and non-school senior secondary providers (NSSSPs) to help ease the economic impact caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by VRQA:

• extending the issuing of refunds for annual and re-registration fees paid between 16 March 2020, when Victoria declared a State of Emergency, and 16 August 2020
• waiving annual and re-registration fees that were due to be invoiced from 17 August 2020 to 16 February 2021. The fee-waiver is via Ministerial Order 1291.

RTOs that were invoiced outside their normal timelines in February and March 2020, but should have been invoiced after 16 March 2020, will also be issued a refund. 

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Annual 2020 Reporting
The submission window for annual fee-for-service activity reported directly to NCVER will be open from 2 January to 26 February 2021. Data needs to be reported accurately as at 31 December 2019. Failure to submit data by the due date may result in follow up from the VET regulator(s).

Quarter 3 Reporting
The submission window for those who submit fee-for-service data directly to NCVER, the third quarterly collection for 2020, covering the period of July to September 2020, will be open from 1—13 November 2020.

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The McGowan Government has announced an $18.34 million package to build a pipeline of skilled workers in Western Australia to attract defence maritime projects to the State. The package includes:

• $8.5 million towards $20,000 incentives for defence manufacturing industry employers to train apprentices in key trades
• $2.85 million to create an additional 335 apprenticeships in nominated trades
• $3.3 million investment in training and development of new short courses to create a ‘defence ready’ workforce
• Further investment in scholarships for women and Defence veterans, and facilities upgrades at South Metropolitan TAFE 

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This paper provides a summary of data relating to students, programs, subjects and training providers in Australia’s government-funded VET system. This data covers the period of 1 January to 31 March 2020. In the first three months to 31 March 2020, 674 500 students were enrolled in government-funded VET, this included 658 700 students enrolled in nationally recognised training, with 90.2% of program enrolments in qualifications.

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This paper presents statistics on commencements, completions, cancellations and withdrawals and those currently in training.  It shows apprentice and trainee commencements were down 11% to 49,015 in the March quarter 2020, compared with the same quarter in 2019. The biggest decreases seen in food trades workers, down 20%, and construction trades workers, down 13%.

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The National Skills Commission has released information about 25 Emerging Occupations in the Australian Labour Market. Emerging occupations are defined as new, frequently advertised jobs which are substantially different to occupations already defined in ANZSCO. By identifying emerging skills and looking at how these skills change existing jobs, the NSC is able to identify emerging or new jobs in the labour market, such as data scientist and biostatistician.

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The RII: Resources and Infrastructure Training Package has been updated on training.gov.au:

• 21 qualifications added
• 32 qualifications updated 
• 23 qualifications removed
• 229 units of competency added
• 13 units of competency updated
• 156 units of competency removed
• 5 imported units added
• 4 imported units updated
• 1 imported unit removed

Skills Tasmania-endorsed Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) who wish to offer subsidised places to apprentices/trainees who commence their training and assessment in 2021 can now lodge an application. The 2021 Apprentice and Trainee Training Fund (User Choice) RTO guide is available to assist RTOs understand the application process, funding conditions and criteria.

Apply.

In response to the the impact of the Australian bushfires, COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing challenges with employment, mental health, and transportation, the Youth Action Project Grand Scheme (YAPGS) is providing grants between $5000 and $20,000 for young people aged between 15-24years. Applications close on Wednesday 7th October.

Apply here.

The Skills Fund Grant Program provides employers and their existing workers the opportunity to undertake nationally recognised training and develop the skills of their workers. Endorsed RTOs working in partnership with an employer or industry association to deliver the training can apply.
Applications open 19 September 2020 and close on 16 October 2020.

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AATIS and NCVER will focus on data from NCVER, the National Skills Commission, the Labour Market Information Portal, and other sources. Australian Apprenticeships and VET data. This online webinar will discuss key data sets, what terms mean and how to interpret the data.

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This webinar will provide an overview of the different approaches used by other countries to reduce their number of VET qualifications. It will also discuss the lessons that can be learnt for the Australian VET system.

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