The Australian Government will invest $2 billion to provide hundreds of thousands of Australians access to new skills by retraining and upskilling them into sectors with job opportunities, as the economy recovers from COVID-19.
It will also guarantee support for thousands of apprentices in jobs across the country by subsidising their wages to keep them employed and their training secured. Courses will be free or low cost in areas of identified need.

Read more.

The Department of Education, Skills and Employment is undertaking a review of the The Disability Standards for Education 2005 through an extensive community consultation process.
The Federal Minister for Education is required to review the Standards every five years.
The key question for this Review is whether, and to what extent, the Standards are making a positive difference towards students with disability being able to access education and training opportunities on the same basis as students without disability.

For further information, click here.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic,the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority has implemented an interim process for RTO’s seeking re-registration. RTO’s should note:

• Audits will be conducted remotely through desktop audits. Where necessary, on-site validation may occur.  
• RTO Registrations that expire in 2020 are granted a six-month extension period.

Read more.

The AISC Emergency Response Sub-Committee has commissioned the development of training and assessment resources to support RTOs in the delivery of the skill set: COVID-19 Critical Skills Point of Care Testing.

The training and assessment resource for the unit HLTPAT003 Perform capillary blood collections is now available. On completion, learners will have the knowledge to carry out testing as part of after diagnosis care.

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This report details some of the work underway by the National Skills Commission (NSC) to improve and consolidate Australia’s skills forecasting capability, keeping in mind the new and emerging jobs and skills workers will need.
The data and evidence presented in this analysis of the impact of COVID-19 will help identify where there is growth and what jobs are in demand. This information will also help inform economic recovery, and the education and training system, so Australians are prepared for the modern workplace.

Read more.

This report summarises the findings of research undertaken by Apprenticeship Support Australia NSW (ASANSW) with employers and apprentices. It provides an understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on apprentice employment in real-time, analyses the consequences of ‘doing nothing’ and puts forward a set of key recommendations to address the issues uncovered.
The research predicts that the number of apprenticeship commencements will reduce by around 36 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019. This equates to 54,000 fewer commencements across Australia in 2020 (97,000 compared to 151,000).

Read more.

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

• 4 qualifications updated
• 46 units of competency removed
• 16 imported units of competency removed

The ICT: Information and Communications Technology Training Package has been updated on training.gov.au:

• 4 qualifications added
•  24 qualifications removed
• 326 units of competency added
• 3 units of competency updated
• 276 units of competency removed
• 22 imported units of competency added
• 17 imported units of competency removed

Updates have been made to some Australian Apprenticeships and Traineeships Qualifications.

View here.

AATIS released a new campaign to inspire Australian business owners to consider hiring an apprentice or trainee. The campaign, ‘Support your business by hiring an apprentice’ includes a suite of materials showcasing the benefits of hiring an Australian Apprentice.

A social media playbook is available to download.
 

The Australian and Tasmanian governments have entered into a partnership to support the delivery of infection control training by registered training organisations at low or no cost to customer-facing workers.
Applications for Round 1 will be accepted from 25 July until the program closes at 2:00pm on 17 August 2020.

Information on eligibility, application and grant criteria and program conditions can be found on the Skills Tasmania website.
 

29 July 2020, 11:00am – 12:00pm AEST
This session will provide a clear understanding of the difference between micro-learning, micro-credentialing and badging, and will gain insights on how you might start offering micro-credentials in your RTO.

Register.

28 July 2020 – 30 July 2020
Theme: Challenges facing Vocational Education and Training

Presentation from 24 international speakers on the following challenges:

• Building a value driven TVET culture
• Measuring quality in vocational education
• Bridging the gap between TVET curricula and industry needs
• TVET Policy and compliance models
• TVET funding models
• Education and training technology
• Instructional design models
• TVET workforce continuous development

Register.