In line with the Government imperative to implement its Green Skills Agreement, IBSA has undertaken an audit of its 11 Training Packages to identify the gaps and areas where sustainability skills may need to be incorporated or new units developed. IBSA is undertaking work to ensure that all qualifications will have green skills identified and embedded. More details http://ibsa.org.au/news-and-projects/news/tabid/112/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/106/Skills-for-Sustainability.aspx

The Department of Education and Training Queensland is seeking feedback on the draft Green Skills Agreement Implementation Plan.

read more online

With $1,100,000 of funding and support from the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework), seven new Flexible Learning Toolboxes (Toolboxes) that support the delivery of nationally endorsed training packages in critical industries will be developed in 2010.

Many of the Series 13 Toolboxes, to be developed by registered training organisations, will focus on providing customisable learning objects covering sustainability units. This is in line with the Australian Government’s National Green Skills Agreement which aims to embed green skills in all training packages over the next few years.

The 2010 Toolboxes will also have a strong trades focus, and are aligned with skills shortage areas as identified by Industry Skills Councils and Industry Training Advisory Boards.

Toolboxes are high quality, cost effective, interactive e-learning and assessment resources, designed to provide flexible and engaging support for learning on the job, in the classroom or in remote locations. They can be cheaply and easily customised to form complete training programs and meet individual learner requirements.

Series 13 Toolboxes are expected to be available from late 2010, either for purchase on CD-ROM through TVET Australia or as free, downloadable learning objects from the Toolbox Repository.

The new Toolboxes will be developed to support training in the following industry areas:

Plumbing

• Licensed to Plumb (Part II) will extend the Series 12 Licensed to Plumb Toolbox by supporting an additional three units from the Certificate IV in Plumbing and Services, covering eight units in total. It will focus on core skills and knowledge for licensed plumbers including water, drainage, sanitary, gas, roofing and mechanical services.

Electrotechnology

• Harness the Sun will address three units from Certificate IV in Electrical (Photovoltaic Systems), a qualification required by licensed electricians to operate as accredited designers and installers of photovoltaic systems. This Toolbox will provide timely support for training in a high growth industry. Formerly a niche product, photovoltaic systems have gained national status as an environmentally friendly product, attracting an Australian Government rebate for businesses and individuals.
• Fresh or Freezing will support selected units from Certificate II, III and IV in Refrigeration and Air conditioning. This Toolbox supplements technical units with theoretical units addressing energy saving strategies and renewable energy concepts. This will help meet the industry’s growing demand for employees who understand how domestic and commercial appliances use energy.

Music

• Music Box will support the Certificate II in Music. The music industry is experiencing revolutionary change and requires employees who are skilled in working with new technologies. This Toolbox will address industry training needs to help cater for the shift towards multi-skilling and independent artist business models and the uptake of new technologies for the production and distribution of contemporary music.

Manufacturing

• Sustainable Manufacturing will support Certificate II and Certificate III qualifications in the Manufacturing Training Package. The process manufacturing sector is facing a number of challenges including a large number of highly experienced workers without formal qualifications and rising costs associated with sustainability. This Toolbox will provide a user-friendly and innovative form of learning to introduce experienced workers to a formal learning environment and effectively engage them in structured sustainability training.

Forestry

• Timber ‘Plus’ will extend the Series 12 Timber Toolbox, covering a total of nine competencies from the Forest and Forest Products Industry Training Package. The Toolbox will include more in-demand core units as well as sector-specific units relating to the timber manufactured products sector. This sector has a high demand for training resources for frame and truss makers, who account for the majority of the sector’s 38,000 workers.

Asset maintenance

• Squeak e-Clean will support the Certificate III in Asset Maintenance (Cleaning Operations). The learning objects in the Toolbox will be contextualised to relate directly to the knowledge, skills and activities covered in workplace inductions for the cleaning industry. The Toolbox will address the significant lack of high quality resources available to support learning and assessment for this qualification and provide flexible learning opportunities for asset maintenance workers, allowing them to complete practical training on-the-job.

Visit the Toolbox website to preview the Framework’s full range of Toolboxes. Alternatively, you can access learning objects from past Toolboxes for free through the Toolbox Repository.

Toolbox Champions operate in all states and territories and provide free advice, mentoring and professional development for practitioners using Toolboxes.
For more information about the Framework, its products, resources and support networks, contact: (07) 3307 4700, email: enquiries [at] flexiblelearning.net.au (replace at with @ to use the email address) or visit: http://flexiblelearning.net.au

The Green Skills Agreement was endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments in December 2009, following consultations with industry, unions, the community and private education providers.

Click here for more information

100th issue prize winners
The Training Packages @ Work team are delighted to announce the winners of our 100th issue Toolbox give away.
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Streamlined training package endorsement
The requirement for state and territory ministers to approve all National Quality Council training package endorsement decisions has been removed from the Training Package Development and Endorsement Process.
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‘My Training’ website a possibility
Australia’s vocational education and training system may have its own online searchable database.
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Baird review into international students final report
The Baird review final report into the legislation that governs international education in Australia has been released.
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Strengthening international education
The Australian Government has announced funding of $5.1 million to further strengthen Australia’s international education industry.
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RTOs must re-register on CRICOS in 2010
All education and training providers currently registered on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students will have to re-register under strengthened criteria.
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Australian Workforce Futures
Skills Australia has released Australian Workforce Futures: A National Workforce Development Strategy.
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Indigenous business and employment opportunities boosted
The Australian Government is working to create increased Indigenous employment, training and supplier opportunities through government procurement policies.
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Australian Government funds 200 traineeships for Indigenous students
The Australian Government has launched the 2010 Aboriginal School Based Traineeship Program.
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Resourcing the Future discussion paper released
The National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce has released a discussion paper which is designed to stimulate a national conversation about the resources sector’s increasing demand for skilled labour.
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Maritime industry skill shortages addressed
The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, has announced that the Australian Maritime College in Launceston will receive $2.1 million to help address skills shortages in Australia’s maritime industries.
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VET: Increasing advantages for people with a disability
New research suggests vocational education and training improves employment outcomes for people with a disability who do not have a job.
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Green Skills Agreement: implementation progress
An implementation group met for the first time on 24 February 2010 to start work on strategies that will deliver the objectives of the Green Skills Agreement.
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CS&H ISC offering WELL opportunities
The Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council (CS&H ISC) has 300 Workplace English Language and Literacy training places to allocate to the CS&H industries.
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2009 E-portfolio Implementation Trials: Case studies released
Case studies documenting the 2009 E-portfolio Implementation Trials are now available.
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Latest apprentice and trainee statistics released
The National Centre for Vocational Education Research has released the Australian apprentice and trainee statistics for the September 2009 quarter.
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Printing and Graphic Arts Training Package (ICP10)
A new Printing and Graphics Arts Training Package has been submitted to the National Quality Council for endorsement.
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Electrotechnology Training Package (UEE07)
Version 3 of the Electrotechnology Training Package has been submitted to the National Quality Council for endorsement.
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Training and Education Training Package (TAE10)
The Training and Education Training Package has reached the final stages of the quality assurance process.
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Diploma of Training and Assessment (TAA50104)
Innovation and Business Skills Australia has developed a discussion paper as the basis for a review of the Diploma of Training and Assessment.
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Integrated Telecommunications Training Package (ICT10)
The development of a new Integrated Telecommunications Training Package has been completed.
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Occupation health and safety business qualifications
Innovation and Business Skills Australia has commenced a scoping review of the occupation health and safety qualifications and units of competency contained within the Business Services Training Package.
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Recreational vehicle manufacturing and servicing
Manufacturing Skills Australia now has responsibility for recreational vehicle manufacturing and servicing qualifications.
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Training package continuous improvement registers
Continuous improvement registers for training packages are available on the 11 industry skills council websites.
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Chronic Disease Self Management Resource Kit
A resource which supports the delivery and assessment of the chronic disease self management skill set from the Community Services Training Package has been released.
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IBSA’s Jobseeker and Learner Careers resource launched
A job seekers and learner resource section is now available on the Innovation and Business Skills Australia website.
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NCVER disability research resource
The National Centre for Vocational Education Research has developed an online resource which brings together all of its statistics and research on people with a disability engaged in vocational education and training.
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Fire systems design resources
The Construction and Property Services Industry Skills Council has developed resources which support the new Diploma of Fire Systems Design.
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Basic home fire safety for community services workers
A resource which supports the new fire safety units of competency contained in the Community Services Training Package is available on the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council website.
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In line with the Government imperative to implement its Green Skills Agreement, IBSA has undertaken an audit of its 11 Training Packages to identify the gaps and areas where sustainability skills may need to be incorporated or new units developed. IBSA is undertaking work to ensure that all qualifications will have green skills identified and embedded.

More details www.ibsa.org.au/news-and-projects/news/tabid/112/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/106/Skills-for-Sustainability

Industry Skills Councils are playing an important role in addressing sustainability issues within the training sector. In response to the COAG Green Skills Agreement, GSA will have a plan for embedding skills for sustainability into Training Packages by the end of March.
The agreement will result in:

• National standards of sustainability practice and teaching in vocational training
• The re-writing of Training Packages to include sustainability principles and competencies; and
• The up-skilling of VET instructors and teachers in delivering sustainability skills.

Read more…

Delivery strategies e-learning environment innovations sustainability vet Learning resources Technologies Assessment Learner groups eStandards Training packages Industries

As Australia seeks to build a sustainable economy, the vocational education and training (VET) system is playing a vital role in ensuring that today’s learners have the skills they need for the jobs of the future.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minster for Education Julia Gillard has confirmed that the Government is taking a National Green Skills Agreement to the COAG (Council of Australian Governments) meeting next month that will:

• set national standards of green practice and teaching in VET
• update existing training for apprentices to include green skills
• assist VET practitioners to learn new green skills to pass on to learners
• develop a program to assist vulnerable workers to develop green skills.

The National Green Skills Agreement has been endorsed by all states and territories, and will give businesses and individuals a valuable opportunity to contribute to a sustainable, low-carbon economy in their workplaces and communities.

Minister Gillard has said that the new green skills program is essential to support the VET system to “re-equip or re-skill millions of Australians between now and 2025”, in order to meet Australia’s sustainability targets and goals.

E-learning and green skills

The flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and just-in-time nature of e-learning means that it is well placed to assist the VET system to deliver green skills to this new generation of learners.

For several years, innovative VET practitioners have been using e-learning to support sustainable practices across a range of industries, with funding and support from the national training system’s e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework).

Sustainability has been a focus of several of the Framework’s E-learning Innovations projects in 2008 and 2009. These projects deliver innovative e-learning solutions to support a greener future in a variety of ways, including helping businesses to develop sustainable office practices, developing specific training in sustainability for managers, and supporting sustainable change in urban landscapes.

Environmental Sustainabilit-e Online – Skills Strategies International

In 2008, this project used online training to increase the provision of the sustainable land management program delivered by not-for-profit organisation, Great Gardens. The Great Gardens program provides free environmental sustainability workshops across Western Australia which show participants how they can create a sustainable home and garden which uses less water, energy and nutrients, and produces less waste.

In its initial phase, the project used e-learning in a range of ways to supplement and support the delivery of Great Gardens’ face-to-face workshops. This included redeveloping the Great Gardens website, resulting in a 35% increase in use of the site. The revamped site comprised a mixture of:

E-information – Skills Strategies International worked with the Great Gardens trainers to film and edit a series of short gardening instructional videos, which are available for free on the website.
The site also features an article database and soil search database, which allows users to type in their suburb name or postcard to access a document explaining the properties of the soil in their local area, and associated plants suitable for their garden.

E-learning – Skills Strategies International used Ning software to create a social network which is accessible through the website. The network is a popular way for people who have attended a Great Gardens workshop to maintain a community of practice, and currently has more than 300 members.
E-business services – The site includes an online events calendar, and an electronic booking system where users can see upcoming workshop dates, and book in to attend.
Project Manager Steve McVey explained that due to the success of the project in 2008, Skills Strategies International has continued to work with Great Gardens to extend their adoption of e-learning.

“Great Gardens is now working to deliver their workshops in remote areas via Elluminate web conferencing, and they’re also using RFID technology to deliver just-in-time learning to workshop participants,” Steve said.

“Great Gardens also recently negotiated to make the Western Australian Water Corporation’s Water Wise professional level training program available for free online. Great Gardens will transform the delivery of this program, making it more engaging by using Moodle software to give learners access to a range of material including PowerPoint presentations and interactive quizzes.”

Business Sustainabilit-e – Kiama Community College

Business Treading Lightly (BTL) is a project team of sustainability consultants within the New South Wales Southern Councils Group who help businesses in south east New South Wales to implement sustainable business practices.

When BTL recognised they were not using technology to its full potential as part of their sustainability solution, they enlisted Kiama Community College to teach them to use web 2.0 technologies to enhance how BTL networks and communicates with their clients, and to also reduce the need for travel and the associated ecological and financial expense.

Kiama Community College helped BTL to take the step from teleconferencing to web conferencing, using applications including Elluminate, discovere and edna Groups. BTL also learned how to use cost effective web based file sharing options to enhance their organisational communication.

Project Manager Helen Zwicker from Kiama Community College said that the Business Sustainabilit-e project will have an ongoing positive impact beyond BTL, as BTL is passing on their new knowledge to their clients.

“The BTL team have the skills and capacity to introduce these sustainable technologies to their client groups, and will be supported by Kiama Community College, who are continuing to develop resources to help BTL’s clients to embed sustainable e-practices into their business,” Helen said.

For more information about the Framework’s E-learning Innovations projects, visit http://flexiblelearning.net.au/innovations

The Federal Government has announced that all apprenticeships and vocational education training packages will be reviewed to ensure that they include relevant green skills by March next year, and that all courses will be revised to include the new green skills by the end of 2010.

For more information click here

IBSA is undertaking a project which aims to scope skill for sustainability across all the IBSA Training. The worldwide community has accepted that climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions is a serious long term threat to the economic and physical health of all communities. Industry, government bodies, individuals and Australian politics are focused on sustainability themes such as; climate change, water scarcity and carbon trading to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the ‘footprint’ of human activity on the ecological system that supports us. The call to attention by government and enterprise has led IBSA to investigate current and future sustainability skilling needs.

The aim is to conduct a scoping project across all IBSA Training Packages to:

• Determine if current sustainability units should be included as core units in all or selected IBSA qualifications;
• Identify the need and support for industry specific sustainability skills as core competencies;
• Establish a qualifications framework for each qualification, contingent on the outcomes of the above;
• Identify gaps and establish industries support for the development of additional units that provide the skills and knowledge
• Identify and establish industry support for current/future sustainability technologies to support the development of skills and knowledge within new and existing units of competency;
• Determine appropriateness of skills for sustainability for micro and small businesses;
• Review the need for support materials,
• Investigate how other Industry Skills Councils are involved in skills for sustainability;
• Investigate the accredited courses available in sustainability and the institutions conducting the courses;
• Identify the need and support for skill sets for environmental sustainability, and
• Identify the need and support for embedded skills for sustainability.

The project will involve research and analysis, supported by extensive national consultation. Broad consultation will take place with stakeholders from industry, professional associations, enterprises, public and private RTOs, government agencies and appropriate Skills Councils.

For more information on the project please click here or contact Maria Deak on maria@ibsa.org.au