Van der Heide, Shayne - Ringwood Training

Related consultation
Submissions - Skills Reform: Improving industry engagement and reforming qualifications in Vocational Education and Training discussion paper
Submission received

Does the role of industry need to be strengthened or expanded across the VET system? Why/why not?

  • What does industry engagement mean to you?
  • How can industry be encouraged to connect with and use the VET system? What does this look like?
  • Are there any roles for industry in the VET system that are not covered or outlined in the case for change?

Response:

Yes defiantly they need to be more involved.
From my experience most if not all Small Buisness have any idea of what is part of the Qualification or the requirements  they need to meet. They leave it all up to RTO's.
For example Compenency Based Completions (CBC) allow for employers to negotiate a Training Plan for their apprentice, which in most cases Small Business do not have time and just go with what RTO offer them. CBC should be a great opportunity for Employers/industry to engauge with RTO's but hasn't been very successful so far.

Are you aware of the current industry-leadership arrangements led by the Australian Industry and Skills Commission?

Response:

Yes

How effective are the current industry engagement arrangements in VET in meeting your needs?

  • What works well and what could be improved? How could it be improved?
  • How well are you (or your organisation) represented by these arrangements?
  • How well do current arrangements allow collaboration across industry sectors on common workforce and skills needs?

Response:

This area needs some major improvement.
the MEM Training Package which is still up for approval shows the system is not right.
MEM05 is the package before and the MEM19 has made little inroads to the technology needs of industry. I believe that the current MEM19 training packages takes the qualification backward more than keeping up with technology.
The lack of sheetmetal related units in the Sheetmetal qualification is an idea of how out of touch this packagae is.
[CONTENT REDACTED] The lack of flexiablity in MEM19 is a concern and needs to be addressed for Small Businesses.

Unfortunately the Education Sector does not have representation on the IRC. As a main player in the training at least one representative would be warrented.

What can be done to drive greater collaboration across industries to broaden career pathways for VET graduates and maximise the workforce available to employers?

  • How can workers be equipped with skills that can be applied across different jobs?
  • How can industry support this through the VET system?
  • How can we break down silos and improve collaboration across industry groups?

Response:

All Parties involved need to be involved in the process this includes small and medium employers.
Small and Medium employers make up the majority of industry employers but are usually not invited to participe in the discussions around training package reform. I am not sure what is the best way to get these key group involved. I have tried breakfasts, evening forums and lunches with little success.
We have had some sucess recently, but this has taken some major effort on our behalf.
Most medium to small employers are time poor and are struggling with running business, making collaboration across industries not a priority.
To allow for skills to be applied across different jobs, training packages need to give the flexiablity to multiskill. Some trainingg packages like MEM19 has moved away from flexiablity in selection of units with a very restrictive pre requiste pathway. Training Packages should be flexiable to meeting industry needs and demands.

Are qualifications fit-for-purpose in meeting the needs of industry and learners now and into the future? Why/why not?

  • Are the different needs of industry and learners effectively considered in designing qualifications in the current system? What works well and why?
  • Are there issues or challenges with the way qualifications are currently designed? What are they and what could be done to address these?

Response:

Using Sheetmetal stream of the Certificate III in Engineering - Fabrication Trade as an example. The group that designed this qualification missed the mark completely. with very little sheetmetal skills or units as electives for selection.  
The main issue with qualifications are they lack of flexiablity in unit select to meet the needs and requirements of industry.  Industry consoltation for Qualifications are usual conducted with large employers. This misses the majority of industry being the small to meduim employers and the main users of the training sector.

Are there any further issues in relation to improving industry engagement in the VET sector that you would like to provide feedback on?

Response:

No response provided.