NCVER News #360

Webinar: Linking qualifications and the labour market

Wednesday 23 September, 2.30pm - 3.30pm AEST

Join us to hear more about vocational streams and how they provide a framework for creating better connections between qualifications and jobs. Vocational streams help individuals to be more adaptable by instilling the basic knowledge required for a number of jobs within a broad vocational field of practice rather than for a specific occupation. This has the potential to prepare graduates to adapt to rapidly changing conditions in industry. 

• Mr Craig Robertson, Deputy Secretary Skills and Higher Education Group, Department of Education and Training, Victoria
• Mr Andrew Dettmer, National President, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union 

For more information and to register

Register now for research forum

When one door closes: VET’s role in re-skilling displaced workers

Wednesday 18 November, Melbourne

Don't miss NCVER's one-day research forum When one door closes: VET’s role in re-skilling displaced workers. The Australian economy is changing with many manufacturing brands moving their operations overseas. Rapidly evolving technological advancements are driving economic change, industry restructuring and changing jobs. In this environment, it is vital that workers have the skills to move across occupations and meet varying employment demands. In response, we need effective strategies and intervention programs to avoid displaced workers from adding to unemployment numbers. This forum will discuss the role vocational education and training plays now and into the future in assisting occupational transferability and how policy in this area can help workers transition.

For more information and to register

More people started trade apprenticeships and traineeships in the March quarter 2015 than non-trade apprenticeships and traineeships. Apprentices and trainees 2015 – March quarter shows 31 900 people commenced a trade apprenticeship or traineeship in the first quarter of this year compared with 28 400 starts in non-trade apprenticeships or traineeships.

Overall slightly fewer people started apprenticeships and traineeships in the March 2015 quarter than in the March 2014 quarter, down 1.2% to 60 400.

For more information: www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2820.html  

Lower proportions of training qualifications are being completed by young people, with the overall completion rate of students aged 25 years and under declining 5.9 percentage points.

The likelihood of completing a government-funded VET program 2009-13 shows the completion rate for all government-funded training programs started in 2013 decreased to 34%, down from 36% for programs started in 2012. The completion rate for training programs started in 2013 by young, full-time students also declined to 40.9%, down from 46.8% for programs started in 2012.

For more information: www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2794.html 

We are pleased to announce funding has been awarded to the following organisations through the National Vocational Education and Training Research (NVETR) program:

• The contribution of the VET student placement process to innovations – Lead organisation: Griffith University; Lead researcher: Dr Steven Hodge
• What role for VET in the entrepreneurial ecosystem? – Lead organisation: Don Scott-Kemmis & Associates; Lead researcher: Professor Don Scott-Kemmis
• Enhancing training advantage for remote Indigenous learners – Lead organisation: Ninti One Ltd; Lead researcher: Associate Professor John Guenther, Flinders University
• Improving student participation and success in post-school VET – Lead organisation: Centre for International Research on Education Systems, Victoria University; Lead researcher: Professor Stephen Lamb
• Factors enabling entry into and engagement with VET for young early school leavers – Lead organisation: Brotherhood of St Laurence; Lead researcher: Dr Eric Dommers
• In their words: learner ‘choice’ in fully-contestable training markets – Lead organisation: Australian Council for Educational Research; Lead researcher: Mr Justin Brown
• Choosing VET: investigating the formation of VET aspirations – Lead organisation: The University of Newcastle; Lead researcher: Professor Jenny Gore

Further details on each research project are available here.