The 38th meeting of the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) was held on 22 June 2021.
VET Reform update
The Committee received advice on the new industry engagement arrangements as announced in the May Commonwealth Budget, and an update on the progress of quality reforms as agreed under the Heads of Agreement for Skills Reform.
Training packages: Project/Policy issues
Aged Care and Disability Support qualifications review
Members also noted that consultation on Draft 2 training products is scheduled to occur in mid-July 2021 and agreed on the importance of widespread promotion of the opportunity to contribute to this process to industry.
Standalone units
The Committee agreed to a set of principles for guiding decision-making on standalone units as an interim measure, until this issue is considered more fully as part of the VET reform process. Under the agreed principles, standalone units will only be permissible in exceptional circumstances where a strong justification is provided by Skills Service Organisations (SSOs) and Industry Reference Committees (IRCs). The principles are available on the AISC website.
Training Pathways in the Electrotechnology Training Package
In early May 2021, the Electrotechnology IRC sought the Committee’s approval to mandate workplace-based training pathways for a number of qualifications.
While noting the importance of on-the-job learning and industry being able to identify and meet its skills and workforce development needs, the Committee concluded it cannot agree to the IRC’s request, given the Training Package Organising Framework precludes mandatory training pathways. Members also noted the AISC has previously provided advice to Skills Ministers on this matter, which will be explored further through qualification reform work under the Heads of Agreement for Skills Reform and ongoing review of the Training Package Organising Framework.
Gas Training Package – Request for reinstatement of deleted units
Transition support: Approach to Cases for Change
To support the consideration of Cases for Change put forward between now and the August meetings, the AISC has agreed a set of principles to help guide decision-making. These are designed to provide a consistent approach to guide project approvals, and ensure that stages of each project are realistically planned and documented to enable the work to be completed before the new industry engagement arrangements come into effect, or that it is at a satisfactory stage for transition to occur.
In addition to the usual assessment criteria for cases for change, the AISC will have regard to:
- Evidence that the project can be completed by December 2022. To support this, new cases for change are to be accompanied by a detailed project plan.
- The capacity of the IRC and SSO (considering any existing projects) to meet the scheduled timeframes in the project plan.
- If a project is of critical importance and cannot reasonably be completed by December 2022, that it can be completed up to a point that allows for an efficient transition of the project to a new industry cluster.
The approach to managing training product proposals will need to adapt further once the Transition Advisory Group has completed its work and prepared advice on implementation arrangements for consideration by Skills Ministers.
Transition support: Communication with IRCs
Case for Endorsement – New
The Committee approved the following five new Cases for Endorsement for referral to Skills Ministers:
|
IRC |
Details of submission |
AISC Decision |
|---|---|---|
|
Process Manufacturing, Recreational Vehicle and Laboratory IRC MSM Manufacturing – High Pressure Water Jetting |
The Case for Endorsement includes:
|
Approved the training products for endorsement
|
|
Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical IRC FBP Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical – Food Processing Qualifications |
The Case for Endorsement includes:
It will also result in streamlining:
|
Approved the training products for endorsement
|
|
Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical IRC FBP Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical – Flour Milling |
The Case for Endorsement includes:
It will also result in streamlining:
|
Approved the training products for endorsement
|
|
Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical IRC FBP Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical – High Volume Production Baking |
The Case for Endorsement includes:
It will also result in streamlining:
|
Approved the training products for endorsement
|
|
Racing and Breeding IRC RGR Racing and Breeding – Revision of Racing qualifications |
The Case for Endorsement includes:
|
Approved the training products for endorsement
|
Cases for Change
The Committee approved the following 25 Cases for Change, across ten IRCs.
|
IRC |
Details of submission |
AISC Decision |
|---|---|---|
|
Process Manufacturing, Recreational Vehicle and Laboratory IRC MSM Manufacturing – Recreational Vehicle |
This Case for Change includes:
|
Approved to proceed to training package development, on the condition that:
|
|
Animal Care and Management IRC ACM Animal Care and Management Training Package |
This Case for Change includes two projects: Project A – Assistance Dog Trainer
Project B – Companion Animal Incident Management
|
Approved to proceed to training package development
|
|
Amenity Horticulture, Landscaping, Conservation and Land Management IRC AHC Amenity Horticulture, Landscaping, Conservation and Land Management Training Package |
This Case for Change includes two projects: Project A – Unit Sector Approach Stage 3
Project B – Water Allocation and Entitlement
|
Approved to proceed to training package development
|
|
Meat IRC AMP Australian Meat Processing – Rationalisation of the AMP Training Package – Review Stage 1 |
This Case for Change includes:
|
Approved to proceed to training package development
|
|
Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical IRC FBP Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical Training Package |
This Case for Change includes three projects: Project A – Indigenous Food Skill Set
Project B – Pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Process
Project C – Sugar Milling
|
Approved to proceed to training package development
|
|
Aviation IRC AVI Aviation Training Package |
This Case for Change includes four projects: Project A – Air Traffic Control
Project B – Aviation Supervision
Project C – Chief Remote Pilot
Project D – Commercial Pilot Regulatory Update
|
Approved to proceed to training package development
|
|
Public Safety IRC DEF Defence Training Package |
This Case for Change includes five projects: Project A – Electronic Forensics
Project B – Paralegal Services
Project C – Range Control Officer
Project D – Test and Evaluations
Project E – Work Diving
|
Approved to proceed to training package development
|
|
Transport and Logistics IRC TLI Transport and Logistics Training Package |
This Case for Change includes three projects: Project A – Driving Instruction
Project B – Customs Broking
Project C – Material and Deployment Logistics
|
Approved to proceed to training package development
|
|
ESI Transmission Distribution and Rail IRC UET Transmission, Distribution and Rail Sector Training Package |
This Case for Change includes three projects: Project A – Transmission Structures
Project B – Refresher Skills
Project C – Power and Network Systems
|
Approved to proceed to training package development
|
|
Sustainability IRC MSS Sustainability – Sustainability |
This Case for Change includes:
|
Approved to proceed to training package development
|
Recent out of session item - high risk work licence units
On 3 May 2021, following the 20 April 2021 AISC meeting the Committee approved a fast track training package project to resolve longstanding issues related to high risk work licence units of competency in the TLI Transport and Logistics Training Package. For more information see the AISC website.
Next meeting: The next AISC meeting will be held on Wednesday 21 July 2021.
Download the Communique as a PDF here.