While Certificate III or above qualifications in traditional trade occupations experiencing skills shortages and in emerging industries are the highest priorities for Trade Training Centres, other qualifications are also eligible, in particular, programs that provide guaranteed pathways to or which may lead to partial credit for a Certificate III qualification. For further details, refer to the Program Guidelines Section 3.5.
When completing your application, leave Question F1 part i, ii and iii (Certificate III qualifications) blank. In your response to Question F1 part iv, nominate any Certificate II qualification that the proposed TTC will provide and which is a recognised pathway into an accredited Certificate III, as denoted on the latest Industry Skills Council list.
In your responses to Questions F5 – F11, indicate how the proposed TTC will provide a pathway to a Certificate III qualification and how the proposed project will accomplish this. This may include listing the qualifications that will be offered and can be obtained while students are still at school. You should provide information on the proportion of the Certificate III selected at F1 that will be completed before the end of Year 12, including any modules/competencies that will be undertaken through the proposed TTC. You should also include information on the partnerships you have formed, such as with an RTO or private provider in order to deliver some elements of the Certificate III at your school or with whom you have negotiated pathway arrangements for your students.
For the purposes of this Program, emerging industry qualifications are drawn from the list of Commonwealth Government incentives for an employer who employs an apprentice in an eligible innovation qualification. The innovative incentive reflects that to build Australia’s competitive advantage in both emerging and traditional industries, industry needs to have access to people who can understand, apply and manage enabling technologies considered crucial for innovation. Key sources of innovation include pharmaceutical, aircraft, electronics and chemical industries as well as major utilities
There are several websites which can help schools identify skills shortages in their state and/or local region.
The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) undertakes skill shortage research on a six monthly basis through its National Office and State Offices, especially for trades and professional occupations. The findings of the research are based on a Survey of Employers Who Have Recently Advertised (SERA), a telephone-based survey, and include analysis of industry demand, employment and vacancy trends, migration and training commencements and completions. Results for all states and territories are listed at workplace.gov.au skills in demand
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DEEWR also undertakes surveys of employers regarding their recruitment experiences and occupations proving difficult to fill at a regional and industry level. These results are combined with general labour market information and disseminated through presentations at regional workshops or through reports. These presentations and reports can be downloaded from workplace.gov.au better conections workshops connect workplace.gov.au regional reports. Other labour market information at the regional, state/territory and national level can also be found at workplace.gov.au Labour Market Information Portal.
In addition to the above, there are a number of websites to help schools develop connections at the local level. These websites can also provide useful information about the labour market, for example, schools can:
- discuss the demand for particular trades with their local Australian Apprenticeship Centre – to find your school’s nearest Australian Apprenticeships Centre simply type your postcode into the Australian Apprenticeships Centre Search or call 13 38 73;
- find out if there is a local Group Training Organisation that might be interested in working in partnership to establish a Trade Training Centre as a shared facility by visiting Group Training Australia; or
- contact their local employment service providers to discuss which jobs are difficult to fill and the training requirements for these jobs in the local area (schools can find their local Job Network Members and Job Placement Organisations on Australian Jobsearch.
Schools can also seek support about labour market trends and industry skills needs from the Trade Training Centres in Schools support units in each State and Territory.
The DEEWR Australian Jobs 2008 publication which is distributed to all secondary schools and colleges also provides useful regional information.