Victorian Skills Pledge

The Victorian Skills Pledge is a key initiative under the government's Securing Jobs for Your Future - Skills for Victoria policy, and is a voluntary commitment by businesses to driving business improvement through appropriate upskilling of their employees.

Taking the Victorian Skills Pledge is open to businesses of all sizes in the private, public and community sectors. It can be done quickly and simply through the online sign-up facility on the Skills Victoria website.

Skills for Growth

Skills for Growth: the Workforce Development Program provides a team of independent specialists who will work with you - free of charge - to identify your strategic business aims and objectives.

Further information is available on the Business Victoria website.

Apprentices and Trainees

The Victorian Government and the Australian Government provide a range of incentives and assistance to support individuals and businesses with the uptake and successful completion of apprenticeships and traineeships.

The Skills Victoria website has further details.

Federal Government Initiatives

Apprentice Kickstart

The Deputy Prime Minister has announced Apprentice Kickstart - a $100 million investment to support two measures designed to counteract the impact of the global recession on Australian Apprenticeships commencements and retention.

Between 1 December 2009 and 28 February 2010, the Australian Government will provide a $3,350 Apprentice Kickstart Bonus to employers who take on a young person aged 19 years and under into a traditional trade Australian Apprenticeship. The introduction of the Apprentice Kickstart Bonus represents a tripling of Government support for employers of eligible Australian Apprentices in their first year of an Australian Apprenticeship.

Visit the Apprentice Kickstart page on the Australian Apprenticeships website for more information.

Enterprise Based Productivity Places Program

In November The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard announced a $25million program to co-fund 11,000 additional training places to address skills shortages as the economy improves.

From the press release:

The Enterprise Based Productivity Places Program (EBPPP) will provide up to 90 per cent of the cost of training from Certificate III to Advanced Diploma level. It is designed to increase the skills of existing workers especially in occupations on the priority occupations list.

The Government's contribution will depend on the size of the business, with organisations with less than 100 employees receiving 90 per cent of their training costs, those with between 100 and 199 receiving 75 percent, and those with 200 or more employees receiving 50 per cent of their training costs.

Read the rest of the press release here.

Find out more about the Productivity Placements Program here.

Applications must be directed through AgriFood and will be received until April 2010.
View information and register an application through Service Skills Australia here.

Green Skills Agreement

Photo by Craig Cullum

In December 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) endorsed a new Green Skills Agreement.

[The Agreement] will enable individuals and businesses to contribute to a sustainable, low-carbon economy in their workplaces and communities.

The Agreement commits the Australian and state and territory governments to working with training organisations and business to ensure skills for sustainability are an integral part of all vocational education and training (VET) and are relevant to the needs of industry.

This commitment will be achieved by:

• embedding skills for sustainability practice and teaching in vocational education and training, within the requirements of the national regulatory framework
• the upskilling of VET instructors and teachers to deliver skills for sustainability
• the strategic review of Training Packages to embed sustainability knowledge, skills and principles
• implementing a transition strategy to re-skill vulnerable workers.

Click here to find out more information on the DEEWR website.

Workplace English Language and Literacy

What is WELL?
WELL is the acronym for Workplace English Language and Literacy. It is a Government funded program that funds language, literacy and numeracy training for employees below a certain level in conjunction with undertaking accredited training.

For information on Workplace English Language and Literacy for the service industries please contact My-Le Kha from Service Skills Australia:

My-Le Kha
Project Officer: Workforce Development
Service Skills Australia
Tel: (02) 8243 1200
Email: mkha@serviceskills.com.au.

Click here for the official Federal Government WELL website.