Service Skills Victoria - Skills for the Future

SSV Newsletter: Issue 10

Staff Changes

In July 2007, SSV welcomed Lina Robinson to the Program Manager's position for WRAPS. Lina has 12 years experience in the VET sector as an educator for both the private and public sectors. Her previous role was Executive Officer for the Human Services Curriculum Maintenance Manager situated at Swinburne University. Lina also draws on extensive experience within the Hairdressing Industry which includes active involvement with the International Hairstylists Society (IHS) both on a state and national level. Her qualifications include a Master of Education (Leadership, Policy and Change) (Monash) and a Bachelor of Education and Training (Melb).

Astra Bridges, Bachelor of Business—Tourism Management, La Trobe University
Astra completed a self organised work experience placement at the Better Business Tourism Accreditation Program and Service Skills Victoria, running from from July to November 2007, while completing her Bachelor of Business—Tourism Management degree. Astra's main role's included assisting with the administration of the accreditation program. In the future Astra hopes to work in tourism destination and industry promotion and management.

Natasha Birmele, Bachelor of Business and Commerce - Tourism Management, Monash University
Natasha has taken up the opportunity of a work experience position with the Victorian Food Industry Training Board. Her goal with her position is to expand her knowledge of the tourism/service industries and to extend her contacts within the industry. Natasha is assisting Lynne Stockdale with VFITB projects, completing research assignments and organising events.

Nicole Abbott finished her role at BBTAP in October 2007 to move into a Marketing Assistant role at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre. Nicole was fantastic help to the program and the operators involved and we wish her all the best in her new role. BBTAP welcomes Brooke Attrill to the position of Accreditation Assistant. Brooke recently completed her work placement at SSV and has settled nicely into her role.

Reframing the Future Project Updates

Pre-Apprenticeship Network

Service Skills Victoria (SSV) as part of a project funded by Reframing the Future formed a network by connecting training providers who deliver hospitality pre-apprenticeships with hospitality industry representatives. The overall outcome aims to be for RTO's and enterprises to incorporate structured industry workplace learning into their training schedule to ensure students are workforce ready when they commence their apprenticeships within industry. The formation of the network is a response to industry feedback on the low level of workplace readiness of students who have undertaken institutional based training.

The meetings included presentations from Ballarat Uni and ALH on their dealings with work placements, presentation on the pre-apprenticeship report and the research undertaken, issues that were raised from network members, establishment of working groups to tackle issues of work placement manuals, professional development, sample models of a pre-apprenticeship and bulletins.

The goals of the network include;

For more information on the workshops, please contact Emma Robilliard on (03)9621 1777 or at emmar@ssv.org.au

Re-Framing the Future Hairdressing Network Project

SSV has hosted a series of workshops as part of a Reframing the Future project to link together stakeholders involved with hairdressing to support professional development of practitioners. It aimed to develop the skills and knowledge required to implement the WRH06 Hairdressing Training Package and to strengthen the provider capability in teaching, learning and assessment particularly in relation to employability skills.

Workshops have included a guest speaker from the hairdressing industry and consultants with specialist skills in unpacking and implementing training packages. Facilitated workshops have allowed for practical learning and discussion through interactive participation in the professional development process and provide action learning projects, self directed activities, interactive discussion and a chance to network with a range of public and private registered training organisations both in the metropolitan and rural Victorian areas.

Overall, the project has been very successful in developing goodwill and trust amongst its members who were willing to share information. The evaluation forms indicated that the workshops were also successful in achieving its project objectives.

For more information, contact Lina Robinson, Service Skills Victoria, on 03 9671 1777 or linar@ssv.org.au.

Other Projects

Food Safety Trainers Network Project

In 2006 Service Skills Victoria (SSV), as part of a project funded by Reframing the Future, ran a series of workshops to provide input and feedback to improve the quality of Food Safety training and assessment in Victoria. The main areas of focus were hospitality and retail industries and attendance was drawn from related industry, registered training organisations, TAFE (both rural and metro), Department of Human Services (DHS) and Curriculum Maintenance Managers across the three training packages.

The network initially focused on demand from industry and regulators to convert food safety supervisor training to good practice within the workplace. Studies had been undertaken to determine the skill and knowledge of the workforce in relation to food hygiene and it had been identified by DHS that there was good theoretical knowledge of food safety issues but the translation of this into actual hygiene practices in the workplace was inadequate.

The Food Safety Network aims to establish an industry training network, to link up key stakeholders involved in food safety supervisor training across three training packages (THH02 Hospitality, WRR02 Retail and FDF03 Food processing).

The guest speakers at the workshops provided hands-on information, knowledge and insight which provided the basis for participants to engage in open discussion and exchange experiences.

An RPL tool has been developed and will be available in a month's time. At this stage, it will be available on the SSV's website and discussions will be held with OTTE about making the tool available on the TSN website.

For more information, please contact Lina Robinson at SSV on 9621 1777

Conference Update, Innovate, Educate 2008 logo

SSA Forum

Service Skills Australia, will be holding its second national conference, 'Update, Motivate, Educate' in Sydney on 28 and 29 February, 2008. The conference will examine issues surrounding:

Workshop highlights include personal development seminars for the new Tourism, Hospitality and Events and Retail Services Training Packages.

Final Change Drivers Report 2007-2008

The purpose of this report is to examine major change drivers shaping Victoria's service industries and the probable implications these drivers may have on skills and training required by industry over the next 10 years and beyond.

Information contained in the report will inform and assist the State Government Office of Training and Tertiary Education (OTTE) to moderate purchasing decisions regarding future training needs in Victoria. The report is also intended to assist individuals and organisations involved in workforce development and planning in the service industries.

The final report is due to OTTE in February 2008, after which arrangements can be made to have report available on the SSV website.

AGM

SSV's AGM was held on 8th October at Crown. The structure of the meeting was changed this year by including behind the scenes tours of Crown's beauty and hospitality facilities. All attendees thoroughly enjoyed the tours and it was fantastic to get good industry support from Crown. With the retirement of Nicholas Hunt from the SSV Board, his service was recognised and he was congratulated on his appointment to the position of CEO at William Angliss. Nick's retirement created a vacancy on the board, which has been filled by Anthony McIntosh, incoming CEO at Tourism Alliance Victoria. Other directors, Ian Blandthorn, Sandra Campitelli and John Sweetman were re-elected unopposed.

Developing Tourism Leaders Awards

DTL logo

The Melbourne Airport Developing Tourism Leaders Awards are run by SSV and are an innovative employment development exercise for final year tourism, hospitality and events students from Victorian universities and TAFEs, requiring them to create original business or event concepts and submit business or event plans. The plans are judged by a panel of industry representatives based on the feasibility of the business, product innovation and knowledge of the tourism industry.

The awards presentation night for 2007 was held in Melbourne on the 12th November and was attended by students, lecturers and representatives from the tourism, hospitality and events industry. Mr Don Richter, Director of Marketing at Tourism Victoria was the key note speaker and Mr Thomas Perry, Communications Manager at Melbourne Airport also spoke to the audience on his career path as a recent graduate and congratulated the students on their commitment to their career development.

The winner for 2007 was Ms Karen Kavanagh from La Trobe University Bendigo with her Tourism entry: 'Pedal Power' - the perfect choice for wine tourists who wish to combine environmental care and fitness with their own personalised visit to Bendigo's local wineries. Karen receives a $2000 travel voucher, membership to the Young Tourism Network and the opportunity, along with finalists, highly commended and merit winners to apply for one of the paid industry work placements on offer.

William Angliss logoMelbourne Airport logo

Training Packages - Update

Retail Services (check the latest update on SSA's website as it may be endorsed by the time the newsletter is publised)

The NQC endorsed the SIR07 Retail Services Training Package on 24 August 2007 and Ministers approved this endorsement on 17 September 2007. The Package has also now been uploaded to the NTIS website.

The new package covers 11 qualifications, more than 250 units of competency and now includes:

Funeral Services (check the latest update on SSA's website)

The draft revised qualifications and units of competency were available for comment from December 2006to January 2007. All feedback received has been incorporated into the final draft of the reviewed Training Package. Since that time, a number of further changes were required to amend the Training Package prior to submission, and the amendments will be circulated to the National Industry Reference Group for final sign-off. For more information on changes, please visit SSA website at www.serviceskills.com.au

Beauty Training Package Continuous Improvement

Service Skills has been undertaking research and widespread consultation into the scope of the beauty industry and the contents of the current Training Package to inform the contents of the project report.

In early August 2007, a discussion paper was finalised and distributed to facilitate comment on current trends and changes within the industry that may impact on skills needs and Training Package content.

Over 1800 beauty industry stakeholders (businesses, RTOs and associations and others) were contacted to take part in the continuous improvement of the Beauty Training Package.

Service Skills Australia emailed 1198 notifications that the discussion paper could be downloaded from the website and posted hard copies to 602 stakeholders. 2000 hard copies were posted to Association members from HBIA and AABTh. The closing date for the return of the discussion paper was 28 September.

More information is on the SSA website; www.serviceskills.com.au

Floristry Training Package Continuous Improvement

Service Skills has been undertaking research into the scope of the Floristry Industry, the contents of the current Training Package and widespread consultation to inform the contents of the project report.

In early August 2007, a discussion paper was finalised and dispatched to facilitate comment on current trends and changes within the industry that may impact on skills needs and Training Package content.

Over 1717 floristry industry stakeholders (businesses, RTOs and associations and others) were contacted to take part in the continuous improvement of the Floristry Training Package.

Service Skills Australia emailed notification that the discussion paper could be downloaded from the website to 1116 and posted hard copies to 601 stakeholders. The closing date for the return of the discussion paper was 14 September.

More information is on the SSA website; www.serviceskills.com.au

Tourism, Hospitality and Events

Update on endorsement process

At its meeting on 20 September 2007, NQC again discussed some of the issues raised by the Tourism and Hospitality industries in the structure of the new Tourism Hospitality and Events Training Package.

The NQC convened a further meeting in October with industry stakeholders to discuss industry concerns around the quality of delivery and assessment by some RTOs, which have driven industry's push to include definitive statements on experience as part of the assessor requirements in the Training Package.

The outcome of that meeting requires further discussion between industry and State and Territory Training Authorities, which will be undertaken in November and December.

This development means that endorsement will be further delayed. At this stage, we are not able to provide any further advice on possible timelines for endorsement. Timelines will depend on the exact process used to resolve the issue.

For further information on training packages, including draft qualifications, go to www.serviceskills.com.au.

Other Industry & Training News

Hospitality and Tourism Department at William Angliss Launches Assessment Centre

William Angliss Institute provides prospective students with a range of tools to assess competencies earned through prior qualifications, work and life experiences, which can lead to unit credits, reduced study loads and faster course completion. One such tool is the Skills Recognition Audit (SRA) which has been designed specifically for people currently working in industry.

William Angliss Institute's Skills Recognition Audit (SRA) is a process that gives industry professionals who do not have a formal qualification, the opportunity to benchmark their extensive hospitality, tourism, cookery and retail skills and experience against the standards set out in the Hospitality, Tourism and Retail Training Packages, in order to gain a Qualification or Statement/s of Attainment.

The SRA program:

The purpose and aim of the SRA process is to work together with applicants to help them to achieve their desired training outcomes.

Part of the SRA evaluation process is to identify any gaps in participant's skills and knowledge. These gaps can include:

If a participant is assessed as not being competent in some or all units, the Institute will provide a suggested Training/Assessment Plan and work with the participant to undertake additional training and/or assessments where necessary.

William Angliss Institute is currently offering SRA for the following courses:

For more information about the SRA program, please contact the Skills Recognition Unit at William Angliss Institute on 03 9606 2111 or visit www.angliss.vic.edu.au and follow the links to Industry and Staff Skills Recognition.

New Appointment of CEO - William Angliss Institute of TAFE

It was with pleasure that the Council of the William Angliss Institute recently announced the appointment of Mr Nicholas Hunt to the position of Chief Executive Officer. In 2000 Nicholas became Chief Executive Officer of the Country Victorian Tourism Council, the peak body representing local and regional tourism organisations. When the organisation merged with the Victorian Tourism Operators Association in 2004 to become Tourism Alliance Victoria, Nicholas was appointed as CEO. He successfully led the merger of the two organisations into one unified culture providing services and support to over 700 members across the State.

Nicholas was appointed to the Council of William Angliss in 2003. He is now looking forward to commencing as the Institute's next CEO and brings to the role very strong industry knowledge and networks and experience as a CEO in a number of organisations in the tourism and training arena.

Tourism Alliance Victoria Appoints New CEO

It was also with pleasure that the Board of Tourism Alliance Victoria announced the appointment of Mr Anthony McIntosh to the position of Chief Executive Officer.

Anthony commenced on Monday 17 September 2007.

Born in Melbourne,Anthony's qualifications include a Bachelor of Science (botany major) at the University of Melbourne, Diploma in Human Resources (Monash University), and a Master of Tourism (Monash University).

From 1993 he commenced working in the telecommunications sector in various human resources capacities, including project management and management consultant roles. A five year career with the City of Melbourne commenced in 2002 initially as a human resources consultant. A series of project roles followed, including managing the City's local laws team through structural change, and devising and implementing the 'Workforce Management Strategy' for Council's Commonwealth Games Unit. In June 2005, he moved into Council's Tourism Melbourne team in the role of Program Manager Operations involving overseeing the City's seven visitor information programs, inclusive of the Melbourne Visitor Centre (Federation Square), the Melbourne Visitor Booth (Bourke Street Mall) and the City Ambassador Program.

Anthony is currently a member of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry Advisory Committee with Service Skills Victoria, and has recently been elected to the board. He has been involved with the establishment of the Young Tourism Network, and is engaged in the Northern Metropolitan Institute of TAFE's mentoring program.

His tourism interests include fostering a sustainable, collaborative and vigorous industry, as well as establishing tourism as an industry that competes successfully against other industries for talent.

Victorian Training Awards

The Training Awards presentation dinner is the premier event in Victoria's vocational education and training calendar. The awards showcase excellence in the vocational education and training system, and aim to reward and recognise outstanding achievements by students, teachers/trainers and providers. State winners were also entered in the Australian Training Awards which for 2007, were held in Hobart in November.

SSV was fortunate to attend the Training Awards at Crown Palladium and would like to extend congratulations to all the nominees, and particular congratulations to the following providers:

Back 2 Basics Edition 3 out now

Article adapted from Training Packages @ Work publication - July 2007 Edition

The latest edition of Training Packages @ Work's highly popular Back 2 Basics series is out now.

Back 2 Basics Edition 3 is an easy-to-read guide that simplifies the vocational education and training system. It is designed to be a starting point to help vocational education and training practitioners understand the system. This new edition combines the articles found in Back 2 Basics vol. 1 and 2 and includes important updates to reflect recent changes in the vocational education and training system including AQTF 2007.

All articles are drawn from Training Packages @ Work which provides information on the implementation of training packages and other key issues in the national training system.

Back 2 Basics Edition 3 is organised into three parts:

To order your copy of Back 2 Basics Edition 3 visit www.tpatwork.com/BackToBasicOrder.asp (please allow two to three weeks for delivery)

For more information on Back 2 Basics Edition 3 contact the Training Packages @ Work team on 07 3225 2450 or email info@tpatwork.com

YTN 1st Birthday celebration

Victoria's tourism industry professionals joined the Young Tourism Network (YTN) on August 28, 2007 to help celebrate the group's first birthday at Bluestone Restaurant and Bar.

The night attracted in excess of 80 guests all present to reflect on the growth and success of the network since its establishment in August 2006. The group now boasts in excess of 185 members.

Following short speeches by YTN Chair Louise Conley, guests also heard from Nicholas Hunt former CEO Tourism Alliance and now CEO of William Angliss, who has been a significant supporter since the group's early stages.

"The YTN are thrilled to be celebrating our fist birthday after a phenomenal year watching our member numbers multiply. Our first birthday party was a fabulous opportunity for us to celebrate whilst at the same time being an excellent opportunity for our members to network with our industry colleagues," said Louise Conley, Chairperson of the YTN.

"Indigenous Foods Cooking Challenge for Apprentice Chef's" Final cook-off and Awards presentation!

Former Aboriginal St Kilda Football Club player and co-founder of the Unity Foundation (with fellow St Kilda footballer, Xavier Clarke) Allan Murray, joined Parliamentary Secretary Steve Herbert and other guests on Monday December 3rd, to watch eight young Apprentice Chef's present their original dishes at the ASCET Tafe 1st Annual Apprentices Cooking Challenge.

The young Apprentice Chef's, all of whom receive on-the-job training from ASCET Tafe, had worked over the last six weeks to develop an original dish, using two Indigenous ingredients, provided by Robin's Foods.

The Challenge was initiated by ASCET Tafe to highlight the importance of encouraging young people to take up apprenticeships and for businesses to be prepared to take them on. It also highlights the need for quality training and encouraging young people to use their own minds and talents.

There is real pressure on the hospitality industry in the lack of skilled people available to fill a growing job demand.

D'Arcey Kelleher, CEO, ASCET Tafe said: "It is great to see these young people, and their Chef supervisors, take on the Challenge with passion. They have come back at the end of the Challenge period for the final judging, having leant how to work with some fantastic native products as well as utilise their new skills and have more confidence in their own ability."

The winner of the Challenge was Jemma Wall, who is undertaking her apprenticeship with Alliance Catering Services. Jemma produced a dish of Barramundi wrapped in Banana Leaf with Lemon Myrtle and Coriander Cream, served with Indigenous Spiced Rice and Rainbow Vegetable Stack. Honourable mentions went to Terri-Ann Joiner from Beetroot Café in central Melbourne, and Karlea Clover from Fraus Crepes & Chocolat.

Along with ASCET Tafe and Robin's Foods, other sponsors were Meat & Livestock Australia, the Herald Sun, AHA Victoria, Delaware North Companies and Australian Apprenticeships.

The winning apprentice received an original piece of Wathaurong Glass from Wathaurong Glass Co-Operative in Geelong, and $500.

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