TERM 1 | ISSUE 4
7 June 2020

Message from the CEO

Although the past few months have been a challenge for everyone, we can look forward to recovery and growth in the future. Education and training continue to play an important role in supporting the economy and increasing productivity.

The research supports the need to support vocational education and training. According to the Productivity Commission’s interim Skills and Workforce Development Agreement Report released on 5 June 2020, the proportion of people without qualifications at a Certificate 3 level or above decreased from 47.1% in 2009 to 37.5% in 2019. But this missed the COAG goal of reducing this number to 23.6% by 2020.

In addition, although the number of diplomas and advanced diplomas sharply increased between 2009 and 2012, this number has since fallen to its 2009 level. So there is a long way to go in meeting Australia’s education and training needs.

VET providers have a critical role to play in increasing skills and boosting employment. According to NCVER’s  School-to-Work Pathways report, 97% of young adults who entered full-time work early (which usually involves some VET) were employed full or part-time by the age of 25.

During these recent challenging times, the Federal Government has been trying to support people across the community. One of the initiatives that we think is very important is the support of employers to encourage them not to let their trainees go during the downturn. The government is offering up to $21,000 in wage support for employers of trainees who were in traineeships at 1 March 2020. This is such a positive approach to making sure that training continues for trainees, as having well trained staff is one of the key tools for businesses to recover from the downturn.

It’s not well known that to access benefits from Centrelink, students must study an approved course at an approved education provider to access Youth Allowance, Austudy, or Pensioner Education Supplement. ACBC is an approved education provider for this. Online students may also be eligible for support if they complete their Diploma courses within 12 months based on 75% of the full-time face-to-face study load.

Like everyone else, ACBC has had to adapt to the changes we’ve seen due to COVID-19. We are very excited that our team has started conducting career guidance sessions via Zoom. These sessions are an interactive way to reach your students and also meet the social distancing guidelines in your school. The Zoom sessions can be for large groups or individual students at a time that suits you. The sessions cover the courses offered at ACBC, but also cover other education and training options and the resulting job opportunities. We give students the opportunity to ask questions, assisting them to make choices for 2021 and beyond. When possible, under current guidelines, we are happy visit schools for live sessions.

To view the rest of the June 2020 Newsletter, click here