Australia's top chefs, including Peter Doyle, Camillo Crugnale, Adam D'Sylva and WA's own Phil Parsons from Deco Restaurant at Raffles Hotel want you to Cook For Your Career.  HOSTPLUS is giving Australians the opportunity to win a full-time apprenticeship working alongside one of Australia's top chefs in their renowned restaurant, with Cook For Your Career (C4YC) 2012.  C4YC is a national cooking competition open to all working age Australians who have a passion for cooking, which offers the opportunity to realise their dreams of becoming a professional chef.  With the support of Raffles Hotel and Hospitality Group Training, HOSTPLUS is looking for passionate cooks to enter C4YC leading to an exciting WA cook off for finalists to be held at Deco Restaurant at Raffles Hotel on Saturday 18 February 2012. 

National Finalists will hash it out in a Grand Final Cook-Off during the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, Friday 16^th of March 2012, to heat up their career in one of Australia's toughest and most exciting professions.

Visit www.cookforyourcareer.com.au today to submit your entry (current apprentices not eligible). Entries close on 10 February 2012.

For enquiries, please contact Michelle Brown, National Marketing & Communications Manager on Phone 03 8636 7730 or Email: c4yc@mail.hostplus.com.au

he Tourism Labour and Skills Working Group has released a Request for Tender for Regional Tourism Employment Plans for the Red Centre and Broome.

The Tourism Employment Plans will seek to deliver practical, cost effective solutions to address the immediate labour and skills shortages that meet the local needs of the Red Centre and Broome region, with an emphasis on leveraging existing government and industry programs. The Plan will be developed by a consultant working closely with regional communities, employers, government and tourism bodies throughout 2012.

Closing date: 3 February 2012

For more information about the Request for Tender or to place an application: https://www.tenders.gov.au/?event=public.ATM.list&keyword=tourism&number=&submitButton-1=Search

For more information about the Labour and Skills Working Group: www.tourism.gov.au/labour

IBSA is very pleased to advise that the CUL11 Library, Information and Cultural Services Training Package is now available on the Training.gov.au website. The Training Package was endorsed by the National Skills Standards Council (NSSC) on 26 October 2011 and includes four qualifications:

• Certificate II in Information and Cultural Services
• Certificate III in Information and Cultural Services
• Certificate IV in Library, Information and Cultural Services
• Diploma of Library and Information Services

The CUL11 Library, Information and Cultural Services Training Package is also available for download from the IBSA Feedback Hub.

Planning for the exciting new pilot "FutureNow Hospitality Ambassador Program" is well under way with over ten schools already scheduled for chef presentations in Term 1 of 2012.  The program will bring young, qualified, successful and energetic chefs straight from their kitchens into secondary schools in Western Australia presenting entertaining cooking demonstrations and promoting 'Hospitality and Tourism ' as an exciting career path for young people.  The Program is the first of its kind in WA and will deliver the most dynamic snapshot of the hospitality industry WA schools have ever seen.  The program will provide schools and the hospitality industry with a connection that can develop into long term partnerships to benefit students and industry operators.  The search for potential Ambassadors and sponsors is now on.  If you would like to know more, contact Project Officer Tourism and Hospitality, Jo Chapman at jchapman@futurenow.org.au or Click here.

The Department of Training and Workforce Development recently released a new Apprenticeship Policy as an exposure draft.  The Apprenticeship policy and additional documentation is currently available for viewing by clicking here and will allow stakeholders the opportunity to review and modify existing work practises to comply with any new arrangements.  The Apprenticeship Policy will become effective in Western Australia from the 1^st February 2012.

Service Skills Australia has commissioned the Centre for Research on Education Systems (CRES) at the University of Melbourne to investigate the pathways people undertake (in relation to work and/or further study) after completing a service industry qualification. This project is a survey of students who have successfully completed qualifications in the hospitality and retail industries over the last 3 years.  Service Skills Australia is asking Registered Training Organisations to help facilitate the participation of VET course completers in this survey.  Click here for more.

The aim of the Innovation and Business Skills Australia (IBSA) Indigenous Visual Arts Scoping Project was to identify training requirements and delivery options to enable more accessible training in visual arts to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders. FutureNow as part of the national project reference group was instrumental in linking key stakeholders within the Indigenous Visual Arts sector to project coordinators. A special thanks to all the individuals and organisations who gave up their time and provided feedback.

Click here for further information on the project.

Australian Government Skills Connect is a new service designed to help link eligible Australian businesses and industry organisations with funding from six different training and workforce development programs. It also provides access to a network of brokers who will help businesses determine the best mix of support available to suit their specific training and workforce development needs. By using the service, you will have access to advice from a network of people with expertise specific to your industry or region including Industry Skills Councils and Auto Skills Australia.

The WA Employment Trends and Prospects 2011 report examines and compares changes in historical and forecast employment levels on an industry, occupation, and qualification basis. The analysis is based on current Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data and projections from Monash University's Centre of Policy Studies as at June 2011, and is presented at the most meaningful level of disaggregation possible. The report helps inform an understanding of the State's likely future employment profile and is a key input for the State Government's workforce development planning.

Click here to view the report.

The Australian Government has released Guidelines for the two grants Programs under the Australian Apprenticeships Mentoring Package, which was announced in the 2011-12 Budget.  The Programs are also open to receive applications for funding.  Part of the Australian Government's broader Building Australia's Future Workforce package, the Mentoring Package includes the following two programs: the Australian Apprenticeships Mentoring Program and the Australian Apprenticeships Advisers Program.