Skills Australia have released Australian Workforce Futures - A National Workforce Development Strategy. The vision of the strategy is to ensure that Australia has the workforce capability it requires for a productive, sustainable and inclusive future, and that Australian enterprises have the capacity to develop and use the skills of their workforce to maximum advantage for the benefit of industry and the community. Critical to the vision will be the objectives of sustaining economic growth, avoiding future skills shortages and raising productivity by increasing and deepening the skills of Australia's workforce.

To view the document, click here.

Applications are now open for the WA Training Awards 2010. The WA Training Awards recognise and reward outstanding achievements of apprentices, trainees and vocational students, and the contribution to training made by trainers, training organisations and employers.

In 2010 there are twelve categories in the WA Training Awards; five student categories, one trainer category and six organisational categories.

Winners at the WA Training Awards may be eligible to represent the State at the Australian Training Awards in Sydney on 19 November 2010.

Applications close 14 May 2010. For further details, visit the WA Training Awards 2010 website.

The working title for this new Training Package project has been broadened to encompass both dance performance and the technical support required for performing arts. A discussion paper has been developed based on national consultation and feedback is being sought through an interactive online discussion forum and face-to-face meetings with stakeholders.

For further details please click here.

The Integrated Telecommunications Training Package is currently with the State and Territory Authorities prior to submission to the NQC. It has been updated, enhanced and refreshed to reflect current industry requirements and ensure that it remains technically relevant for future innovations and emerging skill needs. Changes include units of competency, qualifications, skill sets and a school-based program.

Follow the link for more details. 

The Printing and Graphic Arts Training Package project objective is to selectively add qualifications and units of competency in digital printing to overcome a gap and to re-align the qualifications, revise the current assessment guidelines and create pathways within the Printing Training Package. It is currently with the State and Territory Authorities prior to submission to the NQC for endorsement.

Click here for more details.

The report on Lean Skills across all the IBSA Training Packages is now available on the IBSA website. Lean has been successfully implemented in manufacturing industries for the last 25 years, but only recently have organisations begun using Lean office as a business operating philosophy and key productivity factor, to streamline and eliminate waste from administrative processes, improve quality and achieve bottom line savings. For more information please contact Maria Deak.

The report can be found here.

IBSA's environment scan (Escan) gathers annual industry advice on the skills and workforce development needs of businesses in IBSA's six industry sectors. Following validation by the Sector Advisory Committees and approval by the IBSA Board, Escan 2010 was submitted to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations at the end of February. Escan 2010 is a detailed, evidence-driven report, which presents qualitative and quantitative analysis of skills in demand data and information.

Escan 2010 identified:

• skills and workforce development priorities for IBSA's six industry sectors
• priorities for Training Package continuous improvement activities, and
• apparent and emerging skills issues at the sector and cross sectoral levels.

The Escan 2010 overview and sector specific reports are available by clicking here.

The final report incorporating recommendations and a project action plan for the development of a revised Information and Communications Technology (ICA) Training Package is now available on the IBSA website.

The Digital Game Development (Game Art, Animation and Programming) report is also available on the website and its recommendations will be incorporated into the development of the ICA Training Package. Click here to view.

Diploma of Fitness units of competency have been modified based on feedback received from the Diploma of Fitness Focus Group, and draft 2.3 of these units are now available for review.

To view the draft Diploma of Fitness units, and for information about submitting feedback, follow the link to the Service Skills Australia website.

Feedback on the content of these units closes on Friday 15 March 2010.

Service Skills Australia, the Industry Skills Council for the service industries has released its 2010 Environmental Scan. The scan is developed to provide an industry specific overview of trends and developments in the service industries, including the sport and recreation; and hospitality, tourism and events sectors. Follow the links below to view the scan documents:

• 2010 Environmental Scan (full document)
• 2010 Sport and Recreation Scan
• 2010 Tourism, Hospitality and Events Scan