Skills eFlash #130

Date: 10-Oct-2024

1. The Queensland Skills Strategy

The Queensland Skills Strategy is Queensland’s five-year plan to further strengthen the state’s training system to deliver skills needed to power our economy and provide access to good jobs with better pay for Queenslanders.

The recently released Strategy is also Queensland’s roadmap to deliver on the National Skills Agreement, unlocking billions of dollars in areas of national priority, and is a key action under the Good people. Good jobs: Queensland Workforce Strategy 2022–2032. It feeds directly into the Training Priorities Plan.

2. DESBT Training Priorities Plan 2024-2025

The Department of Employment, Small Business and Training (DESBT) Annual Training Priorities Plans (TPPs) are being introduced through the Queensland Skills Strategy to outline how the Queensland Government is supporting skills development across the state.

This annual approach ensures government’s significant investment in skills, which reached $1.5 billion in the 2024-25 State Budget, remains responsive to skills needs while realising the long-term vision of the five-year skills strategy and the National Skills Agreement.

Each financial year, plans will map out Queensland’s skilling priorities and how they inform investment decisions including subsidised training, as well as industry, community and place-based programs and initiatives.

The 2024-25 plan leads the way, recognising that social and economic imperatives are two sides of the same coin – changing lives and skilling workforces at the same time.

This first plan, released on 30 September 2024, outlines priority settings that inform what courses are funded and who is eligible, with data, analysis and industry advice used to target investment in skills that deliver good job outcomes.

Download the 2024-25 Training Priorities Plan here.

3. New Contracting Opens for Skills Assure Suppliers

Contracting is now open for registered training organisations (RTOs) interested in working with the Queensland Government to achieve the objectives of funded training through a new Skills Assure Supplier (SAS) framework.

The framework is how Queensland contracts and quality-assures RTOs that deliver training and assessment services funded by the Queensland Government, known as Skills Assure Suppliers (SAS). It gives students, parents and employers confidence that their funded training providers can deliver high-quality accredited training that best meets their learner and job seeker needs.

A new SAS framework is being developed to align contracting with skills strategy objectives – better targeting and maximising outcomes from subsidised training programs.

It will deliver sharpened focus on funding the right training, with the right provider, where it is needed – putting Queensland’s priorities, including outcomes for students, at the heart of the investment model.

Through the framework, there will be three new programs aligned to career stages, making it easier for Queenslanders to understand and navigate their subsidised training options:

Career Ready (for school students)
Career Start (for job seekers)
Career Boost (for workers).

RTOs must express their interest to deliver training under the new SAS framework, including public providers and current SAS. The EOI will be a 2-stage process:

Stage 1: Mandatory eligibility

Opens for 6 weeks from Monday, 30 September 2024 and closes 5pm (AEST, Queensland time) Friday, 8 November 2024.

RTOs must meet these requirements to progress to stage 2.

Stage 2: Formal assessment against criteria

Responses to this stage will be assessed by an independent panel.

Outcomes advice will be issued in writing after both stages.

A separate EOI application process will commence for a new Career Ready (VET in Schools) program later this year.

Responding to feedback from training providers, the Department is also opening up to other providers and streamlining contracts – moving towards a single funded course list and single agreement, over multiple years where appropriate, to give SAS and students greater capacity to make plans.

Visit the department's website to learn more about SAS contracting.

4. qldwater Workforce Survey Report 2024

It's hard to believe that it’s been two years since we last surveyed our members for our biennial Workforce Snapshot Report – the most comprehensive workforce report of its kind for the water sector.

This important report forms the backbone of our advocacy work and is the document that Government Departments look to in understanding the state of the urban water sector in QLD.

At our next Water Skills Partnership meeting, set to take place on 18 November , qldwater will discuss the upcoming survey request and also talk to how we can support members through the important work of providing their workforce data to us for collation.

You can access the last survey report published in 2023 (and other workforce related publications)on the qldwater website.

5. Micro-Credentials 2024 Round One Complete

qldwater have now successfully wrapped up the delivery of the first round of the Micro-Credential courses that were supported by the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training in the 2023 project funding round. The funding was part of the Queensland Workforce Strategy 2022-2032.

A total of 81 water industry workers enrolled in the four course topics which included:

Operational implications of the Drinking Water Quality Management Plan
Making sense of water quality data
Fluoridation of water supplies in Queensland – for non-operators
An introduction to SCADA

A big shout out to James Howey from Viridis Consultants and Murray Thompson from Murray Thompson Water Services Pty Ltd who developed and delivered the courses.

While the first round focused on face-to-face delivery, we are now wrapping up the online versions of these courses to launch them on our dedicated training website at watertraining.com.au.

Over the coming weeks, the qldwater team will discuss strategy for future deliveries utilising both face to face and online delivery models to suit audience needs and ensure maximum outreach.

It is safe to say that there is significant interest in more deliveries, and we will align our strategy to best achieve that.

Follow this link for more information.

6. New Australian occupation classification – from ABS & StatsNZ

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released a joint media statement with Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ) announcing, that while maintaining comparability, each country will introduce their own tailored occupational statistical classifications.

You can read the full media release on the ABS website.

New Australian occupation classification

The new Australian classification will be called the Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA), 2024, version 1.0 and will be released on Friday 6 December 2024.

For more information about the new Australian classification and December release visit About OSCA.

7. RSL Partnership – Skilled Candidates Available

The RSL Employment Program, which works with employers across Australia to assist ex-serving and partners of current and ex-serving Defence members to connect and find meaningful employment, have released the latest list of skilled candidates.

Those previously looking for employment across all regionscan be viewed here.

Our members can also place adverts on the RSL Employment Boards without charge and the dedicated RSL will seek to align the roles with their skilled cohorts. Please encourage your recruitment teams to email the URL for the job ad to skills@qldwater.com.au and we will coordinate with the RSL team. These can be at any level in your organisation up to the most senior roles aligned with the water/wastewater or network teams.

8. Invitation - BuildSkills Australia State/Territory Roundtables

Robotics, drone technology, 3D printing and modelling, prefabrication and Digital Twins are just some of the emerging technologies that will shape the future of work in the Built Environment Sector. Your input is crucial in shaping the future of VET training.

BuildSkills Australia, the Jobs and Skills Council which manages the National Water Training Package, invite you to participate in focus groups to delve deeper into the future of VET in the Built Environment.

Share your insights and help them ensure training packages are aligned with industry needs. Their VET Future Readiness Review is evaluating the extent to which built environment training packages—CPP, CPC, RII and NWP—are delivering the skills industry needs for the future.

The aim is to identify what needs to change to ensure the training system keeps up with the sector’s rapidly evolving jobs and skills requirements.

The 2-hour sessions will be held on the following dates:

Wednesday 9th Oct – Melbourne
Thursday 10th Oct – Perth
Tuesday 22nd Oct – Brisbane
Wednesday 23rd Oct – Sydney
Thursday 24th Oct – Adelaide

A webinar for all stakeholders will then be held after the focus groups.

Registration for the Brisbane event can be found on the BSA website.

Also, a reminder that BuildSkills Australia invites sector feedback on the issues that they need to look at around training packages and workforce planning.

George Wall, National Manager Water Sector Industry Engagement made a call to the sector to engage with the BuildSkills Australia Make a Case for Change system , which lodges sector issues and allows BSA to assess issues that require positive action.

We encourage members to engage and submit issues via this linkto ensure it is captured in the BSA system for investigation, follow up and feedback. Be as specific as you can with the changes you’d like to see – this provides intelligence to BSA on issues troubling the sector.

9. DEWR Hiring Outside the Box Webinar Series – Mental Health

The Department of Employment and Workforce Relations (DEWR) has been running a series of webinars in their Hiring Outside the Box series to provide information on alternative recruitment practices to develop your workforce.

Hear from industry experts and employers about practical strategies they’ve used, including the benefits of tapping into new pools of talent, and hiring a diverse and inclusive team.

The latest instalment in the series focusses on mental health with practical wellbeing strategies to ensure a safe and positive work environment.

All webinars (both those upcoming and previous recordings) can be accessed on the DEWR website.

10. Business Queensland Connect | Cultural Capability Webinars

There is still time to register for the third webinar in the Enhance your business – First Nations cultural capability series.

These sessions equip you with practical insights and tools to foster a culturally safe and inclusive environment, improve workplace diversity, and overcome common challenges.

Whether you're just starting out or looking to expand your knowledge, these sessions offer immediately applicable skills to enhance your workforce.

Webinar Three: Valuing cultural diversity, recruitment and engagement

Tuesday 15 October 2024, 11.00 am.

Recordings of the first two webinars are available here.

To further support your journey in creating culturally safe work environments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, download the Cultural Capability Resource and share it with your team.

There’ll also be future webinar sessions, which are being held during National Safe Work Month and Indigenous Business Month.