With the Skills Board now involved in six projects this Edition has a strong project flavour. The two workforce projects not covered in this Edition will be detailed next month.

The Board recently hosted an address by Di Lawson, CEO of the national Skills Council. It was interesting to hear Di say that one of the biggest parts of her job was to introduce Government Departments to each other, “… this is X they are doing the same project as you they just call it a different name”. This is not only happening in the national arena but also within the state and also between state and federal. The nine SA Skills Boards are working much more closely to share intelligence and it will be good to see this carried through with a whole of government approach to maximise our limited resources.

Ian Heard

VET In School

The Skills Board, DECS, Futures Connect, SSABSA, TAFE SA and Department of Health are all represented at the Health & Community Services VET in Schools Forum convened with the purpose “to increase the opportunity for school students to access training and employment pathways in the health & community services sector”. Training is currently being offered for teachers to increase the existing pool of teachers trained last year to deliver Cert II training. The forum is looking to expand the opportunities for teachers to be trained to deliver a broader range of courses.

The national CS&H Industry Skills Council is also undertaking a project to increase the uptake of school based new apprenticeships in the sector. This project is based on research by the ISC and the final report has been submitted to DEST.

Website of the Month

With so much being talked about careers if you haven’t been swept up in the excitement have a look at the Australian Blueprint for Career Development it’s as easy as ABCD.

Statistic of the Month

Domestic Violence Project

In response to the professional training and development needs of workers providing services to victims, children and perpetrators of domestic violence, the Domestic Violence Sector Workforce Development Project has been funded by the SA Dept of Further Education Employment Science and Training (DFEEST), as part of Our Commitment to Women’s Safety in South Australia and is hosted by the Skills Board. The final report will make recommendations for targeted improvement in addressing the workforce development needs of the DV sector in South Australia. You can read more about this project here.

One of the major inputs to this "snapshot" project is a survey of the DV sector in South Australia. All workers within the DV sector are strongly encouraged to complete the survey (please forward the survey to colleagues) so that we have a broad range of views upon which to formulate recommendations to Government about the workforce development requirements of the sector.

The survey will take around 10 to 15 minutes to complete (it is mainly "tick and flick") and all responses will be treated confidentially. The survey must be completed before 5pm Wednesday 5th July 2006 Go to Survey

If you have any questions or require any further information, please contact Jill Gael at CPD Biz on 1300 366 056 or by email: jill@cpdbiz.com.au.

National Industry Careers Specialist

As part of a Federal Governments Career Advice Australia strategy the CS&H NICS Consortium launched at the Making a Difference…2006 - Building the Future CS&H Workforce Conference the Community Active Careers – Work that Matters branding & website. The website, which is still in development, will primarily target young people aged 13 - 19 as well as the newly appointed Regional Industry Career Advisers.

Youth Workers

Youth Workers have responded to the on-line survey in number with over 100 responses. The survey sought Youth Worker’s views regarding the transition from training to work, issues of retention and on the job support & development. Analysis of these responses is underway and focus groups with youth workers and employers are being scheduled.

The project, developed with YACSA, aims to develop a resource that will improve understanding of the sector by new entrants and training for new youth workers and their managers that will improve transition to work practices. This project is funded by DFEEST through the Workforce Development Fund.

Mental Health

Now that the broad consultation stage is complete (apart from focus groups on specific topics) development of a range of resources and other strategies that will meet the identified needs.

In the area of skill development for support workers was collected a significant amount of data. with workers indicating that they would like information regarding how to apply the Recovery philosophy in their practice. After research and consultation, it has been decided to develop a handbook for support workers that provides straight-forward and highly practical information on a range of issues in a very accessible format.

Through the surveys, workers were asked to identify the main factors that will affect their intention to stay in the job. The single factor listed most frequently related to the support they receive from their supervisor. (This factor even rated more highly than salary!) This area was also identified in my consultations with managers and coordinators as one where more information would be valuable. To meet this need, a resource for supervisors will be developed that will include a range of practical tools – amongst them a guide on providing supervision and support to workers.

Victorian Community Services and Health Industry – Training Awards & Conference

The Victorian Community Services and Health Industry Training Board annual conference and training awards are being held in Melbourne on the 20 & 21 July 2006. With a theme of ‘Embracing the Future—Connected and Confident and Competent’, the conference will explore the factors of skill and confidence in creating a strong and sustainable workforce. The conference will involve a wide range of presentations as well as workshops led by industry and training leaders.

The Community Services and Health Industry Training Board training awards will also be held on 20 July 2006 as part of the conference. These awards recognise high achievement in supporting and demonstrating the development of a learning culture in the community services and health industry.

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