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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 9 Hansard (21 August) . . Page.. 2706 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

taste of retail program being conducted by Lend Lease at Woden Plaza, involving both Marist College and the Woden campus of the Canberra College. It is an excellent program that invites young people to take up a new apprenticeship in the retail industry.

I want to emphasise the importance of vocational education to realising the government's vision for a strong, prosperous and confident community. Vocational education and training plays by far the greatest role among the educational sectors in reskilling and upskilling people for all levels of the workforce. In a very cheeky comment I heard at the last MCEETYA meeting, the Queensland minister for vocational education and training congratulated the university sector on training and preparing young people for VET. In some respects, he was not far wrong when you look at the trends.

VET has a critical role in lifting the qualifications of those with low skills, a very important matter for social cohesion and for avoiding polarisation by youth income level as well as for economic performance. The VET system includes both publicly and privately funded training which is delivered by a wide range of institutions and enterprises. One of the distinguishing features of VET is that training providers, known as registered training organisations, are spread throughout all capital cities and metropolitan centres and across rural and regional Australia. VET provides training for Australians of all ages and backgrounds, for small and large enterprises across all industries and in many communities.

Students undertake many different types of training with different types of providers across various fields of study and subjects and at differing levels of skill acquisition. The amount of time that individuals spend in training varies considerably. Many people undertake training on a part-time basis whilst in employment and many people, having been through university, actually go on to VET to get the practical skills they need to implement the level of knowledge and skill they have already obtained. Many VET students also enrol in short, intensive programs aimed at developing a specific set of skills and VET also attracts students from overseas and students who are still at school. It is a very strong and diverse sector.

This year, as I indicated earlier, marks the 65th year for the ACT training excellence awards. These awards are a major event in the Canberra VET sector, celebrating the outstanding achievements of apprentices, trainees, vocational students, employers, schools and registered training organisations. The awards are hosted by the ACT Vocational Education and Training Authority in cooperation with the Accreditation and Registration Council and the student to industry program.

I would like today to focus on the contribution that apprentices and trainees make to the Canberra community and to recognise those who have been nominated for the awards this evening. Let me start by providing a bit of background to the new apprenticeships program. "New apprenticeships" is the brand attached to a national program which combines practical work with structured training. Students obtain a nationally recognised qualification as either an apprentice or a trainee. Apprenticeships are traditionally for four years, while traineeships are for one or two.

New apprenticeships are competency based, which means that the faster you achieve the required skill level, the sooner you complete your training. Students earn a wage while they train and the wage depends on the industry and the stage of training. Students can

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