Broad national training reform effort empowering industries agreed
The Transport and Logistics Training Package (Release 10.0) has been endorsed by the nation’s skills and training ministers for implementation, VET 4 T&L has highlighted.
“The Transport and Logistics Industry Reference Committee and Rail Industry Reference Committee, with the support of Technical Advisory committees, have updated the Transport & Logistics Training Package through the projects below to address priority skills needs,” VET 4 T&L said.
“The changes incorporate recent technology advancements and align with applicable regulatory requirements.”
The move comes a month after the skills ministers backed reform of vocational education and training (VET) system to make it more flexible in the face of swift economic change, including for transport and logistics (T&L).
“Industry Clusters will replace the Industry Reference Committees (IRCs) and the Skills Service Organisations (SSOs).
This is in line with comprehensive stakeholder feedback provided to all governments in 2020 and 2021 and advice from the Transition Advisory Group, comprised of key industry stakeholders established to provide advice on the new industry engagement arrangements.
“Industry Clusters will be established to provide industry with a stronger, more strategic voice and a broader role in ensuring Australia’s skills and training system continues to address skills and workforce challenges across the economy.”
The new arrangements are due to be fully implemented by January 1, 2023, with the IRCs and SSOs to remain in place until then to support a smooth transition to the new arrangements.
Three more steps will follow.
- The Industry Clusters will be established through a two-stage grants process.
- The final number and groupings of industries in each cluster will be settled with industry, providing flexibility for industry to decide the cluster grouping that best aligns to the skills needs of their sectors.
- Industry Clusters will be established as not-for-profit companies limited by guarantee, with expert boards, and stakeholders represented through membership models and sub-committee structures, addressing identified governance issues experienced in current and previous industry engagement models.
For road freight, the T&L package includes:
Supply Chain Operations – Certificate I qualifications and Certificate IV qualifications in Logistics and Warehouse Operations have been amalgamated into single qualifications at each level to address current and future skills needs of entry-level workers and team leaders/supervisors respectively. The Certificate IV in Transport Scheduling has been amalgamated into a stream within the new Certificate IV qualification. These changes enable flexible career pathways and workforce mobility across multiple sectors of the Transport and Logistics industry. The revised qualifications include two new Units of Competency relating to logistics planning and 54 updated units.
Driving Operations – Certificate II, III and IV in Driving Operations qualifications and 55 associated Units of Competency have been updated to incorporate recent technology advancements and align with applicable regulatory requirements. These changes are aimed at enhancing the professionalism and safety levels of Australian heavy vehicle drivers. Two new Units of Competency relating to in-vehicle technology and alpine driving have been developed to address priority skill needs.
The Certificate III in Driving Operations and the Certificate III in Waste Driving Operations have been amalgamated into a single qualification to create a flexible career pathway for new and existing heavy vehicle drivers and to enable workforce mobility.
The full package details can be found here.