Edition 43, April 2007

Building association training strategy recommendations

Master Builders Australia, the major building and construction industry association in Australia, has released a strategy document outlining the training reforms it sees necessary to address the skill needs of the industry now and into the future.

The Training Blueprint sets out seven key recommendations and calls for a partnership between the Australian and state governments and the building industry for dealing with the pressing skill needs of the industry.

The recent building boom has highlighted a number of critical challenges facing the building and construction industry. The challenges include:

  • an ageing workforce
  • ensuring the training system keeps up with industry demands and new technologies and techniques
  • the high dropout rate of building industry apprentices

The key recommendations are to:

  • increase government assistance to offset the cost of training apprentices
  • develop a competency-based training and outcome standard for apprenticeships
  • introduce a level playing field with respect to User Choice funding for all registered training organisations
  • make the Institute for Trade Skills Excellence responsible for creating quality standards
  • introduce a skills card system to facilitate learning across states and territories and champion nationally consistent regulatory arrangements for licensing purposes based on the Australian Qualifications Framework
  • develop a communication and career advisory strategy to provide school students with quality information about the full range of career pathways
  • refine and enhance school-based pre-apprenticeship training as a means of addressing high dropout rates among apprentices
  • develop and introduce advanced occupational health and safety training to parallel the new requirement of providers within the apprenticeship training framework

For more information, or to order a copy of the Training Blueprint, contact Master Builders Australia on 02 6202 8888, enquiries@masterbuilders.com.au or visit www.masterbuilders.com.au

This article orignally appeared in Training Packages @ Work, March 2007

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