What will the recent budget mean for Training

Well now that the new budget has been handed down it is time to think about what it might mean for the Training and VET sector.

There have been several programs which have been cut in the budget most noticeably the National Workforce Development Fund and the WELL programs, both of which had been seen as problematic in term of their reporting and overheads.  The cuts to these programs and a number of other federally funded programs will be used to establish a $470 million Industry Skills Fund which as Minister Mcfarlane said in a recent press release ‘The new Industry Skills Fund will commence on 1 January 2015 and will deliver close to 200,000 targeted training places and training support services over four years.  The fund will assist small and medium sized businesses to successfully diversify and improve competitiveness in a global market.  Registered Training Organisations will deliver to businesses high-quality accredited and targeted training.’

While we don’t yet know the details of how this scheme will work if you are a business, either small or large, you should be starting to think about what RTO’s you might want to partner with in order to get the best outcomes for your students.  As well as making sure that you know where the skill gaps within your workforce lay and how these can be filled.

What about for individuals, well currently in Queensland at least both the Certificate III Guarantee and User choice programs are still up and running.  However and this is something important to note if you are thinking about accessing a place under the certificate III guarantee the program, the details of the program and funding for training in Queensland for the next 12 months is currently under review and may change after July 1 2014.

So my advice would be if you are thinking about accessing a place under the Certificate III Guarantee that you talk to an approved RTO now and look at getting your application in before the end of this financial year.