The eleventh meeting of the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) Emergency Response Sub‑Committee (the sub-committee) was held on Tuesday 28 July 2020.
Critical Skills for Economic Recovery
The sub-committee discussed the recent activities implemented to support the critical skills for economic recovery work, including the new critical skills feedback form on the AISC website, seeking stakeholder input on critical skills needed by displaced workers and businesses as they respond to the economic impact of COVID-19, and where VET training products could help to provide these critical skills rapidly.
The sub-committee acknowledged the significant work of IRCs and SSOs to develop and submit 35 proposals for training products for consideration and agreed that due to the number of proposals received, it will consider proposals across three meetings.
The sub-committee reviewed the first nine of the 35 submissions received by IRCs on critical skills needed by displaced workers and businesses, and where national VET training package products could provide support to rapidly reskill or upskill displaced workers and businesses.
Following an assessment of each of the proposals, the sub-committee approved five proposals to proceed for further development:
| Skills for Front-Line Workers | Create a new cross-sectoral unit of competency that covers the skills and knowledge required by front-line retail workers to deal with aggressive and potentially violent customers as well as strategies to support the mental health and wellbeing of workers. |
| Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Skillset | Creation of a new skill set to support workers entering the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, including to work with vaccines and antibody testing devices. |
| Chefs in Residential Aged Care Kitchens | Creation of a new skill set to enable qualified Chefs to work in Residential Aged Care kitchens |
| ICT Fast Track – Supporting RTO Interpretation Guide | Creation of an industry guidance document to provide support for RTOs delivering new ICT skill sets in cloud computing and cyber security in approved by Ministers on 14 July 2020 |
| Digital Skills for Small Business | Creation of a new skill set to support small businesses with basic competencies in developing an online business presence, servicing customers online, and conducting business transactions online. |
JobTrainer Fund
The sub-committee acknowledged the recent positive announcement of the establishment of a JobTrainer Fund as part of the Government’s new JobTrainer Skills Package for Economic Recovery and Growth. The JobTrainer Fund will allow job seekers and school leavers to access free, or low cost, training places in areas of identified skills needs based on a list of qualifications and skill sets agreed between the National Skills Commission and state and territory governments.
Cross Sector Infection Control
The sub-committee noted the new Cross Sector Infection Control Unit Follow infection prevention and control policies and procedures in own work activities and Cross Sector Infection Control Skill Set had been approved by Skills Ministers, and published on Training.gov.au. Contextualisation advice covering 31 sectors are now available on the AISC website. This will be an invaluable resource to support RTOs to rapidly delivering the new cross-sector infection control unit and skill set in a range of settings as the economy begins to re-open.
Members noted the communication activities underway to advise industry of the availability of the unit, skill set and contextualisation documents.
Next Meeting
The next sub-committee meeting will be held on 4 August 2020.