New laws to strengthen VET standards

Legislation will be introduced into Parliament today to further crack down on unscrupulous Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers and improve training quality. Assistant Minister for Education and Training Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham said the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment Bill 2015 would: Enable the Australian Government to create new quality standards…

VET FEE-HELP providers under the microscope

Targeted audits of Registered Training Organisations(RTOs) will address allegations of unscrupulous marketing and other practices intended to exploit the Australian Government’s VET FEE-HELP program. Assistant Minister for Education and Training Senator Simon Birmingham said the national regulator, the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), would undertake a total of 23 audits of RTOs including of providers…

Interview – Doorstop, Adelaide

Subject: Submarine Procurement E&OE… SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Thanks very much for coming. If Jay Weatherill is serious about maximizing jobs rather than votes, he needs to be investing in helping South Australian businesses to bid and participate in the submarine procurement process rather than wasting taxpayer dollars on advertising. There’s an enormous opportunity for South Australia…

New Retail Series Launch

An innovative retail training initiative to support employer-led training that focuses on job outcomes will be launched in Melbourne today by the Assistant Minister for Education and Training, Senator Birmingham.  “The New Retail Series is developing ‘fit for purpose’ training and involves employers in the development of qualifications and training requirements,” said Senator Birmingham. “Two…

Local School Embracing Independence

The new $70 million Independent Public School Initiative will help local government schools to become more independent by increasing their own local governance and community and parental engagement.  Assistant Minister for Education and Training, Senator Simon Birmingham and Member for Herbert, Ewen Jones, met with the administration team at Townsville’s Hermit Park State School, which…

Interview- RN Drive with Patricia Karvelas

Subjects: Changes to Government Whips, Government staff; Australia’s unemployment data; Automotive jobs; reskilling the workforce. E&OE… PATRICIA KARVELAS: I’m joined by Senator Simon Birmingham, he is  the Assistant Minister for Education and Training, welcome to RN Drive. SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Good afternoon Patricia and good afternoon to your listeners. PATRICIA KARVELAS: Now I’ll talk about jobs…