VFITB Latest News

MINTRAC making great strides in niche meat market training

vfitb — Fri, 18 May 2012 00:30:55 +0000

From the May MINTRAC Newsletter:
MINTRAC is currently brokering several programs under the National Workforce Development Fund (NWDF), through both AgriFood Skills Australia and Manufacturing Skills Australia.
Between now and the end of 2013, the current programs are running:

Advanced Diploma in Meat Processing (10 students)
Diploma in Meat Processing (34 students)
Certificate IV in Occupational Health and Safety (31 students)
Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (42 students)

See MINTRAC full Newsletter here

(Ed note: pulling groups of students together from across the whole country is a great way to upskill staff where a single state based RTO might not be able to recruit adequate numbers in that state.)

Federal Budget 2012 – Australian Apprenticeship Reform

vfitb — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:55:05 +0000

The following changes to the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program will be implemented from 1 July 2012:

changes to the standard employer incentives for employers of existing workers undertaking an Australian Apprenticeship (at the Certificate III level and above) in an occupation not listed on the *National Skills Needs List The following changes apply for this cohort:
removal of the standard commencement payment
increased standard completion payment (from $2,500 to $3,000)
movement of the timing of payment of the standard commencement payment from being paid at three months after commencement to six months after commencement

See announcement here

Note: Certificate II incentives continue as before in their limited way – ie. not in metropolitan cities unless a targetted group.

Federal Minister seeks assurances TAFE standards are safe

vfitb — Mon, 14 May 2012 00:03:20 +0000

From The Age website, 12 May 2012
“VICTORIA could miss out on $435 million in federal funding for the TAFE sector if the state government’s changes threaten national skills reforms.
Federal Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans has called on his state counterpart, Peter Hall, to provide urgent assurances about Victoria’s TAFE cuts and whether they were a threat to training standards.”

Four year food industry plan unveiled in State of Victoria budget

melissao — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:36:02 +0000

From the Australian Food News website:

The Victorian Government announced this week in its annual Budget that it has set aside AU$61.4 million of funding in this year’s State Budget for the food and agriculture industries.

Revealing the State Budget for 2012/13 on Tuesday 2 May 2012, the Victorian Government outlined a four year funding plan to protect food and agriculture.

The AU$61.4 million has been earmarked help build profitability and productivity of the dairy, red meat, grains and horticulture industries, as well as improve biosecurity measures across the State’s farm sector.

Click here to read the full article on the Australian Food News website.

Coles makes locally-grown pledge for its private label frozen vegetables with Simplot

melissao — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:34:26 +0000

From the Australian Food News website:

Australian supermarket chain Coles has announced that, as of May 2012, all of its private label frozen vegetable products will be sourced from Australian farmers and packed by the Australian based food processing Simplot factories.

Coles merchandise director John Durkan said the move makes Coles’ private label range Australia’s only supermarket private label to offer 100 per cent Australian-grown frozen vegetables.

According to Mr Durkan, total sales of frozen vegetables at Coles is nearly AU$200 million a year, with its private label range representing about 20 per cent of sales (over AU$40 million annually).

“At a time when most other frozen vegetable brands are being sourced from overseas, we’re very pleased that, through our partnership with Simplot, we’ve been able to continue supporting Australian vegetable growers,” Mr Durkan said.

Coles said over 90 per cent of its private label range of frozen vegetable products is sourced from Tasmanian vegetable growers, representing annual sales of over AU$37 million.

Click here to read the full article on the Australian Food News website.

Changes to Victorian Vocational Education and Training

admin — Wed, 09 May 2012 02:41:00 +0000

As part of the Victorian State Budget, the state government recently announced changes to the Vocational Education and Training system, in particular with fees and funding, improving quality and changes to industry engagement.

Below are copies of relevant documents for your perusal:

Refocusing Vocationing in Victoria [PDF: 770KB]
Fact Sheet: Refocusing Vocational Training – Eligibility [PDF: 278KB]
Fact Sheet: Refocusing Vocational Training - Government Subsidies [PDF: 344KB]
Fact Sheet: Refocusing Vocational Training - Student Fees [PDF: 362KB]
Fact Sheet: Refocusing Vocational Training - Quality VET [PDF: 371KB]
Fact Sheet: Refocusing Vocational Training - Industry Driven VET [PDF: 365KB]
Refocusing vocational training – course subsidy list [PDF: 511KB]

FDF10 updated purchasing guide available now.

admin — Thu, 03 May 2012 04:17:31 +0000

Andrew Pajic, Bakers Delight, and Andrew O’Hara, Phillipa’s Bakery/BIAV President, strongly support industry take up of the new Certificate IV in Advanced Baking

The Higher Education and Skills Group have approved Version 2 of the FDF10 Food Processing purchasing guide, and it is now available from the Training Support Network website.

From Higher Education and Skills Group:

The following changes in Version 2 of the FDF10 Training Package are reflected in this VPG:
New qualifications and/or units for:

Cheese making (units only)

Wine Industry Operations

Food Safety (units only)

Food Science and Technology

Advanced Baking

Revised qualifications (with new codes) for

Food Processing

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

Food Processing (Sales)

This VPG is presented in a new template. As a result, matters relating to qualification mapping, transition arrangements, imported units and Apprenticeship and Traineeship details are no longer included.

Click here to access the new Purchasing Guide on the TSN website.

Skills Victoria to be known as the Higher Education and Skills Group

melissao — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:56:45 +0000

From the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victorian Government (media release):

From Monday 26 March, Skills Victoria is to be known as the Higher Education and Skills Group.

This change is due to the new central office structure for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, which went live on Monday. The new structure represents the culmination of more than 15 months work to establish a structure that is best placed to support the Government’s ‘lifelong learning’ agenda.

The new structure is part of a wider organisational renewal exercise. The broad objectives for renewal are to:

• enable effective planning and execution in priority areas;

• foster improved collaboration across the Department and with stakeholders; and

• develop a more disciplined approach to investment planning aligned with strategic priorities.

New almond milk taps Australian demand for non-dairy alternatives

vfitb — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:45:02 +0000

From the Australian Food News website, 30 April,
Australia’s non-dairy milk segment is set to receive a shake-up this week when a new brand of almond milk ‘Almond Breeze’ hits the shelves in over 700 Coles supermarkets across the country.
Roger Ringwood, Country Director for Almond Breeze said, “The many Australian consumers who were interested in the product and asking for the brand online, prompted Blue Diamond to respond.

Almond Breeze is being manufactured in Sydney and will be launched in two varieties, Original and Unsweetened (in one litre cartons) and is expected to retail between AU$2.80 and AU$3.29.

For full story see here

Almost a third of Australian “free range” eggs in breach of industry code

melissao — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:59:14 +0000

From the Australian Food News website 16 April 2012:

Almost a third of eggs labelled as “free range” in Australia are produced in conditions that breach the egg industry’s own regulations, according to new figures published by the Australian Egg Corporation Limited (AECL).

A media statement published on the AECL’s website states that 29 per cent of free range egg production in Australia is sourced from farms that stock free range hens at densities greater than two birds per square metre (20,000 per hectare).

However, the current Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals only allows for a maximum of 1,500 hens per hectare (but states “any higher bird density is acceptable only where regular rotation of birds onto fresh range areas occurs and close management is undertaken which provides some continuing fodder cover”).

The AECL said it does not consider this to be appropriate and that it wishes to draw a ‘line in the sand’ at a “responsible and transparent maximum outdoor or range density”.

The AECL believes the free range outdoor stocking density cap should be lifted 20,000 hens per hectare to meet growing consumer demand.

Click here to read the full article on the Australian Food News website.