76 / 116
76 E L EC TR I C AL CONNEC T I ON
W I N T E R 20 1 6
A word from the CEO
By the time you read this issue of
Electrical
Connection,
our industry conference in
South Africa will have taken place. We had
an excellent response to this event and we
will tell you more about the themes that
came out of the conference in our next
supplement. At the same time I will give you
an idea of what we will be doing in 2017 –
which is also the year of our centenary. So
watch this space.
Infinity Cables Campaign
The Infinity challenge continues and we
endorse the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) campaign
to alert home owners to the dangers of having
Infinity cable in their homes. As you know
these cables (branded Infinity and Olsen) were
officially recalled by the ACCC in 2014. After
four to five years the cable can become more
brittle than the standard, compliant cable.
This deterioration – particularly near a heat
source, could spark a fire or shock. As a large
quantity of this cable was used in 2010/2011
this is now a real threat. Our message to
homeowners is: if in doubt have it checked by
a licensed electrician as soon as possible.
Greater VET scrutiny
Following media reports around the
management practices of an Australia-wide
provider of training. NECA is calling on
the Government for greater scrutiny to the
Vocational Education and Training sector.
We believe that the Australian Skills Quality
Authority (ASQA) should provide strict
oversight and monitoring of poorly performing
training organisations to
maintain best practice in this area.
Advocacy update
As you can imagine much of the talk and
debate in Canberra at the moment is around
the prospect of an early double-dissolution
Federal election in July and the use of
legislation to reinstate the Australian Building
and Construction Commission (ABCC).
We have long been an advocate for the
reintroduction of the ABCC and have been
calling on the Senate to support this legislative
change. The
Building and Construction Industry
(Improving Productivity) Bill
was passed in the
House of Representatives in early February.
But it has been delayed in the Senate for an
Inquiry. NECA has made a submission to this
inquiry – which can be found on our website.
We believe the passage of this legislation is in
the national interest and one that would lead
to greater transparency in the building and
construction sector. Unfortunately, it may take
an election and a new Senate to secure the
passage of this legislation.
Best regards,
Suresh Manickam
Closing the books on the MAPS project
Since November 2014, NECA has undertaken
extensive consultations with employers and
other stakeholders to examine the strengths of
the current apprenticeship system and identify
areas where the system could be improved for
employers and apprentices in training for the
Certificate III in Electrotechnology.
These consultations were held across
metro and regional Australia, by phone or face
to face interviews, with the major purpose of
determining employer and industry views on
future training arrangements, including a review
of the E-Oz EIAPMS Pilot Project.
This review included an employer
engagement exercise to test employers’ views
on the EIAPMS; a review of its features to
examine what should be taken forward and the
development of information kits on competency-
based progression and support arrangements
following industry endorsement.
The key issues and themes to emerge from
these consultations were:
s
A focus on ‘good recruitment’ was needed
to increase apprenticeship completion rates;
s
The need for a tailored ‘recruitment tool’ to
meet the needs of the industry, and improve
the matching of apprentices with employers;
s
Support for a national benchmark industry
entry test and the introduction of aptitude
based testing;
s
Agreement that a National Apprenticeship
Register provided a focus on ensuring a
good fit between the potential apprentice
their employer and industry;
s
NECA support for a compulsory national
profiling system that tracks and measures
the workplace activities of an apprentice;
s
The need for RTOs to undertake training of
apprentices in profiling to ensure apprentices
conform to work related competencies;
s
Competency based training and the
validation of skills and competencies was
supported, however there was no support
for competency based wage progression;
s
Pre-Apprenticeship programs were widely
viewed by employers as an important
preparation for an apprenticeship and
NECA recommends that a national funding
approach be adopted by Federal, State and
Territory Governments; and,
s
Employers were generally not familiar with
the details surrounding training packages or
pathways but remained strongly committed
to training.