Industry Liaison Agents (ILAs), an initiative of the June 2002 Ministerial Statement on Knowledge and Skills for the Innovation Economy, have been established to address the skill gaps and training issues to improve the growth and competitiveness of Victorian manufacturing enterprises.
ILAs form one component of a broader drive to improve both the demand for skills development in Small and Medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in manufacturing and the responsiveness of supply activities to developing industry needs.
The role of VECCI, as an ILA on behalf of the State Government, will be to ensure that the manufacturing sector understands the importance and value of developing employee capacity through education and training.
VECCI will work with enterprises to identify their training needs and to therefore stimulate demand for workplace training. The focus will be on the needs of existing workers and will also address trade skill shortages.
VECCI will negotiate the delivery of training with public and private Registered Training Organisations, including customising the content, structure and delivery modes of the training to suit industry needs.
The project's duration is initially for two years and over this period VECCI will:
- Provide advice to SMEs on training and other support available for SMEs in manufacturing;
- Establish clusters of SMEs to create the critical mass of participants required for the viable supply of training and network enterprises with training providers. Initially two pilot clusters will be established. Over time other clusters will be established as demand dictates.
Progress to date
- To date, more than 600 companies have been contacted and the VECCI ILA has been invited to visit about 100 of these enterprisess. Metropolitan regions targeted to date are Dandenong and the SE suburbs. Geelong was the first regional centre to be targeted, followed by visits in the Ballarat region. The ILA is prepared to visit any SME in the manufacturing sector with skill gaps, regardless of location. Advice on training and specific training solutions have been presented free of charge to all companies visited and training has commenced in many of them.
- In a recent development, VECCI ILA has formed a strategic partnership with the International Centre of Graphic Technology (ICGT), Brunswick. Work will commence soon to extend the ILA project in the printing sector, starting in regional areas. ICGT houses world-class facilities and ompanies are encouraged to visit the facility. Further information on planned open days can be obtained from the VECCI ILA.
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