electrocomms and energy utilities environmental

Electrocomms and EnergyUtilities Industry Skills Council Ltd

EE-Oz Training Standards

Unit 2, 48 Mort Street, Braddon ACT 2612

Tel: 02 6262 7055 Fax: 02 6257 4222

[email protected]

This report is published by EE-Oz Training Standards

Design: praxiscreative.com.au Enviroscan – May 2012 ISBN: 978-1-921251-40-5


ACN: 070 582 017 ABN: 22 070 582 017

Postal address:PO Box 1202 Dickson ACT 2602

Business address:Unit 2, 48 Mort Street, Braddon ACT 2612

Tel: 02 6262 7055 Fax: 02 6257 4222

[email protected] www.ee-oz.com.au

EE-Oz Training Standards is the Australian Government declared Industry Skills Council for the Australian ElectroComms and EnergyUtilities industries. This publication has been produced with the assistance of Australian Government funding.

i

CEOs Introduction 1

Market intelligence – The VET environment 5

VET Sector reform 6Consistent and transparent application of training standards 6

Systemic flexibility to accommodate enterprise needs 8

Meeting individual learner needs 8

Impending Skills Shortfall 12

Electrotechnology Industry 15

Latest Intelligence 15Emerging environmental factors and their skill impacts 15

Current industry priorities 26

Training market responsiveness 27

Identified Workforce Development Needs 28

Current Impact of Training Packages 34

Future Direction for Endorsed components of Training Packages 39

Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) 41

Latest Industry Intelligence 42Emerging environmental factors and their skill impacts 42

Current industry priorities 47

Training market responsiveness 49




Gas Supply Industry (GSI) 59

Latest Intelligence 60Emerging environmental factor and their skill impacts 61

Industry 64

Market 65




Appendix A 71

Contents

1

The Environment

The energy sector industries underpin the op-eration of the broader economy and materially affect the operations of all other industries. The essential nature of the services provided by the sector and the inherently dangerous nature of the work, require robust regulatory and indus-trial arrangements to ensure individual, public and enterprise safety and continuity of supply.

Historically, access to dependable, safe and competitively priced energy has underpinned Australias social and economic development; delivering benefits across the community. This trend can be expected to continue.

Australia is optimally placed to take advantage of growing global demand for energy and an increasing focus on how it is generated and utilised. With a highly skilled workforce able to take advantage of technological advances and ample access to energy resources including traditional and transitioning hydrocarbon fuels, renewable energy and alternative fuel sources; Australia will be able to set the course of its own energy future and support the chosen courses of other nations in our region.

Industry will rely significantly rely on Train-ing Package qualifications to deliver the skills required to realise this future. Energy sector Training Packages continue to have strong support of industry, with uptake increasing both in absolute terms and as a proportion of all Training Package qualifications.

As illustrated in Figure 1 below; the propor-tion of students enrolled in the EE-Oz Train-ing Standards suite of Training Packages, as a percentage of all Training Package students, has almost trebled from 3.39% in 2001 to over 10% in 2011. Over this same period the total number of students enrolled in the suite has increased seven fold, from 6,375 to 46,080.

This dramatic growth has several factors, in-cluding broad industry and regulatory support for these qualifications, mining and construc-tion booms driving demand for energy sector

CEO’s Introduction

EE-Oz CEO Bob Taylor

2

skills, as well as improved community aware-ness of the value of trade vocations and in-creased governmental support for Vocational Education and Training (VET).

This Publication

We have taken a different approach to the Environmental Scan this year, firstly exploring systemic issues affecting all sectors and then examining sector specific and training product related issues later in the publication. The deci-sion to impart greater emphasis on systemic issues has been made in light of the current policy environment, with VET (and the appren-ticeship system in particular) at the centre of the national reform agenda.

This format will also allow an examination of environmental factors affecting the demand for skills within industry sectors, to be more ap-

propriately linked with training.

Reform Agenda

Several high profile reports, including those by Skills Australia, the Productivity Commission and the Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations Expert Panel, have recommended increasing the role of industry in the training system. This will ensure that skills are developed in the quantity and to the stan-dard required by enterprise, and improve the flexibility of the training system to accommo-date individual learner needs.

These goals were endorsed by COAG at its 2 September 2011 meeting;

“Ministers agreed that apprenticeship re-form should focus on a competency based system that promoted advancement by competence with training more responsive to industry needs now and in the future and which might offer alternative pathways for training outcomes. Ministers also noted that apprenticeship reform should include focus and improvement in the effectiveness of support services and improvements in completion rates.”1

ElectroComms and EnergyUtilities Industries - Environmental Scan 2012

Source: NCVER, Students in training by ISC, VOCSTATS

This publication

We have taken a different approach to the Environmental Scan this year, firstly exploring

systemic issues affecting all sectors and then examining sector specific and training product related

issues later in the publication. The decision to impart greater emphasis on systemic issues has been

made in light of the current policy environment, with VET (and the apprenticeship system in

particular) at the centre of the national reform agenda.

This format will also allow an examination of environmental factors affecting the demand for

skills within industry sectors, to be more appropriately linked with training.

Reform agenda

Several high profile reports, including those by Skills Australia, the Productivity Commission and

the Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations’ Expert Panel, have

recommended increasing the role of industry in the training system. This will ensure that skills are

developed in the quantity and to the standard required by enterprise, and improve the flexibility of

the training system to accommodate individual learner needs.

These goals were endorsed by COAG at its 2 September 2011 meeting;

“Ministers agreed that apprenticeship reform should focus on a competency based system

that promoted advancement by competence with training more responsive to industry needs

now and in the future and which might offer alternative pathways for training outcomes.

0.00%

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10000

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Percentage of students enrolled in EE-Oz Training Packages as a proportion of all Training Package

students

Number of apprentices and trainees in-training under EE-Oz Training Standards' Training Packages

Figure 1: Apprentices and trainees in-training 2001-2011, EE-Oz Training Standards.

Source: NCVER, Students in training by ISC, VOCSTATS

1 http://www.scotese.natese.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/61173/Communique_MCTEE_2_September.pdf

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EE-Oz Training Standards broadly supports the recommendations made in these reports and is eager to ensure industry has an active and determinative role in shaping a new VET system. It is particularly vital that the combined impacts of changes arising from ongoing re-views of the training system are filtered by in-dustry, to ensure that the systems operational integrity is maintained, that alterations are con-sidered holistically and the system becomes increasingly responsive to industry needs.

A vital aspect of this review must be a rethink of how the sector can accomplish both is eco-nomic (related to the productivity of enterprise) and social (providing pathways from disadvan-tage) goals. Too often in the past, the empha-sis of equity initiatives has been to ensure ac-cess to programs without developing student capacity to complete those programs. NCVER data demonstrates that second chance stu-dents are much less likely to complete their chosen qualification (especially at Certificate III level or above).

Allowing students to access (enrol in) a course which they are unlikely to complete is increas-ingly being recognised as setting students up to fail and constituting an undue cost to stake-holders (i.e. bad for the sectors economic mandate). This approach is also poor at ad-dressing social goals on anything other than a superficial level, as it does little to address the root cause of disadvantage; with few students achieving workplace outcomes.

An alternative approach, which supports successful outcomes, must be sought. This should involve assessing individual student learning capacity (particularly in relation to lan-guage, literacy and numeracy) and developing targeted strategies to address qualification/job role specific requirements. This initial as-sessment could then be leveraged in the pro-vision of mentoring and pastoral care support throughout the training program.

An initial assessment should not be understood as erecting a barrier to entry but as removing

barriers to success. This approach is support-ed by empirical evidence; stakeholder RTOs report that students who have achieved the language, literacy and numeracy levels identi-fied by the energy industry as best equipping participants to complete a unit of competence, have three quarters fewer non-completions.

Affording students the opportunity to succeed, whilst matching the allocation of training plac-es to identified enterprise needs, presents an outcome which will satisfy both economic and social mandates assigned the VET system.

In the current environment of a tight and tight-ening labour market, it is inexcusable for pub-lic funding to go toward training which does not meet industry demand. There is simply too much competition for skills and too many disengaged individuals seeking to achieve the social and economic benefits associated with employment.

A demand driven approach to training has been seen to be effective in the Enterprise Based Productivity Places (EBPPP), Critical Skills In-vestment Fund (CSIF) and National Workforce Development Fund (NWDF) programs, which have allowed enterprises to identify their cur-rent and future workforce needs and partner with government to co-invest in their develop-ment. These projects repositioning training as an investment in an enterprises future pros-perity and encourage a robust model for post trade skill development.

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Market intelligence – The VET environment

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The VET policy environment affects all indus-tries and (directly or indirectly) all enterprises. It establishes the framework for skills develop-ment, plays a determinative role in establishing the efficiency and effectiveness of investment in skills which, over the longer term, determines the skills base of the workforce; with long term implications on competitiveness, productivity and living standards.

In its 2011/12 Budget, the federal Government signalled its intention to use targeted vocational training programs to boost workplace produc-tivity, prevent skills shortages from emerging and address the root causes of disadvantage (by providing them with training pathways to achieve productive employment). This strategy will spread the benefits of a strong economy as broadly as possible, building a foundation for future prosperity.

Refocusing on skills and productivity is timely. Over the past decade a dramatic improvement in our historic terms of trade has allowed living standards to rise despite stagnant productivity growth but this fortuitous trend cannot con-tinue indefinitely.

For wages and living standards to rise over the longer term, they will need to be accompanied by a rise in productivity (or wage increases will simply be eroded by inflation). Placing indus-try at the heart of the training system, with a determinative role in the allocation of training places and quality assurance, in addition to the development of training standards, is a neces-sary step in ensuring that skills development contributes to productive employment.

In developing responses to the numerous re-views of the VET sector conducted in the past few years, three factors have consistently been identified by industry representatives as priori-ties for sector reform:

1. Robust systems to ensuring that industry identified training standards are applied consistently and transparently around the country

2. Funding and training standard develop-ment processes provide flexibility to meet the identified needs of individual enterprises

3. The learning needs and aspiration of indi-vidual students toward the completion of a vocational qualification are acknowledged and accommodated

The second and third factors are integrally related to completion rates; no stakeholders productivity goals are achieved if the student fails to complete. However, the robust system described in the first point must be maintained in order to ensure outcomes are not devalued in the pursuit of higher completion rates.

Discussion of completion rates has become topical in the VET sector since the 2008 Brad-ley Review of Australian Higher Education rec-ommended that performance based principles be applied to government funding of educa-tion (with completion rates identified as a key performance measure). Although this recom-mendation was made in relation to the Higher Education system, potential implications for the VET sector have been widely considered.

The energy sector industries are acutely aware that student non-completions represent a sig-nificant cost to all stakeholders in the training system and that within a constrained labour market afflicted by ongoing skill shortages affecting key occupations, completion rates around 50% across the VET sector are no lon-ger acceptable. Although individual completion rates in the energy sector trades are amongst the highest in the VET sector, industry remains committed to raising these in order to improve outcomes for individuals and enterprises.

Market intelligence – The VET environment

6

Supporting individuals to achieve improved outcomes will require the efficient allocation of training and support resources. Systems and targets must acknowledge the diverse needs of learners and develop individual training pro-grams to provide every student the opportunity to succeed. This approach must be balanced with the consistent and transparent application of training standards to ensure that such flex-ibility does not lead to the erosion of training rigor threatening industry outcomes.

VET Sector reform

Consistent and transparent application of training standards

ASQAThe Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) commenced operations on 1 July 2011 as the new national Vocational Education and Training (VET) regulator; two years after an in-principle agreement amongst the Council of Australian Government (COAG) members to ensure the quality and consistency of VET training in Aus-tralia.

The creation of ASQA represents a new ap-proach to the regulation of VET and is an en-couraging development in a sector historically characterised by jurisdictional differences. The new body will have unprecedented power to harmonise training and licensing standards na-tionally.

As with any policy framework, two factors will underpin ASQAs success;

1. A robust system for compliance auditing

2. Engagement with industry

In order to promote an efficient allocation of funding, ASQA will utilise a risk-based ap-proach to regulation which will concentrate au-diting resources on areas of greatest risk rather than RTOs with a history of compliance. The operation of this system is outlined in section S190 of the National Vocational Education & Training Regulator Act.

Structured risk assessments will be carried out at each initial, extension to scope application or in response to a registered complaint. These assessments will incorporate feedback from industry bodies (such as Industry Skills Coun-cils) regarding poor provider practice, risks to quality and systemic weaknesses in the quality of outcomes. Ultimately, this assessment may lead to a qualification being withdrawn and the RTO having to request graduates surrender their qualification with implications for further action.

In conducting an audit, ASQA will ask indus-try to nominate a technical adviser to attend the audit and provide advice in relation to the technical requirements of the Training Pack-age. This collaboration will ensure that industry has a determinative role in assessing provider fitness for purpose, as well as informing the standards for technical compliance.

Importantly, ASQA has been empowered, un-der legislation passed earlier this year, to audit RTOs at any time and apply sanctions for non-compliance with AQTF policy.

Mr Chris Robinson, acting Chief Commission-er of ASQA, has indicated that a robust and nationally consistent quality framework, with associated accreditation mechanisms, will provide an increased focus on the way training providers are registered, courses are accred-ited and the quality of the system is monitored.

ASQAs operation will ensure uniform national standards that will promote transparency in the operation of registered training organisations (RTOs) and allow students, employers and trainers to have increased confidence in train-ing outcomes from providers around the na-tion. This will address recent concerns about the consistency and integrity of VET regula-tion (particularly in relation to media scrutiny of programs being delivered to international students) and provide clearer lines of account-ability and responsibility.

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National Agreement on Skills and Workforce DevelopmentThe current National Agreement on Skills and Workforce Development (NASWD) has three key objectives:

• All working aged Australians have the op-portunity to develop the skills and qualifica-tions needed, including through a respon-sive training system, to enable them to be effective participants in and contributors to the modern labour market.

• Individuals are assisted to overcome barri-ers to education, training and employment, and are motivated to acquire and utilise new skills.

• Australian industry and businesses devel-op, harness and utilise the skills and abili-ties of the workforce.

COAG has agreed to review the NASWD dur-ing 2011-12. A new agreement is expected to commence on 1 July 2012.

This review is anticipated to refocus on the ob-jectives and outcomes, outputs and measures of the current agreement with emphasis on foundation skills and participation in training as social and economic goals.

Role of regulatorsIn addition to the new role of the National VET regulation, the energy industry is moving to-ward national occupational licensing (under the National Occupational Licensing Author-ity (NOLA)), supported by State and Territory regulators.

The process of moving toward national licens-ing has reengaged industry regulators with the training system and the requirements of national Training Packages. Regulators are seeking to ensure that training standards will align with national licensing requirements and provide them with certainty about the quality and consistency of training outcomes, as they cede their powers to the national body.

National licensing along with other COAG ini-tiatives including ASQA, harmonisation of Work

Health and Safety (WHS) standards and ap-prenticeship reform, has had a positive effect on the work of the ISC in promoting greater interaction between training providers, industry bodies and regulators. Increased interaction is preventing duplications of effort, promoting an environment of informed policy development and clarifying the roles of organisations within a truly national training system.

Unique Student Identifier (USI)A USI for the VET sector has been on the COAG agenda since late 2009 with a final business cases due to be considered by in early 2012.

EE-Oz recognises the significant benefits that would flow from tracking national longitudinal student data. At an aggregated level this will inform public debate and allow a performance based approach to policy development. At an individual level this will provide a reliable and simple framework for students to exchange in-formation with RTOs (to improve educational experiences) and employers (to improve em-ployment experiences).

By creating an authenticated record of educa-tional experience, a USI would allow the bro-kerage of training programs for students with reference to their achievements, background and aptitude. It would also facilitate the identifi-cation of appropriate support services (such as additional LL&N) prior to commencement. This has cost implications for RTOs, allowing them to focus support on areas of greatest need.

This having been said, EE-Oz feels an impor-tant opportunity is being missed in limiting a USI to the VET sector rather than extending this across the national education system. Ex-cluding the Secondary and Higher Educations sectors will increase compliance cost for multi-sector RTOs, decrease the value to students (who may need to approach multiple training providers to create a training record), limit the value of information for policy makers and pro-mote the isolation of education sectors (which runs contrary to COAG policy initiatives).

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Systemic flexibility to accommodate enterprise needs

National Workforce Development AgencyFrom 1 July 2012, the National Workforce and Productivity Agency will be established to ad-minister the National Workforce Development Fund, expanding the role of Skills Australia to improve the linkages between skills funding and industry needs; in order to increase the fo-cus on workplace productivity in Australia.

The Agency will engage with industry (through industry skills councils, employer associations and unions), to inform workforce planning ini-tiatives. This approach will empower individual enterprises to negotiate flexible and relevant services from RTOs which:

• Contextualise qualification(s) to meet identi-fied enterprise needs (particularly in relation to elective units)

• Provide flexibility in relation to geographical location and mode of delivery

• Represent value for money

Industry feels that opportunities exist for the Agency to play an enhanced role in the training system, consolidating the operation of various bodies related to workforce development and administering the operation of workforce de-velopment programs. This would provide the Agency with a role beyond the operation of the NWDF and entrench the role of industry fun-damentally into programs within its auspices.

Role of ISCs in Workforce DevelopmentThe efficacy of Workforce Development initia-tives in linking the demand and supply of skills hinges on the central role of Industry Skills Councils (ISCs) in engaging and working with industry and government. This engagement must naturally occur at two levels.

The first will involve assisting enterprises to identify their specific business needs and ap-propriate strategies to address these, wheth-er through training or alternative processes. Where training is identified as the preferred

solution, ISCs will have a further role in helping enterprises to navigate the complexities of the VET sector and diverse funding sources. This assistance is particularly important for smaller enterprises without the capacity for complex workforce planning assessments in house. This role also encompasses the existing Train-ing Package development responsibility of ISCs, ensuring that appropriate national train-ing solutions are available to meet enterprise level demand for skills.

The second level involves communicating in-dustry demand for skills to government and developing appropriate strategies to address these. In order to be effective, this will need to identify both the immediate needs of enterpris-es, to address existing skills shortages, and the evolving demand for skills across the work-force, to meet Australias wider labour market needs in the medium term.

The effective implementation of Workforce De-velopment initiatives has the potential to boost economy wide productivity with associated benefits for global competitiveness, higher wages (without inflation) and increasing the aggregate level of employment.

Meeting individual learner needs

DemographicsFigure 2 below shows that the proportion of commencing apprentices below 19 years of age has consistently fallen over the past ten years, from above two-thirds (67.64%) to a little over half (57.08%). The proportion aged 20 to 24 years has remained fairly constant, while the greatest growth has been in the 25 to 44 year category.

The proportion of 25 to 44 year old apprentices has almost doubled from 11.89% in 2001 to 21.54% in 2010. In conjunction with the rapid uptake of the EE-Oz suite of Training Packages by industry, this means that an additional 2153 apprentices aged 25 to 44 commenced train-ing in 2010 compared to 2001. This demo-graphic shift, which is expected to continue,

9

is moving the emphasis of the training system toward the needs and capacities of older ap-prentices. The proportion of commencing ap-prentices aged over 45 has also doubled over the period, albeit from a much lower base.

In comparison to the relatively homogenous school leaver cohort, older apprentices pres-ent unique opportunities and challenges. Many have previously worked in related industries and bring valuable skills to the sector, allowing them to gain competence more quickly and ef-ficiently. For others, extended disengagement from the training system means they need

additional support prior to commencement to maximise their chances of success.

Ensuring that the training system has the flex-ibility to tailor learning plans to individual learner needs (and how these evolve over the course of the qualification) will help promote the effi-cient allocation of training resources.

In comparison, the demographics of students enrolled across all Training Packages has re-mained fairly constant over the period, margin-ally lower (not exceeding a couple of percentage points) in each category except the over 45s.


Source: NCVER, VOCSTATS

In comparison, the demographics of students enrolled across all Training Packages has remained

fairly constant over the period, marginally lower (not exceeding a couple of percentage points) in

each category except the over 45s.

Figure 3: Student demographics for all Training Package qualifications, 2001 - 2010


Student capacity to progress

The fundamental productivity goal of all stakeholders in the training system is to develop human

capital. Non-completions represent a barrier to this goal and appropriate strategies to improve

completion rates, without compromising outcomes, must be actively sought.

Essential for this to occur are robust systems to develop learner capacity. These can variously

take the form of pre-apprenticeships, foundation or even practical skills development programs. For

this to function effectively an accurate skills profile of the learner must be developed prior to

commencement, thereby allowing preparatory programs to be targeted at individual learner needs.

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2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

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2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

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In comparison, the demographics of students enrolled across all Training Packages has remained

fairly constant over the period, marginally lower (not exceeding a couple of percentage points) in

each category except the over 45s.



Student capacity to progress

The fundamental productivity goal of all stakeholders in the training system is to develop human

capital. Non-completions represent a barrier to this goal and appropriate strategies to improve

completion rates, without compromising outcomes, must be actively sought.

Essential for this to occur are robust systems to develop learner capacity. These can variously

take the form of pre-apprenticeships, foundation or even practical skills development programs. For

this to function effectively an accurate skills profile of the learner must be developed prior to

commencement, thereby allowing preparatory programs to be targeted at individual learner needs.

0%

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2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

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2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

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Figure 2: Student demographics for EE-Oz Training Package qualifications, 2001 - 2010




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Student capacity to progressThe fundamental productivity goal of all stake-holders in the training system is to develop human capital. Non-completions represent a barrier to this goal and appropriate strategies to improve completion rates, without compro-mising outcomes, must be actively sought.

Essential for this to occur are robust systems to develop learner capacity. These can vari-ously take the form of pre-apprenticeships, foundation or even practical skills develop-ment programs. For this to function effectively an accurate skills profile of the learner must be developed prior to commencement, thereby allowing preparatory programs to be targeted at individual learner needs. This will prevent costly duplication of effort while targeting sup-port toward identified barriers to progression, before they are allowed to become barriers to success.

This approach was endorsed in the recent Expert Panel report developed to inform the Apprenticeships for the 21st Century review, which describes the importance of student ca-pacity in determining completion;

“Literature points to high quality recruitment as being the most crucial factor in ensuring the completion of an Australian Apprentice-ship. There needs to be a focus on start-ing apprentices and trainees with a view to success rather than setting them up to fail. This can include education about what the apprenticeship or traineeship entails, apti-tude testing, assessing their commitment to the training, encouraging involvement in pre-vocational and pre-apprenticeship pro-grams, providing a good match between the apprentice or trainee and employer and ensuring appropriate induction.” 2(Emphasis

added)

As the VET sector expands its capacity, in or-der to meet COAGs educational attainment target for 80% of 25 – 34 year olds to hold an AQF level 3 or above qualification by 2020 (as opposed around 64% today), effective strat-egies to improve student readiness prior to commencement will become crucial. Over the next decade the tertiary education system (in-cluding VET) will be asked to increase the pool of students it engages, without compromising outcomes, and to ensure that this new cohort of students has the capacity to succeed.

This is a significant challenge which will require a particular effort be made to lift student attain-ment rates amongst disadvantaged students. It is of concern to industry that the capacity of the compulsory education system to effectively prepare students for the further education is faltering, with both the relative and absolute at-tainment standards of 15 year old Australian students falling between 2001 and 20093.

Foundation SkillsFoundation skills focused training aligns close-ly to the concept of core skills identified by the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF). These skills allow people to engage with soci-ety more broadly, improving their ability to com-municate through language and mathematics. They help people think critically about informa-tion and ideas. They also play an important role in facilitating further learning by improving a learners ability to absorb and manipulate in-formation.

In Australian Workforce Futures, Skills Australia identifies a link between the aggregate level of language, literacy and numeracy skills in a so-ciety and productivity.

“Adult Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN) skills are now recognised as funda-mental to improved workforce participa-tion, productivity and social inclusion…

2 Expert Panel, A shared responsibility – Apprenticeships for the 21st Century3 Results from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey reveal that Australia has seen a

decline in the reading and mathematics performance of 15 year olds 2000 and 2009.

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International research shows that a 1 per cent increase in a countrys literacy score leads to a 2.5 per cent increase in labour productivity.”4

This research contributes to a recent body of work extolling the virtues of foundation skills both in relation to improving outcomes from training (yielding an improved return on invest-ment) and of improving social outcomes by promoting effective interaction. Importantly, improving foundation skills has been found to be important and effective for individuals at all levels, not just those at entry level or from dis-advantaged groups:

“... not confined to those with poor basic skills, but extends to all people trying to un-derstand new forms of communication and information as they take on different roles in life and work.”5

EE-Oz strongly supports the development of the foundation skills as complementary to the development of vocational skills and continues to lead in the inclusion of recommended levels of Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LL&N) in Training Package units of competency. RTO reports received by the ISC indicate that stu-dents who have demonstrated the levels of LL&N recommended for the unit, have three quarter fewer non-completions.

Industry representatives increasingly feel that introducing the provision of appropriate and targeted support services to students will re-quire developing an accurate picture of an in-dividuals capacity and capability to progress, prior to commencement. This could then be leveraged to identify appropriate pathways to entry for students with differing levels of readi-ness, in order to ensure they are provided with the capacity to progress through their chosen training program.

Competency based progressionCompetency based progression denotes a system in which progression is founded on the students development and application of knowledge and skill, rather than by time served. This has clear benefits for stakeholders:

• For RTOs, more accurate and timely recog-nition of individual skill levels allows training solutions to be tailored to individual needs, facilitating progression when competency is demonstrated and the early identification of strategies to minimise impediments to progression.

• For employers, recognition of their commit-ment to adequate supervision and expo-sure to workplace experience as evidence of competency progression, which reflects real productivity.

• For students, opportunities for progression above current rates; incentivising greater effort and providing flexibility to address in-dividual learning capacity

In order to achieve competency based out-comes for students and enterprises, training systems must provide sufficient flexibility to accommodate the individual needs of each Contract of Training arrangement, in order to minimise any duplication of effort and create performance based incentives to students.

Despite these obvious benefits, it must also be emphasised that significant barriers to compe-tency based progression exist in the current apprenticeship system. Any holistic program to achieve cultural shift in energy sector appren-ticeships must address each of these factors to the satisfaction of industry, including:

• Industry and regulator confidence in the outcomes of training

• Alignment of on and off-the-job elements of competence

• National consistency in the application of training standards

4 Skills Australia, Australian Workforce Futures, 2010 p.4 5 National Centre for Vocational Education Research 2005

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• Negotiation of industrial arrangements to support competency based progression

• Apprentice capacity to progress

• Blended Learning resources

• Funding arrangements

EE-Oz looks forward to further consultations with industry and government about how to provide greater flexibility in policy setting to al-low competency based progression, without compromising the attainment standards out-lined in units of competence.

Technical trainer shortagesStrong competition amongst employers for energy sector skills is preventing RTOs from recruiting experienced practitioners into tech-nical training roles. This is affecting the ability of training organisations to increase capacity in key qualifications for which skills shortages have been identified and in areas of emerging skill demand.

Publicly funded training organisations in par-ticular report that pay scales which do not dis-tinguish between the technical skills of trainers, fail to acknowledge the reality that VET train-ers operate as dual professionals; required to maintain both technical and pedagogical skills. While RTO trainer remuneration fails to keep pace with the market demand for technical skills, RTOs will be unable to selectively recruit. This negatively affects the perception of train-ing roles, the quality of new entrants into the field and outcomes for students.

Technical trainers within RTOs also advise that there is a huge learning curve from full time tech-nical work to full time teaching, which discour-ages industry practitioners from pursuing train-ing roles. Many advise that a lack of support at this time is a cause of discomfort, which drives many new trainers back into technical roles.

Given the difficulty in recruiting new entrants and the demonstrable advantages in terms of training outcomes of establishing higher level teaching skills, this is a problem that must be addressed. EE-Oz supports the adoption of a

technical teaching qualification at at least Di-ploma level, as a pathway into a training role. This qualification should incorporate industry specific units for currency verification and to contextualise pedagogical skills to the indus-try context, as well as educational delivery and management competencies.

The intention of such a qualification is not to replace the Cert IV TAE as an entry level re-quirement but to encourage recent entrants to the training sector to refresh their underpinning technical knowledge and develop pedagogical skills related to their chosen field.

Impending skills shortfall

With growth and interest rate levels returning to their historical averages, it is easy to feel the domestic (if not the international) economy has left the GFC well and truly behind. However a hangover of the crisis remains within the train-ing system, in the form of a reduced 2009 student cohort, which will severely impact the supply of skills in the short term.

Apprenticeships within the traditional trades have comparatively long lead times, reflect-ing regulatory requirements and the high level technical skills required. Although the basis for awarding qualifications in the energy sec-tor trades is competence not time spent in training, apprenticeship training has historically been conducted over a nominal four year pe-riod. Whilst there is some flexibility to vary this period, it has remained the de facto basis for completion.

This arrangement manifests as a strong posi-tive correlation between completion rates and commencement rates four years earlier. This relationship is illustrated graphically in Figure 4 below.

The dotted line is a forecast of student comple-tions for 2011 – 2014 based on historical data from completions from the preceding three years. It is worth noting that the graduating class of 2013 is expected to be considerably

13

smaller than the 2012 cohort. Taking regular workforce attrition into account, the increase in the electrical workforce in 2013 will be half of the increase in 2012, which was itself insuf-ficient to meet predicted workforce demand.

For electrical apprentices this decrease rep-resents 24% fewer apprentices or over 1500 fewer qualified electricians graduating in 2013.

If not for initiatives like KickStart (which in-creased employer incentives for taking on ap-prentices during the worst of the crisis), this situation may have been much worse. How-ever, in industries currently experiencing skills shortages, the effect of this downturn will still be dramatic; deepening skills shortages in key trades just as the economy struggles to build capacity.

Whilst within the energy sector trades the elec-trical apprenticeship is expected to be one of the most seriously impacted (due to the large number of small employers in the industry and

its reliance on construction demand), implica-tions of this reduced cohort will be felt across all the traditional trades.

Although little can be done within the training system to avert this impending shortfall, the time to develop strategies to support training levels through cyclical downturns is now, not in the midst of the next crisis. Industry and gov-ernment should work together to identify and put in place systemic strategies to safeguard training levels, recognising these as a long term investment in the nations future.


VET Sector reform

Impending skills shortfall

With growth and interest rate levels returning to their historical averages, it is easy to feel the

domestic (if not the international) economy has left the GFC well and truly behind. However a

hangover of the crisis remains within the training system, in the form of a reduced 2009 student

cohort, which will severely impact the supply of skills in the short term.

Apprenticeships within the traditional trades have comparatively long lead times, reflecting

regulatory requirements and the high level technical skills required. Although the basis for awarding

qualifications in the energy sector trades is competence not time spent in training, apprenticeship

training has historically been conducted over a nominal four year period. Whilst there is some

flexibility to vary this period, it has remained the de facto basis for completion.

This arrangement manifests as a strong positive correlation between completion rates and

commencement rates four years earlier. This relationship is illustrated graphically in Figure 4 below.

Figure 4: NCVER commencement and completion data for Electrician (ANZSCO - 3411), 2000-2010.

Completion projections for 2011-2014 are derived from commencement data 2007-2010, using average

completion modifier rate from the previous three years

Source: historical data drawn from NCVER, VOCSTATS

The dotted line is a forecast of student completions for 2011 – 2014 based on historical data

from completions from the preceding three years. It is worth noting that the graduating class of

2013 is expected to be considerably smaller than the 2012 cohort. Taking regular workforce attrition

into account, the increase in the electrical workforce in 2013 will be half of the increase in 2012,

which was itself insufficient to meet predicted workforce demand.

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

Commencements

(Completions)

Figure 4: NCVER commencement and completion data for Electrician (ANZSCO - 3411), 2000-2010. Completion projections for 2011-2014 are derived from commencement data 2007-2010,

using average completion modifier rate from the previous three years

Source: historical data drawn from NCVER, VOCSTATS

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THE ELECTROTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY

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The electrotechnology industry is responsible for harnessing electricity to a huge variety of applications, to meet business and individual needs, and demand for electrotechnology skills is closely linked with the aggregate level of demand across the domestic economy.

As modern work practices increasingly rely on integrated energy, communication and control technologies, skilled electrotechnology indus-try practitioners will be essential in ensuring that Australian business can compete in a global environment. On the other hand, failure to develop sufficient industry practitioners to meet demand would act as a bottleneck on broader economic activity and drive up the cost of infrastructure investments.

Latest Intelligence

Although demand for electrotechnology ser-vices is primarily driven by domestic factors, adopting international best practice in terms of technology, compliance and work organisation is a primary source of competitive advantage for individual enterprises and a determinant in national economic competitiveness.

Evolving technological applications continually trigger new processes and equipment, making the industry highly responsive to changing in-ternational circumstances and requiring indus-try practitioners to continue learning through-out their careers.

Fluctuations of the economic cycle aside, the key determinant of long term economic growth is productivity and the key determinants of long term productivity growth are skills and technol-ogy. The electrotechnology industrys role in disseminating technological advances through the domestic economy will ensure it remains an industry of national importance, contribut-ing to living standards and economic growth.

Emerging environmental factors and their skill impacts

NBN – EnvironmentThe National Broadband Network (NBN) is the largest infrastructure project in the nations his-tory. Once completed, it will provide fibre to the premises services to 93% of the popula-tion, with broadband speeds of 100 megabits per second (with capability as high as 1 gigabit per second). For the remaining 7%, broadband services will be provided through a combination of next generation high-speed wireless and sat-ellite technologies, providing broadband speed of 12 megabits per second or more.

The construction phase of the project is still in its very early stages, with eight communities currently able to access NBN fibre services. NBN Co. has advised that while skills demand has been low through the trial period (to Sep-tember 2011) it will now begin ramping up to 2013, when an estimated workforce of 20,000 will be required and maintained for eight years. The current work plan is for 758,000 premises by the end of 2012.

The rollout of wireless services to rural areas has been accelerated with the first five sites set to come online in mid 2012, with completion in 2015.

The potential of super-fast broadband to sup-port integrated technologies is considerable, yet imperfectly understood. The evolving use of distributed-intelligence microprocessors to continually monitor and adjust electrical sys-tems has broad ranging applications across business and social settings. Continual con-sultation will be required to ensure that training standards support evolving innovative uses for transferring information.

Electrotechnology Industry

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Access Economics reports that adopting smart technologies in electricity, irrigation, health, transport and broadband could add more than 70 000 jobs to the economy in 2014 alone, with further benefits being realised as the net-work approaches maturity.

NBN – Skills impactThe NBN will contribute to demand for elec-trotechnology skills through the construction phase and subsequently, where electricians will be involved in installing, maintaining and controlling a number of technologies facilitated by the network. Current technologies which will benefit from the network will include energy management, security and safety, intelligent power and lighting, communications and en-tertainment.

The skill implications of the network will vary according to the production stage. The geo-graphical scale of the network is such that at any point in time during the rollout, different communities and regions will be at different stages.

Stage 1 - Infrastructure developmentIndustry has identified the lead-up period 2012-2013 as a crucial time to develop the skills required to build the network and to en-sure that the social and economic benefits flow as broadly as possible.

It is expected that NBN Co.s stated preference for employing local workers in the construc-tion phase will provide a feedstock of workers around the country with the basic skills re-quired to work in the energy sector industries. Ensuring that training programs are available to upskill these workers into vocations will remain an industry focus, leveraging the investment in entry level skills.

Stage 2 - Access and enhancementConnecting premises to the network will be carried out by workers with an open cabler registration, aligning with Certificate II and III qualifications in Data and Voice Communi-cations or Certificate III in Electrotechnology

Electrician (with elective units in Data and Voice Communications).

Demand for these workers is already high and training statistics indicate there has yet to be any substantial increase in training numbers nation-ally. Industry expects short term peaks in local demand for Data and Voice specialists within narrow geographical regions, following the es-tablishment of local network infrastructure.

Enterprises are concerned that these local peaks will be insufficient to warrant the devel-opment of local specialists; with this work fall-ing to local electricians (approximately 50% of electricians hold an open cabler registration). This will aggravate local shortages of electri-cians, placing strain on other industry sectors seeking to employ these skills and the broader community.

Stage 3 - Exploitation and maintenanceThe network will have specific applications in relation to instrumentation and industrial con-trol, allowing remote monitoring and control of electrical systems to provide optimised ef-ficiency, productivity or comfort.

Figure 5 below outlines electrotechnology appli-cations supported by the network, which indus-try has identified as key workforce development priorities. The ability of existing Training Package components to accommodate the develop-ment of these skills has been an industry focus in setting priorities for future development.

National licensing - EnvironmentOn 30 April 2009 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) endorsed an agree-ment for a national licensing system for eco-nomically important trades. COAGs objective in establishing the National Licensing System is to remove overlapping and inconsistent oc-cupational licensing regulations between juris-dictions. By so doing, it aims to improve busi-ness efficiency and the competitiveness of the national economy.

The Productivity Commission has estimated that the economic benefits, to the national

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economy, of a National Licensing system will be between $1.5 billion and 4.5 billion per year. These benefits will accrue to all states and territories across both the public and private sectors. There is also significant potential to mitigate the effects of local peaks in skills de-mand, whether caused by natural disaster or economic opportunity.

National licensing in the electrical trades is scheduled to begin in mid 2012, pending ap-proval from all jurisdictions. The benefits for business include less red tape, improved la-bor mobility, more consistent and transparent licensing standards and increased capacity for cross-border mutual aid arrangements to be implemented rapidly in the event of national emergencies and natural disasters.

National licensing – Skills impactThe training impacts resulting from the intro-duction of national licenses will be minimal for existing licenced tradespeople e.g. electricians holding qualifications currently recognised under mutual recognition arrangements. Ap-prentices in these trades taking up training

opportunities under the national licence regime will do so under revised qualifications, which have been developed in consultation with the relevant NOLA advisory committees, to match the requirements of the agreed national licence framework.

In establishing the new national licencing framework regulatory authorities have been vigilant in ensuring that the training standards are not diminished and that the quality of train-ing provision is not diluted. Training providers will need to meet the standards for delivery and assessment set by regulators through their ad-vice to the Industry Skills Council to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the AQTF Essential Conditions and Standards for Con-tinuing Registration, particularly:

• Condition 3 – Compliance with Legislation; and

• Standard 1 The RTO provides quality train-ing and assessment across all of its opera-tions

The creation of new national licence categories where these previously did not exist or were not


© EE-OZ Training Standards 2012 20

Figure 5 below outlines electrotechnology applications supported by the network, which

industry has identified as key workforce development priorities. The ability of existing

Training Package components to accommodate the development of these skills has been an

industry focus in setting priorities for future development.

Figure 5: Enabling skills for NBN exploitation, Training Package coverage

National licensing - Environment

On 30 April 2009 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) endorsed an agreement for a

national licensing system for economically important trades. COAG’s objective in establishing the

National Licensing System is to remove overlapping and inconsistent occupational licensing

regulations between jurisdictions. By so doing, it aims to improve business efficiency and the

competitiveness of the national economy.

The Productivity Commission has estimated that the economic benefits, to the national

economy, of a National Licensing system will be between $1.5 billion and 4.5 billion per year. These

benefits will accrue to all states and territories across both the public and private sectors. There is

also significant potential to mitigate the effects of local peaks in skills demand, whether caused by

natural disaster or economic opportunity.

National licensing in the electrical trades is scheduled to begin in mid 2012, pending approval

from all jurisdictions. The benefits for business include less red tape, improved labor mobility, more

consistent and transparent licensing standards and increased capacity for cross-border mutual aid

arrangements to be implemented rapidly in the event of national emergencies and natural disasters.

National licensing – Skills impact

The training impacts resulting from the introduction of national licenses will be minimal for

existing licenced tradespeople e.g. electricians holding qualifications currently recognised under

Figure 5: Enabling skills for NBN exploitation, Training Package coverage

Unit Code Unit Title

UEENEEE121A Plan an integrated cabling installation system

UEENEEF102A Install and maintain cabling for multiple access to telecommunications services

UEENEEF104A Install and modify performance data communication copper cabling

UEENEEF105A Install and modify optical fibre performance data communication cabling

UEENEEF107A Set up and configure the wireless capabilities of communications and data storage devices

UEENEEF111A Test, report and rectify faults in data and voice installations

UEENEEF114A Set up and configure basic data communications systems

UEENEEH104A Set up and test residential video/audio equipment

UEENEEH105A Verify functionality and compliance of custom electronic installations

UEENEEH108A Assemble and install reception antennae and signal distribution equipment

UEENEEH135A Design custom electronic installations

UEENEEH150A Assemble and set up basic wired and wireless security systems

UEENEEH152A Enter instructions and test basic wired and wireless security systems

UEENEEI040A Plan the electrical installation of integrated systems

UEENEEI041A Develop electrical integrated systems

UEENEEI042A Develop an electrical integrated system interface for access through a touch screen

UEENEEI043A Develop access control of electrical integrated systems using logic-based programming tools

UEENEEI044A Develop interfaces for multiple access methods to monitor, schedule and control an electrical integrated system

UEENEEK152A Develop strategies to address sustainability issues for electrical installations

UEENEEK153A Assessment of energy loads and uses for energy efficiency in residential, office and retail premises

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applicable in all jurisdictions e.g. in refrigeration trades will be more significant in their impact.

Whilst the treatment of new national licences in jurisdictions where the occupations have not previously been regulated is not yet fully defined, it is anticipated that where a nation-al licence is available, both new and exist-ing workers will seek to be licenced. The in-creased emphasis on occupational regulatory compliance for Training Providers in combina-tion with the impact of the maturation of the national VET Regulators role and the national harmonisation of WHS regulations through SafeWork Australia will set new benchmarks for quality training provision by RTOs and their industry partners.

The identification of the Electrical Fitter classi-fication in NOLAs national licencing categories for the Electrical Trades will have training and workforce impacts. Across jurisdictions this licence will provide recognition for a category of electrical worker previously under-identified within the sector and allow greater mobility across the economy. Further, the development and endorsement of a suite of qualifications to provide a career pathway from AQF 3 to AQF 6 for this new national licence category ensures that these workers can take full advantage of their skills and progress within the industry.

The new qualifications are:

UEE33011 Certificate III in Electrical Fitting

UEE43011 Certificate IV in Electrical Equipment and Systems

UEE53011 Diploma of Electrical Systems Engineering

UEE63011 Advanced Diploma of Electrical Systems Engineering

In addition to these licence classes, the Electri-cal Occupations Advisory Committee has rec-ommended NOLA incorporate an enhanced Restricted Electrical Licence into the national licencing regime. Such a category will pro-vide for fault finding on installed apparatus. This class of licence will improve access for

appropriately trained tradespersons to under-take fault finding where required by their job role. This will be particularly applicable to air conditioning and refrigeration operatives who need these capabilities.

The training impact of this change will be sig-nificant as skills development and/or RPL will need to be provided to those seeking this new class of restricted licence to verify their ability to safely perform this type of work. RTOs will need to seek extensions of scope and ensure they can meet regulatory requirements to ad-dress these training needs.

All the above classes of licence within the na-tional licensing regime will also be applicable to electrical work in the Gas and Electricity Sup-ply industry sectors.

Converging technology - EnvironmentConverging technology is a continuous pro-cess, describing the tendency of distinct tech-nological systems to develop similar applica-tions over time. An example is the ubiquitous use of computer chips in previously unrelated modern technologies.

Advances in digital communications technol-ogy has allowed automation and remote con-trol technologies to be applied to a much wider variety of applications, from robotics, intelligent lighting and power, grid management, security and industrial processes. Improved automation and remote control technology, supported by faster communications infrastructure, is driving the convergence of energy sector skills with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills.

Demand for measurement and monitoring ap-plications will also draw the energy and ICT in-dustries closer, as electrical devices become smart appliances whose operation can be al-tered remotely to accommodate the needs of the grid. This technology is already driving Aus-tralias response to peak demand management and opportunities for its applications (with as-

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sociated benefits for homes and businesses) will be greatly amplified by the NBN.

Another example of convergent technologies involves the application of energy recovery mechanisms. These allow electrical energy to be recovered from a number of mechanical (kinetic) and heat generating processes, with applications in the mining, automotive and in-dustrial processing sectors. Applications for energy recovery are expected to expand rap-idly over the coming decade, playing a signifi-cant role in realising energy efficiencies.

Converging technology– Skills impactWithin the electrotechnology industry, skills to support new technologies traditionally be-gin as post trade specialisations. As a new technology matures and becomes ubiquitous (through incorporation into broader applica-tions), it gradually becomes necessary for all industry practitioners to acquire and maintain those skills; leading to its inevitable inclusion in the trade training programs.

Stages of this shift, associated with various technologies, are evident across the work-force. Industry representatives have expressed a belief that it is inevitable that all trade level electrotechnology practitioners will be required deepen their skills to maintain at least ba-sic ICT, instrumentation, energy auditing and industrial control skills in the medium term. EE-Oz is continuously involved in consulta-tions with Original Equipment Manufacturers

(OEMs), vendors and industry associations to ensure Training Package qualifications at every level include appropriate units of competency to allow operatives to work efficiently, effec-tively and safely.

Mining boom – EnvironmentThe bulk of employment for electrotechnology workers is in the construction industry (e.g. 57% of electricians and 42% of aircondition-ing and refrigeration mechanics are employed in the construction industry). The Construc-tion Forecasting Council expects construction growth to recover strongly from 2012 as a se-ries of large resource project come online.

Engineering construction will represent the ma-jority of growth in the construction industry be-tween 2012 and 2014, peaking at over $100 billion in 2013/2014. This strength is due to large iron ore and LNG projects in Queensland and Western Australia. Additionally, govern-ments will continue to invest strongly in trans-port infrastructure, largely to service the needs of the mining industry. Figure 6 below illustrates observed and predicted construction rates to 2020.

Given the booming construction industries of the resource rich states, it is worrying to note that NCVER and ABS predict that growth in the electrical workforces of Queensland and Western Australia will be below the national average over the next five years. This is due to comparatively small increases in training


to invest strongly in transport infrastructure, largely to service the needs of the mining industry.

Figure 6 below illustrates observed and predicted construction rates to 2020.

Figure 6: Construction activity in Australia, 2001 - 2020

Given the booming construction industries of the resource rich states, it is worrying to note that

NCVER and ABS predict that growth in the electrical workforces of Queensland and Western

Australia will be below the national average over the next five years. This is due to comparatively

small increases in training intakes despite escalating demand, which has the capacity to constrain

infrastructure development with negative, potentially long term, effects.

Mining boom – Skills impact

The Resourcing the Future report published by the Department of Resources, Energy and

Tourism in 2010, highlighted the limited availability of skilled tradespeople (specifically including

electricians) as a potential constraint on the establishment of mining infrastructure.

Given the sheer scale of investment in mining infrastructure and the value to these projects to

the domestic economy, it is inevitable that skilled migration will be required to ensure skills

shortages do not constrain output and investment.

The Skilled Migration summit hosted by EE-Oz in July 2011 was attended by over 100 industry

stakeholders and provided an opportunity for Industry, government and Training personnel to

discuss issues related to skilled migration. Participants agreed that a robust skilled migration policy

should supplement a sustained investment in education and training, to ensure that the Australian

workforce meets the skills demands of industry and sustains the global competitiveness of Australian

firms. Two key elements of a robust skilled migration policy were identified:

1. Consistent and robust training standards be applied in all skills assessments for migrant

workers, to ensure that safety and productivity levels are maintained

2. Workforce development planning is conducted to ensure training opportunities are

provided to local workers, which conform with expected enterprise requirements

EE-Oz has been working with the COAG Skills Taskforce, Trades Recognition Australia, industry

and training provider partners to ensure the Australian Government’s skilled migration processes

deliver suitably qualified and experienced workers to Australian industry. The ISC wishes to maintain

Figure 6: Construction activity in Australia, 2001 - 2020

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intakes despite escalating demand, which has the capacity to constrain infrastructure devel-opment with negative, potentially long term, effects.

Mining boom – Skills impactThe Resourcing the Future report published by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism in 2010, highlighted the limited avail-ability of skilled tradespeople (specifically in-cluding electricians) as a potential constraint on the establishment of mining infrastructure.

Given the sheer scale of investment in mining infrastructure and the value to these projects to the domestic economy, it is inevitable that skilled migration will be required to ensure skills short-ages do not constrain output and investment.

The Skilled Migration summit hosted by EE-Oz in July 2011 was attended by over 100 industry stakeholders and provided an opportunity for Industry, government and Training personnel to discuss issues related to skilled migration. Participants agreed that a robust skilled migra-tion policy should supplement a sustained in-vestment in education and training, to ensure that the Australian workforce meets the skills demands of industry and sustains the global competitiveness of Australian firms. Two key elements of a robust skilled migration policy were identified:

1. Consistent and robust training standards be applied in all skills assessments for mi-grant workers, to ensure that safety and productivity levels are maintained

2. Workforce development planning is con-ducted to ensure training opportunities are provided to local workers, which conform with expected enterprise requirements

EE-Oz has been working with the COAG Skills Taskforce, Trades Recognition Australia, in-dustry and training provider partners to ensure the Australian Governments skilled migration processes deliver suitably qualified and experi-enced workers to Australian industry. The ISC wishes to maintain industry confidence in the quality of skills assessment and gap training arrangements, which support workers to be-coming safe, fully productive tradespeople in Australian industry.

There is some concern however that the min-ing industry has been too quick to turn to skilled migration to meet its skill needs and should contribute further to developing local skills. Anecdotal advice abounds that the re-source sector does not contribute to training in proportion to its demand for trade skills. This advice is supported by the Resourcing the Fu-ture report which demonstrated that underin-vestment in skills is particularly evident in the electrotechnology trades, where the percent-age of apprentice employment is barely one quarter of the national average (Table 1).

A key recommendation of the report, pro-moted by this ISC, was for the development of Training Impact Statements associated with the approval process for projects over a cer-tain size (recommendation was for $50 million). This would include workforce development information regarding how the project would address its skills needs as well as impacts on local labor supply. This information should be made available to the NWDA and ISCs in order to facilitate informed policy development. The ISC eagerly awaits further details of how this requirement will be applied.

Skills impacts of mining investment will include increased demand for electricians as well as

Table 1: Electricians-Employment and Training in the Resources Sector

Percentage of electrician employed in the resource sector

Percentage of electrical apprentices employed in the resource sector

Relative share

5.5 1.5 27%

Derived from table 5, 7 and 9 of NCVER Tradespeople for the resources sector: projections 2010–20

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Figure 7: Example of residential substation peak demand. Two consecutive summer days in 2010, only difference is ambient temperature

Source: Energex presentation at EE-Oz conference 2010

hazardous areas, instrumentation and industri-al control specialists. Technological advances and improved data transfer capacity (provided by the NBN) will have similar effects to those in other industries (due to the convergence of technology), with demand for greater system automation and remote operation including mining to transport activities. Energy auditing, measurements and the pursuit of energy effi-ciency opportunities, including through distrib-uted generation, will also be a focus.

EE-Oz is currently engaged with original equip-ment manufacturers supplying heavy equip-ment to the mining industry. These consulta-tions will identify and develop Training Package components at the post trade level to service and maintain equipment that uses new tech-nology related to remote operation of mining equipment (to address safety concerns) and high voltage drives (energy efficient motors).

Peak demand management - EnvironmentIn an energy system, peak demand refers to the highest level of demand experienced within the network. In Australia, peak demand only occurs on approximately 1% of days but can result in a 50-100% surge in demand for en-ergy (Figure 7).

Despite this limited duration, electricity net-works must be built to withstand peak demand levels without failing. Over the past decade the rate of peak demand growth has far exceeded total demand growth for energy, largely due to the uptake of airconditioning systems (AC pen-etration has risen from around 30% in 2001 to over 70% in 2011). While this rapid growth is expected to stabilise, system enhancement to accommodate peak demand growth will con-tinue to be a major driver of electricity price ris-es, with over $15 billion of investment required in the next few years.

A recent review of the Queensland grid has indicated that for each privately purchased $1,500 air conditioning system, a further $7,000 must be invested in the electricity net-work to ensure there is enough capacity to run that system during peak periods.

Peak demand management – Skills impactAustralian Standard (AS4755) defines a re-quirement for an electrical product to allow the alteration of its normal mode of operation from a remote location. Products complying with this standard accomodate sophisticated smart systems to actively control system usage in peak periods. Complying products can be


Source: Energex presentation at EE-Oz conference 2010

Despite this limited duration, electricity networks must be built to withstand peak demand levels

without failing. Over the past decade the rate of peak demand growth has far exceeded total

demand growth for energy, largely due to the uptake of airconditioning systems (AC penetration has

risen from around 30% in 2001 to over 70% in 2011). While this rapid growth is expected to stabilise,

system enhancement to accommodate peak demand growth will continue to be a major driver of

electricity price rises, with over $15 billion of investment required in the next few years.

A recent review of the Queensland grid has indicated that for each privately purchased $1,500

air conditioning system, a further $7,000 must be invested in the electricity network to ensure there

is enough capacity to run that system during peak periods.

Peak demand management – Skills impact

Australian Standard (AS4755) defines a requirement for an electrical product to allow the

alteration of its normal mode of operation from a remote location. Products complying with this

standard accomodate sophisticated ‘smart systems’ to actively control system usage in peak periods.

Complying products can be promoted by energy retailers through flexible tariff offerings.

The federal mandate for all new air conditioning units to comply with AS4755 by 2011-2012, is

playing an important role in establishing Australia as a world leader in demand management

systems. This also foreshadows the emerging role of smart systems and meters in regulating energy

usage to meet environmental and economic challenges. Providing the skills to facilitate this shift will

be a critical challenge for the industry.

While AS4755 compliance will initially affect airconditioning and refrigeration mechanics, it is

clear that these systems will become increasingly common in all manner of appliances in business

and residential settings. Automation, instrumentation and industrial control techniques will

increasingly contribute to peak demand management as well as energy efficiency and auditing

efforts. The NBN will be a key facilitator of remote monitoring and operation technologies.

Sustainability

As scientific evidence mounts that human action is contributing to global climate change, and

that there are considerable environmental risks associated with global warming, international

attention is increasingly being directed towards developing sustainable energy practices; which meet

promoted by energy retailers through flexible tariff offerings.

The federal mandate for all new air conditioning units to comply with AS4755 by 2011-2012, is playing an important role in establishing Australia as a world leader in demand man-agement systems. This also foreshadows the emerging role of smart systems and meters in regulating energy usage to meet environmental and economic challenges. Providing the skills to facilitate this shift will be a critical challenge for the industry.

While AS4755 compliance will initially affect airconditioning and refrigeration mechanics, it is clear that these systems will become in-creasingly common in all manner of appliances in business and residential settings. Automa-tion, instrumentation and industrial control techniques will increasingly contribute to peak demand management as well as energy effi-ciency and auditing efforts. The NBN will be a

key facilitator of remote monitoring and opera-tion technologies.

Sustainability

As scientific evidence mounts that human ac-tion is contributing to global climate change, and that there are considerable environmental risks associated with global warming, interna-tional attention is increasingly being directed towards developing sustainable energy prac-tices; which meet the energy needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own energy needs.

The focus of this attention is currently on limit-ing global carbon dioxide emissions to main-tain atmospheric carbon below an acceptable level. Without limiting global population or growth in material living standards, only two vectors are available to reduce carbon emis-sions associated with human activity:

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1. Improving the efficiency of energy use

2. Reduce the carbon intensity of energy generation

Sustainability measures in the electrotechnol-ogy industry are primarily related to the first of these, disseminating new more efficient tech-nologies and seeking energy efficiency oppor-tunities in existing processes. The Electricity and Gas Supply industries are more focused on the second, related to cleaner genera-tion (more efficient plants and cleaner energy sources) as well as minimising losses incurred through transmission and distribution systems.

In Australia the transition of the national econo-my to a low carbon future will require a whole-sale change in community attitude toward energy usage. It will not be limited to isolated pockets of the economy but will require the whole community to become accountable for their own usage and to promote that same ac-countability in business and government.

The vast bulk of work related to green skills and energy efficiency, including advice, instal-lation and reporting work will be carried out by people with trade and post trade electro-technology qualifications. Electricians are po-sitioned at the nexus of energy and the myriad applications for which is used, making them well placed to engage the community across the domestic, government, commercial and industrial sectors. The technical skills of an electrician underpin every aspect of energy production and usage, meaning that this tran-sition can only occur on the shoulders of elec-trical workers.

The accompanying publication to this Environ-mental Scan, Skills to realise energy efficiency opportunities, presents a detailed analysis of the skills required to realise abatement oppor-tunities across the economy, including those related to industry, generation and buildings. The original work related to this analysis was conducted by the ISC in response to abate-ment opportunities identified by the Allens

Consulting Group on behalf of the Victorian Government, mapping identified opportuni-ties against current national endorsed training standards for the energy sector industries.

Carbon price (energy auditing) - EnvironmentA national price on carbon will incentivise both the vectors to reducing carbon dioxide listed above through encouraging generators to generate electricity through less carbon inten-sive means and end users to consider carbon production in their consumption decisions (in-cluding through transmission and distribution losses). Accordingly, a carbon tax will amplify the skills impact of the environmental factors considered in this section.

In addition to this, carbon pricing will drive greater accountability and reporting of energy usage, contributing to improved community awareness. Accurate, timely and regular mea-surement is necessary to account for energy usage, promoting its judicious and effective use.

Carbon price (Energy auditing) – Skills impactEE-Oz is involved in development training stan-dards for energy auditing and performance monitoring which will underpin the design, de-ployment and successful operation of energy efficient integrated systems. Specifically, there are new roles emerging for qualified personnel to:

• Audit and assess current installations, both holistically and at a systems level

• Provide advice on the reconfiguration and optimisation of existing systems for energy efficiency

• Provide advice on the design, deployment and integration of new technologies to in-crease energy efficiency

• Optimise individual and integrated systems to achieve maximum energy efficiency

• Manage and monitor system performance

24

Small scale generation - EnvironmentSmall scale generation units fall under the purview of electrotechnology practitioners with post trade specialisations. Small genera-tion units have proven to be a popular way for Australians to take up various government ini-tiatives, particularly through the installation of Photovoltaic (PV) panels and solar hot water heaters. Although funding levels have been volatile and the program oversubscribed (which has led to some short term slow down), this trend is expected to continue in the longer term.

Currently, the Commonwealth Government provides Small-scale Technology Certificates (STCs), for installed renewable Small Genera-tion Units (SGUs), to incentivise installation. The cut off for these programs is listed in Table 2. These classifications are reflected in the limi-tations imposed within units of competency. Above this level, relevant units are included in the UEP ESI Generation Training Package.

Small scale generation – Skills impactThe popularity of renewable SGUs is driving demand for post trade electrical skills related to the design and installation of these units, particularly the Certificate IV in Electrical - Pho-tovoltaic Systems and associated Skill Sets.

This popularity has also brought increased scrutiny, with industry regulators taking a more vigilant approach to inspecting and approving such installations. This is driving demand for electrical inspectors holding a Certificate IV in Electrical Inspection and Audit.

Table 2: Cut off levels for Small Generation Units

System type System capacity and annual electricity output

Installation periods

Solar (photovoltaic) systems No more than 100 kW and a to-tal annual electricity output less than 250 MWh

On or after 14 November 2005

Small wind turbines No more than 10 kW and a to-tal annual electricity output less than 25 MWh

On or after 1 April 2001

Hydroelectric systems No more than 6.4 kW and a to-tal annual electricity output less than 25 MWh

On or after 1 April 2001


© EE-OZ Training Standards 2012 27

Commitment to sustainable energy applications will require businesses

and households to continually review usage patterns in light of changes in

regulatory frameworks, technologies, incentives and industry work

practices.

This cycle will involve the support of existing and emerging job roles in

energy efficiency assessment, management and improvement. Seeing

energy efficiency as a cycle indicates that these roles are supportive of each

other and that these roles may merge over time or according to the scale at

which the cycle of AAAA – MMM is applied (Figure 8).

Carbon price (Energy auditing) – Skills impact

EE-Oz is involved in development training standards for energy auditing and performance

monitoring which will underpin the design, deployment and successful operation of energy efficient

integrated systems. Specifically, there are new roles emerging for qualified personnel to:

• Audit and assess current installations, both holistically and at a systems level

• Provide advice on the reconfiguration and optimisation of existing systems for energy

efficiency

• Provide advice on the design, deployment and integration of new technologies to

increase energy efficiency

• Optimise individual and integrated systems to achieve maximum energy efficiency

• Manage and monitor system performance

Small scale generation - Environment

Small scale generation units fall under the purview of electrotechnology practitioners with post

trade specialisations. Small generation units have proven to be a popular way for Australians to take

up various government initiatives, particularly through the installation of Photovoltaic (PV) panels

and solar hot water heaters. Although funding levels have been volatile and the program

oversubscribed (which has led to some short term slow down), this trend is expected to continue in

the longer term.

Commitment to sustainable energy applica-

tions will require businesses and households

to continually review usage patterns in light of

changes in regulatory frameworks, technolo-

gies, incentives and industry work practices.

This cycle will involve the support of existing

and emerging job roles in energy efficiency

assessment, management and improvement.

Seeing energy efficiency as a cycle indicates

that these roles are supportive of each other

and that these roles may merge over time or

according to the scale at which the cycle of

AAAA – MMM is applied (Figure 8).

Figure 8: The sustainable energy cycle

25

To address the safety aspects of performance of regulated work in relation to the installation of SGUs arising from such incidents, Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator (ORER) has amended the relevant regulations to require proof of attendance by the licenced person, verified in writing by the owner/lease of the property.

EE-Oz is currently reviewing the appropriate-ness of existing units related to the installation of micro hydro and wind SGUs, to ensure these support current technology and meet regula-tory, planning and environmental requirements.

Over the longer term, continued community up-take of small generation units, in particular pho-tovoltaics, will require all industry practitioners to be familiar with these technologies and how they are deployed. In addition to this require-ment for all electrical practitioners, industry has recognised that several other vocations will from time to time interact with photovoltaic units, in-cluding emergency services workers and build-ing, construction and property services work-ers. EE-Oz is currently involved in developing training package components and support materials to ensure these workers can operate safely in the vicinity of these installations.

Natural Refrigerants – EnvironmentRefrigeration and air conditioning equipment incorporating natural refrigerants is now be-ing manufactured and installed. Although they are flammable, toxic or operate at extreme pressures, natural refrigerants are increasingly preferred to synthetic refrigerants with Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) and a high Global Warming Potential (GWP).

Although high global warming potential syn-thetic greenhouse gases, such as those used in synthetic refrigerants, will not be subject to a carbon price, transition to natural refrigerants will be supported by an equivalent carbon price using existing import and manufacture lev-ies under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management legislation. This will be reviewed annually to reflect the existing carbon price. Levels to 2015 are:

2012-13 - $23 per tonne of CO2 equivalent

2013-14 - $24.15 per tonne CO2 equivalent

2014-15 - $25.40 per tonne CO2 equivalent

Industry expects this levy will treble the price of synthetic refrigerants, providing a strong signal for the sector to move to natural refrigerants.

Existing refrigeration and air conditioning work-ers will require up-skilling to enable them to safely handle Hydrocarbons, Carbon Dioxide and Ammonia refrigerants during the servic-ing and repair of stationary refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

Natural Refrigerants – Skills impactEE-Oz is currently involved in a project to develop Australias training capacity and re-sources to up-skill existing refrigeration and air conditioning workers to safely handle natural refrigerants (Hydrocarbons, Carbon Dioxide and Ammonia) during the servicing and repair of stationary refrigeration and air conditioning systems. This will involve developing and deliv-ering train-the-trainer programs for the majority of the existing 100-110 full time and 40-50 part time refrigeration and air conditioning teach-ers/trainers from both public and private RTOs across Australia.

Natural refrigerants are often flammable, toxic and/or operate at extremely high pressures. For these reasons, working with natural refrig-erants requires workers to implement addition-al safety procedures and practices, to ensure the safety of those handling and using them, the equipment and the general public.

Few existing refrigeration and air condition-ing workers with an ARC refrigerant handling license have been trained or are competent in safely handling natural refrigerants during the servicing and repair of stationary refrigera-tion and air conditioning systems. To ensure these license holders can safely handle and use natural refrigerants, a concerted industry wide gap training effort will be required (to train approximately 25,000 workers, Table 3) and has been flagged as an immediate priority by

26

industry. The resources being developed by the ISC will be integral to this effort.

Industry representatives feel that as these al-ternative natural refrigerants become increas-ingly common, all industry practitioners will be required to have these skills. An impact study on including these skills within the core of the trade level qualification is being explored.

Current industry priorities

The 2011 EE-Oz Environmental Survey identi-fied positive business sentiment amongst re-spondents from the electrotechnology indus-try, with almost half expecting to increase their staffing level in 2012 and only one fifth expect-ing staffing levels to decrease (Figure 9).

Respondents identified government policy as the major short term driver of business de-mand, reflecting the volatile policy environment

(across all levels of government) of sustainable energy initiatives over the past several years. Policy certainty provided by a carbon price and revised Renewable Energy Target (RET) incen-tives will go some way toward addressing this concern, although further harmonisation of jurisdictional mechanisms will be required to ensure investment occurs in the most efficient manner.

Over the longer term, respondents identified the strength of the national economy as the primary driver of business demand, reflect-ing the broad application of electrotechnology skills in the domestic economy.

Respondents also identified technology as the primary driver of long term skills demand, guid-ing change in work roles and structures.

RTO stakeholders indicated that capacity to deliver training was being expanded across

Table 3: Refrigeration Licence Types

ARC License Type – Stationary Equipment ACT NSW QLD SA TAS NT VIC WA Total

Full Refrigeration and Air conditioning Licence 226 4783 3539 1384 264 320 2771 1970 15257

Restricted Split System Air conditioning Installation and Decommissioning Licence 10 491 1592 137 189 67 1371 568 4425

Restricted Domestic Refrigeration and Air conditioning Appliance 5 79 67 11 6 1 54 43 266

Restricted Refrigerant Recoverer Licence 0 37 60 17 0 5 55 19 193

Restricted Refrigerant Handler Licence 0 77 56 22 3 1 103 22 284

Aviation Transitional Licence 0 14 29 3 0 9 14 6 75

Marine Transitional Licence 5 156 251 37 41 26 111 178 805

Refrigerant Recoverer Transitional Licence 0 27 27 9 0 4 22 7 96

Refrigerant Handler Transitional Licence. 1 37 33 15 1 1 52 6 146

Drinks Industry Transitional Licence 0 4 4 0 6 0 2 1 17

Trainee Licence 78 1213 922 345 66 64 944 410 4042

Total 325 6918 6580 1980 576 498 5499 3230 25606

27

Figure 9: Employment expectations – Electrotechnology industry firms 2012

Source: EE-Oz Environmental Scan Survey 2011

most qualifications, with a particular emphasis on the trade and instrumentation specialisa-tion. Capacity development for electronic qual-ifications was more mixed, with some training providers indicating they would decrease ca-pacity in 2012.

Elective units for electrical apprenticesData on apprentice elective unit choices, based on information from thousands of stu-dents over the past five years, indicates that although Data and Voice Communications remains the most popular elective choice, the frequency of its uptake has fallen from 71.24% in 2006 to 46.32% in 2011.

The proportion of students taking the next most popular elective, Appliance Servicing, has remained fairly consistent over the period, hovering around 35% of apprentices.

Although starting from a small base, the fast-est proportional growth in elective uptake has been in Switchgear and Control Gear, Renew-able Energy (extra low voltage) and Electronics and Communications units. The proportion of students taking these electives has trebled over the past five years and preliminary data from 2012 suggests this upward trend is continuing.

Training market responsiveness

Language, literacy and numeracyRegistered Training Organisations continue to report inadequate numeracy as the primary

cause of student non-completion, with a re-cent survey of TAFE teachers conducted by the ISC indicating that it may be a factor in as many as 50% of apprentice non-completions.

Stakeholders recognise non-completion as a significant cost to industry, not just to the immediate parties to the contract of training (student, employer and RTO) but also to gov-ernment, and as hampering efforts to address skills shortages.

EE-Oz has been involved in a program with re-gional high schools to raise awareness of the numeracy requirements of Electrotechnology trade training and provides access to online tools for students through its website. The ISC has also incorporated recommended LL&N attainment levels into units of competence to provide a readiness guide for prospective stu-dents. These currently use the National Re-porting System. However, EE-Oz is actively engaged in initial mapping of selected units to the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF).

Validation and assessment of workplace evidence for Contract of Training studentsVocational education and training conducted under a contract of training (through either an apprenticeship or traineeship), utilises a com-bination of on and off-the-job training to de-velop vocation competence across a series of industry identified workplace tasks. This

28

combination of on and off-the-job training al-lows students to contextualise theoretical skills with their workplace application.

On-the-job training has been strongly linked to workplace productivity and forms an integral component of a robust competency assess-ment. Industry regulators feel that the thorough collection and assessment of on-the-job evi-dence is required to ensure students develop the procedural skills required to operate safely in the industry across the full scope of work.

Despite this, there is growing concern that some training providers are neither equipped nor resourced to verify workplace evidence.

Pink slip programThe EE-Oz Pink Slip RTO Evaluation Process applies to RTOs who wish to extend their scope of registration to incorporate an high risk qualifications and/or Skill Sets from the Elec-trotechnology and Electricity Supply Industry Training Packages (identified in Table 4).

The Pink Slip RTO Evaluation Process has been developed by EE-Oz Training Standards based on an initial concept proposed by NSW VETAB. It ensures high quality outcomes for learners and speedier registration for training providers. By providing a benchmark for re-quired delivery and assessment resources, Pink Slips will provide evidence to the Aus-tralian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) when it audits applications for initial registration/exten-sion to scope.

EE-Oz appointed industry experts, with rel-evant educational and training experience, will conduct site visits at the RTO to determine a training providers capacity to deliver training and assessment which meets the require-ments of the training package qualification(s).

Identified Workforce Development Needs

Short termIndustry Skills Councils contribute to the devel-opment of the Priority Occupation List (POL),

29

Table 4: Industry identified high risk qualifications and skills sets in the Electrotechnology industry

ELECTROTECHNOLOGY QUALIFICATIONS / SKILL SETS

Qualification Code Qualification Title

UEE30807 Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician

UEE31707 Certificate III in Hazardous areas – Electrician

UEE40207 Certificate IV in Electrical – Data and Voice Communications

UEE40307 Certificate IV in Electrical Installation Inspection and Audits

UEE40407 Certificate IV in Electrical – Instrumentation

UEE40507 Certificate IV in Electrical – Air-conditioning Systems

UEE40607 Certificate IV in Electrotechnology – Systems Electrician

UEE40807 Certificate IV in Electrical – Fire Protection Control Systems

UEE41107 Certificate IV in Electrical – Lift Systems

UEE41207 Certificate IV in Electrical – Rail Signalling

UEE41807 Certificate IV in Hazardous areas

UEE41907 Certificate IV in Electrical – Renewable Energy

UEE42009 Certificate IV in Electrical –Photovoltaic Systems

UEE50207 Diploma of Electrical and Instrumentation

UEE50307 Diploma of Electrical and Refrigeration and Air-conditioning

UEE50407 Diploma of Electrical Engineering

UEE50907 Diploma of Industrial Electronics and Control Engineering

UEE60107 Advanced Diploma of Electrical Engineering

UEE60607 Advanced Diploma of Industrial Electronics and Control Engineering

UEE60907 Advanced Diploma of Renewable Energy Engineering

UEE61207 Advanced Diploma of Engineering – Explosion protection

UEE32211 Certificate III in Air-conditioning and Refrigeration

UEE41010 Certificate IV in Energy Management and Control

UEE42711 Certificate IV in Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Servicing

UEE42911 Certificate IV in Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Systems

UEE50310 Diploma of Electrical and Refrigeration and Air-conditioning

UEE51211 Diploma of Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering

UEE62511 Advanced Diploma of Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering

30

Figure 10: Percentage growth in employment by occupation 2006 – 2011

Compiled from: DEEWR Industry Employment Projections 2015-2016

used as the basis for determining qualifications eligible for funding under the National Work-force Development Fund.

EE-Oz supports the assessment made by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relation (DEEWR) in relation to the compilation of the 2011 POL and con-firms that the list reflects advice received from industry in relation to qualifications within the Electrotechnology sector which are currently in demand (Table 5).

The high value placed on electrotechnology skills by employers was recognised in the re-cent NCVER report, Attrition from the Trades, stating:

“The electrotechnology and telecommu-nications trade is clearly the most highly skilled trade (as is evident from the wages) and behaves more like a professional oc-cupation than other trades.”

It has also identified the electrotechnology and telecommunications trades as providing par-ticularly valuable outcomes for students, high-lighting the value of these skills to industry and the strong opportunities for career advance-ment.

This analysis is reflected in employment sta-tistics collected by DEEWR (Figure 10 below), which demonstrate the rapid growth of the in-dustry over the past five years (with almost all

Table 5: Electrotechnology Calling Extracted from 2011 POL

ANZSCO Occupation Title

2333 Electrical Engineers

2334 Electronics Engineers

3123 Electrical Engineering Draftspersons, Technicians

3124 Electronic Engineering Draftspersons, Technicians

3126 Safety Inspectors

3411 Electricians

3421 Airconditioning and Refrigeration Mechanics

3422 Electrical Distribution Trades Workers

3423 Electronics Trades Workers

3424 Telecommunications Trades Workers

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Airconditioning and refrigeration

mechanics

Electricalengineer

Electrical engineering draftsperson

Electricians Electronics engineer

Electronicstradesworker

Australianaverage

31

industry qualifications recording growth in ex-cess of the Australian average) and expecta-tions for strong growth to continue well into the future (Figure 11 below).

This growth is particularly evident in the elec-trician occupation, in which employment has risen from 1% of national employment in 2006 (ABS Census data) to 1.32% in 2010 (DEE-WR, Australian Jobs, 2011). This increase can be attributed to technological change, infra-structure investment and construction sector growth. As Australia transitions to a low carbon future, the proportion of electricians required by the workforce can be expected to continue to outpace broader population growth. Electrical skills required to update existing infrastructure, implement industrial control techniques and account for energy usage (as required under a carbon price) are expected to drive demand.

Figure 11 indicates that demand for electro-technology workers across all areas other than the electronics trades, is expected to exceed the national average rate of skills de-mand growth. The stand out again are electri-cians, with employment demand expected to be more than three times the national average over the next five years.

A concerning note is that over this same pe-riod NCVER forecasts expect supply side con-straints to limit workforce expansion to 3%

(under the average scenario), considerably be-low the 6.8% growth in demand. As discussed in the Systemic Overview section of this report, the 2013 cohort is expected to represent a significant reduction in graduates, exacerbat-ing this shortfall and deepening the skills short-ages already experienced in the industry.

Medium termEmerging environmental factors identified by industry as workforce development priorities in the medium term (i.e. factors expected to affect demand for skills in the future) are heav-ily influenced by the international sustainability agenda, which is driving both technology and work practice development.

Community and business awareness and use of electricity are expected to change dramati-cally as Australia moves towards a low carbon future. In addition to increased use of smart grids, automation and instrumentation tech-nology, all of which will increase demand for post-trade electrical skills, moving to a more energy conscious future will require electricians trained in energy auditing and reporting tech-niques, such as those required to calculate ob-ligations under a carbon price.

The importance of the electrical and elec-tronic instrumentation and industrial control disciplines in increasing the energy efficiency of industry and industrial processes cannot

Figure 11: Predicted annual employment growth by occupation to 2015 – 2016

Compiled from: DEEWR Industry Employment Projections 2015-2016

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Airconditioning and

refrigeration mechanics

Electrical engineer

Electrical engineering draftsperson

Electricians Electronics engineer

Electronics trades worker

Australian average

32

be overstated. Not surprisingly, instrumenta-tion was one of the fastest growing elective choices for electrical apprentices and the most heavily subscribed qualification field under EB-PPP and NWDF places brokered by EE-Oz.

Since 2008, EE-Oz has consistently identified these skills as essential to strategies for carbon pollution reduction in reports to government and industry, stating that effective measure-ment must underpin any abatement technol-ogy and that integrated control and monitoring systems empower industry to maximise and maintain benefits. These roles are highly flex-ible across a range of industrial/commercial settings and that skilled operatives in these trades are in high demand in the resources sector, leading to increased competition as abatement strategies are implemented and mandated.

The establishment of the NBN will support modern and sustainable work practices by im-proving data access and communication, nec-essary in the remote monitoring and operation of energy systems. Stakeholders in the Na-tional Broadband Rollout agree that a nation-ally consistent approach to training and work-force development will provide the project and the community with a mobile, skilled workforce able to meet the required technical, quality and safety required.

Technical trainer, energy auditing and special-ist photovoltaic design and installation qualifi-cations were also identified as key facilitating skills in the medium term.

Trade qualificationThe environmental factors discussed above in-dicate continued strong demand for electrical trade qualified workers for the foreseeable fu-ture and numerous pressures to integrate pre-viously specialised skills into the trade program.

Industry requires personnel able to apply their knowledge and skills, communicate ideas both orally and in writing, control highly techni-cal equipment, critically assess and appraise

situations and apply creative, diagnostic and problem solving techniques on a day-to-day basis, whilst maintaining pace with technologi-cal advancement.

Some industry representatives feel that elevat-ing the trade qualification to a Certificate IV through incorporating additional units covering maturing technologies such as photovoltaics, smart systems, energy auditing, mentoring/training or automation would be beneficial. However the implications of this shift are as yet uncertain.

EE-Oz will be conducting further consultations with all industry stakeholders in 2012, to iden-tify the appropriate AQF level and skills mix for the trade qualification, in order to meet the skills needs of industry now and into the future.

Impact of the Workforce Development Funding StrategiesFrom November 2009, when the Enterprise Based Productivity Places Program (EBPPP) was introduced, the workforce development strategy of funding industry training places, brokered by the ISC, on the basis of co-in-vestment by enterprises and Government, has been highly successful in the energy sector in-dustries.

There have been three iterations of this imple-mentation model, each with a slightly different focus, demonstrating the flexibility of the model to meet identified goals. These programs are:

• Enterprise Based Productivity Places Pro-gram (EBPPP)

• Critical Skills Investment Fund (CSIF)

• National Workforce Development Fund (NWDF)

Table 6 provides a summary of places funded under these programs

These programs will provide a total of 2870 training places in industry training programs. Of these 2297 are post trade qualifications and 399 are for Renewable/Sustainable energy Skill Sets. The remainder are at AQF level 2-3.

33

Table 6: Workforce Development Programs Places - Electrotechnology

Program Electrotechnology Qualification

No. of Places

funded

EBPPP Certificate III in Electrical Instrumentation 1

EBPPP Certificate IV in Electrical - Photovoltaic Systems 322

EBPPP Certificate IV in Electrical Rail Signaling 15

EBPPP Certificate IV in Electrical Inspection and Audit 96

EBPPP Certificate IV in Hazardous Areas 4

EBPPP Certificate IV in Electrical Instrumentation 536

Total 974

NWDF Certificate IV in Electrical Energy Efficiency Assessments 311

NWDF Certificate III in Electrical Instrumentation 63

NWDF Certificate IV in Hazardous Areas -Electrical 200

NWDF Certificate III in Hazardous Areas -Electrician 16

NWDF 126

NWDF Diploma of Electrical Engineering 20

NWDF Certificate IV in Electrical Instrumentation 174

NWDF Diploma of Electrical and Refrigeration and Air-conditioning 64

NWDF Diploma of Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering 48

NWDF Certificate IV in Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Servicing 79

NWDF Certificate IV in Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Systems 29

NWDFCertificate IV in Air-conditioning Systems Energy Manage-ment and Control 68

NWDF Natural Refrigerant Skill Sets 300

NWDF PV Skill Sets 66

NWDF Energy Efficiency Skill Sets 33

Total 1597

CSIF Certificate IV in Hazardous areas - Electrical 50

CSIF Certificate IV in Electrical - Instrumentation 155

CSIF Certificate II in Air-conditioning Split Systems 110

Total 315

34

When compared with the in-training data for the Electrotechnology Training Package, re-ported by NCVER VOCSTATS, these figures represent more than a 10% boost to training delivery in the sector. This is particularly notice-able in areas where demand is rising, such as post trade instrumentation skills and renew-able energy (PV) installations and inspections.

Under the EBPPP, post trade instrumentation qualifications represented 38% of the 1420 qualifications brokered by EE-Oz Training Standards, or more than 55% of qualifications in the Electrotechnology sector.

Post trade training in photovoltaic systems was the second most frequently identified en-terprise need (322 places or 23% of Electro-technology qualifications), followed by electri-cal inspection (96 places or 10%).

The growing profile of refrigeration and air conditioning as an area where energy efficien-cies and greenhouse gas abatement can be achieved is reflected in the increased take-up

of post trade and para-professional qualifica-tions and natural refrigerant skill sets under NWDF.

The success of these programs demonstrates that collaboration between industry and gov-ernment provides a model for skill develop-ment which targets resources to areas of greatest need.

Current Impact of Training Packages

The tables below reflect the impact of the currently endorsed UEE07 Electrotechnology Training Package including current number of enrolments (Table 7), RTOs with qualifications on scope (Table 9) and RTOs registered to pro-vide training from this package (Table 10).

The data reported by NCVER appears to be anomalous in some respects, particularly in relation to the reporting of data related to the Certificate IV in Electrical – Photovoltaic Sys-

Apprentices and trainees - June 2011

Enrolments for Reporting period

Total Enrolments (Rounded)*

Status of Qualification

Type of accreditation

- Certificate 5 Current

UEE20207 - Certificate II in Business Equipment Servicing 24 Current

UEE20507 - Certificate II in Computer Assembly and Repair 5 Current

UEE20607 - Certificate II in Custom Electronics Assembly and Setup 1 Current

UEE20707 - Certificate II in Data and Voice Communications 6 Current

UEE20907 - Certificate II in Electronic Assembly 6 Current

UEE21007 - Certificate II in Fire Alarms Servicing 1 Current

UEE21207 - Certificate II in Antennae Equipment 1 Current

UEE21307 - Certificate II in Remote Area Essential Service 10 Current

UEE21607 - Certificate II in Security Assembly and Setup 22 Current

UEE21707 - Certificate II in Technical Support 21 Current

UEE21907 - Certificate II in Electronics 12 Current

Table 7: In-Training UEE Electrotechnology Training Package All Versions

35






UEE22007 - Certificate II in Electrotechnology (Career Start) 16 Current

UEE22107 - Certificate II in Sustainable Energy (Career Start) 1 Current

UEE30107 - Certificate III in Business Equipment 5 Current

UEE30207 - Certificate III in Computer Systems Equipment 9 Current

UEE30407 - Certificate III in Data and Voice Communications 71 Current

UEE30507 - Certificate III in Appliance Servicing 73 Superseded

UEE30510 - Certificate III in Appliance Servicing 5 Current

UEE30607 - Certificate III in Electrical Machine Repair 99 Current

UEE30707 - Certificate III in Switch Gear and Control Gear 65 Current

UEE30807 - Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician 18987 Current

UEE30907 - Certificate III in Electronics and Communications 954 Superseded

UEE30910 - Certificate III in Electronics and Communications 4 Current

UEE31007 - Certificate III in Fire Protection Control 3 Current

UEE31207 - Certificate III in Instrumentation and Control 214 Current

UEE31307 - Certificate III in Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning 2225 Current

UEE31407 - Certificate III in Security Equipment 62 Superseded

UEE31410 - Certificate III in Security Equipment 2 Current

UEE31807 - Certificate III in Hazardous areas - Instrumentation 2 Current

UEE40407 - Certificate IV in Electrical - Instrumentation 79 Current

UEE40607 - Certificate IV in Electrotechnology - Systems Electrician 1 Current

UEE40707 - Certificate IV in Electronics and Communications 2 Current

UEE41207 - Certificate IV in Electrical - Rail Signalling 17 Current

UEE42210 - Certificate IV in Instrumentation and Control 5 Current

UEE50407 - Diploma of Electrical Engineering 2 Current

Table 7: In-Training UEE Electrotechnology Training Package All Versions continued

36






UEE50507 - Diploma of Electronics and Communications Engineering 4 Superseded

UEE50510 - Diploma of Electronics and Communications Engineering 1 Current

UEE60107 - Advanced Diploma of Electrical Engineering 10 Current

UEE60207 - Advanced Diploma of Electronics and Communications Engineering 6 Current

UEE60210 - Advanced Diploma of Electronics and Communications 1 Current

UEE60707 - Advanced Diploma of Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineering 2 Current

UEE30506 - Certificate III in Appliance Servicing 7 Superseded

UEE30606 - Certificate III in Electrical Machine Repair 8 Superseded

UEE30706 - Certificate III in Switchgear and Control Gear 8 Superseded

UEE30806 - Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician 1407 Superseded

UEE30906 - Certificate III in Electronics and Communications 40 Superseded

UEE31206 - Certificate III in Instrumentation and Control 11 Superseded

UEE31306 - Certificate III in Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning 280 Superseded

Total 24798

* Source; NCVER, VOCSTATS Apprentice & Trainees July 2011 series, Jan-March in training 2011 (ac-cessed Feb 2012)

Note: Qualifications at CIII and above are typically delivered as 3-4 year apprenticeships hence overlap between current and superseded qualifications

Table 7: In-Training UEE Electrotechnology Training Package All Versions continued

Table 8: Enrolments and Completions UTE99 Electrician and Refrigeration Qualifications

Type of accreditation Jan - Mar 2011

UTE30999 - Certificate III in Electrotechnology Refrigeration

and Air Conditioning

UTE31199 - Certificate III in Electrotechnology Systems

Electrician

Training contract status

In-training 476 7,020

Completed 179 1,872

* Source; NCVER, VOCSTATS Apprentice & Trainees July 2011 series, Jan-March in training 2011 (accessed Feb 2012)

37

tems which was first endorsed in 2009 and revised in 2010 but does not appear in the NCVER VOCSTATS dataset.

Under the Enterprise Based Productivity Places Program 2010 -2011, 308 places were allocated for this qualification. EE-Oz will work with enterprises and RTOs contracted to deliver this training to ensure that relevant data is recorded.

This summary includes all data from NCVER VOCSTATS in relation to the various versions of the UEE Electrotechnology Training Package. Superseded qualifications have been included in this re-port to document the full cohort as qualifications delivered as apprenticeships have durations which exceed the period of endorsement of some qualifications and when transition arrangements are taken into account significant overlaps between versions occur.

Data for the two highest volume qualifications UTE30999 - Certificate III in Electrotechnology Refrig-eration and Air Conditioning and UTE31199 - Certificate III in Electrotechnology Systems Electrician from the UTE99 Electrotechnology Industry Training Package are reported in Table 8.

Table 9: RTOs with Scope for Qualifications from UEE Electrotechnology Training Package All Versions

By Current Qualifications RTOs

UEE20107 - Certificate II in Air-conditioning Split Systems 30

UEE20207 - Certificate II in Business Equipment Servicing 7

UEE20507 - Certificate II in Computer Assembly and Repair 17

UEE20607 - Certificate II in Custom Electronics Assembly and Setup -

UEE20707 - Certificate II in Data and Voice Communications 21

UEE20907 - Certificate II in Electronic Assembly 3

UEE21007 - Certificate II in Fire Alarms Servicing 3

UEE21207 - Certificate II in Antennae Equipment 7

UEE21307 - Certificate II in Remote Area Essential Service 3

UEE21607 - Certificate II in Security Assembly and Setup 10

UEE21707 - Certificate II in Technical Support 7

UEE21907 - Certificate II in Electronics 16

UEE22007 - Certificate II in Electrotechnology (Career Start) 39

UEE22107 - Certificate II in Sustainable Energy (Career Start) 20

UEE30107 - Certificate III in Business Equipment 9

UEE30207 - Certificate III in Computer Systems Equipment 12

UEE30407 - Certificate III in Data and Voice Communications 10

UEE30506 - Certificate III in Appliance Servicing 4



38


UEE30606 - Certificate III in Electrical Machine Repair 5

UEE30607 - Certificate III in Electrical Machine Repair 11

UEE30706 - Certificate III in Switchgear and Control Gear 5

UEE30707 - Certificate III in Switch Gear and Control Gear 7

UEE30806 - Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician 14

UEE30807 - Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician 79

UEE30906 - Certificate III in Electronics and Communications 9



UEE31007 - Certificate III in Fire Protection Control 2

UEE31206 - Certificate III in Instrumentation and Control 4

UEE31207 - Certificate III in Instrumentation and Control 17

UEE31306 - Certificate III in Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning 9

UEE31307 - Certificate III in Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning 30

UEE31407 - Certificate III in Security Equipment 3

UEE31410 - Certificate III in Security Equipment 6

UEE31807 - Certificate III in Hazardous areas - Instrumentation 1

UEE40407 - Certificate IV in Electrical - Instrumentation 15

UEE40607 - Certificate IV in Electrotechnology - Systems Electrician 20

UEE40707 - Certificate IV in Electronics and Communications 21

UEE41207 - Certificate IV in Electrical - Rail Signalling 4

UEE42210 - Certificate IV in Instrumentation and Control 4

UEE50407 - Diploma of Electrical Engineering 18

UEE50507 - Diploma of Electronics and Communications Engineering 19

UEE50510 - Diploma of Electronics and Communications Engineering 12

UEE60107 - Advanced Diploma of Electrical Engineering 15

UEE60207 - Advanced Diploma of Electronics and Communications Engineering 8

UEE60210 - Advanced Diploma of Electronics and Communications 8

UEE60707 - Advanced Diploma of Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineering 6

Total 629

Source: training.gov.au (accessed February 2012)

Table 9: RTOs with Scope for Qualifications from UEE Electrotechnology Training Package All Versions continued

39

Future Direction for Endorsed components of Training Packages

The review of UEE07 Version 4 in 2011, to produce the recently endorsed UEE11 Ver-sion 1, saw the restructure of all qualifications to incorporate NQC/NSSC policy initiatives, to include components for green skills and to ad-dress National Occupation Licensing Authority requirements. This review was extremely com-prehensive with few components remaining unamended.

The competency standards in the UEE Elec-trotechnology Training Package represent the greatest portion of training provision for the industries covered by EE-Oz. The key electri-cians qualification (Certificate III Electrotech-nology Electrician) underpins a wide range of industry specialisations at higher AQF Levels and career pathways at AQF levels 4 -6 in the ESI- TDR and ESI Generation sectors.

This is also true of the Certificate III in Refrig-eration and Air-conditioning which is the prime qualification for career pathways in the Heat-ing, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) sector.

The 2011 review saw the first major amend-ments to the high use, regulated trade level qualifications since 2007. Industry and its train-ing providers are now seeking a period of sta-bility to to implement these changes and adapt training systems to meet new training require-ments embedded in these, particularly those aligned to new national licencing requirements.

Further work in 2012-2013 will focus on the redesign of units to align with the new tem-plate for unit of competency and assessment requirements identified by NQC/NSSC in 2010-11. Prototyping of units for this work has begun. However clear policy guidance is not yet available on the implementation of the tem-plates and systems for the publication of draft material are yet to be developed.

Further review work will encompass an ongo-ing Essential Knowledge and Associated Skills (EKAS) review and the inclusion of the new components already identified including new post trade components to address pathways to higher level qualifications.

Continuing work on the mapping of Australian Core Skills Framework indicators will also be incorporated in the new units design.

Table 10: RTOs with scope for UEE07 Electrotechnology Training Package All Versions

By Training Package RTOs

UEE07 Electrotechnology Training Package 197


40

Electricity Supply Industry (ESI)

41

The ESI encompasses systems for producing and supplying electricity to consumers. Ac-cess to safe, reliable and competitively priced energy has underpinned Australian prosper-ity, described in the Draft Energy White Paper (DEWP) 2011 as the cornerstone of Australias economic and social development6.

The industry maintains over $120 billion worth of electricity assets including generation plant and network infrastructure, and will experience heavy infrastructure investment over the com-ing years.

Latest Industry Intelligence

The Governments Clean Energy Future Plan, the central tenet of which is a carbon price mechanism starting in July 2012, includes as-sistance of $5.5 billion for emission intensive generators. Plans to close up to 2000 MW of coal fired generation plants will drive significant investment in alternative generation sources (predicted to be primarily gas and wind). In ad-dition to this, the Clean Energy Finance Corpo-ration will make $10 billion available for renew-able and low emissions generation investment.

The Australian Energy Regulator reports that in the current five year regulatory cycle network investment is running at historically high levels, at $7 billion in electricity transmission (82 per cent above last period) and $35 billion in elec-tricity distribution ( 62 per cent above last peri-od). The only jurisdiction in which investment is expected to decrease is Tasmania.

The National Electricity Market (NEM) is a wholesale market operating in southern and eastern Australia which brings together energy generators and retailers, to service over nine million business and residential customers. It is the longest alternating current electricity system in the world, extending over 4,500 km

6 DEWP 2011, p.ix

from Northern Queensland to Tasmania. The shape of the network, long and sparsely popu-lated by global standards, can create various challenges in capacity investment which con-tributes to comparatively high investment capi-tal costs in the network (e.g. 95% of Ergons network services only 5% of its customers).

The creation of the NEM, the rationalisation of regulatory barriers to interstate energy trade, the establishment of third party access to the services of energy infrastructure and the lib-eralisation of ownership in the energy sector, have all created opportunities for private sector investment. The extent of privatisations, acqui-sitions and mergers has been an important as-pect of market activity over the last few years. The recent trend is for greater vertical integra-tion, as a means for retailers and generators to internally manage price volatility, which is also contributing to closer alignment of electricity and gas supply networks.

Linking Western Australia and the Northern Territory to the NEM, identified as a policy goal in the DEWP, will require a further investment in infrastructure, but will improve the efficient and autonomous operation (from a government oversight perspective) of the network.

Independent of the sustainability agenda, the Australian energy networks are entering a phase of growth and renewal, as aging net-work infrastructure is replaced to meet reli-ability standards and peak demand growth. This infrastructure investment environment will translate into robust demand for skills in both the generation and energy supply industries over the foreseeable future.

Operatives employed in the Generation sector may be involved in a wide range of tasks, in-cluding, but not restricted to; operation of unit plant from the control room, local operation of

Electricity Supply Industry (ESI)

42

plant systems, management and coordination of unit or station operations, mechanical main-tenance, electrical maintenance, electronic/ in-strumentation maintenance and/or installation of new plant.

Operatives in the Transmission, Distribution and Rail (TD&R) sector may be involved in a wide range of tasks, including, but not re-stricted to; installation, maintenance, servicing, commissioning, network protection, network operation, asset management, planning and vegetation control.

Emerging environmental factors and their skill impacts

National licensing – EnvironmentOn 30 April 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) endorsed an agreement for a national licensing system for economically important trades. COAGs objective in estab-lishing the National Licensing System is to re-move overlapping and inconsistent regulation between jurisdictions in the way that they li-cence occupational areas. By so doing, it aims to improve business efficiency and the com-petitiveness of the national economy, reduce red tape, improve labour mobility and enhance productivity.

The Productivity Commission has estimated that the economic benefits of a National Li-censing system will be between $1.5 billion and 4.5 billion per year to the national econo-my. These benefits will accrue to all states and territories, across both the public and private sectors. There is also significant potential to mitigate the effects of local peaks in skills de-mand, whether caused by natural disaster or economic opportunity.

In the Electricity Supply Industry all four trade level (AQF 3) Qualifications have been aligned with national licence categories for Distribution Linework, Transmission Linework, Cable Joint-ing and Rail Traction Linework. All four revised qualifications have been endorsed in UET12 version 1.

These national licences will give greater impe-tus to the harmonisation of training and regula-tory standards within the industry and further strengthen the industrys ESI Passport initiative and nationally agreed refresher training proto-cols.

National Licensing – Skills ImpactGreater interconnectedness within the National Electricity Market (NEM) and a trend toward firms increasingly operating across borders has led to strong industry support for an align-ment of regulatory requirements between ju-risdictions, of which national licensing is a key component.

Dealing with the combination of strengthened VET, Work Health and Safety (WHS) regula-tions and National Occupational Licensing re-quirements will be a major challenge for train-ing providers in the coming year. However the impacts of these will be mitigated through the close relationships between enterprise and the training system, with the majority of training provision for the sector provided through en-terprise RTOs or enterprise/RTO partnerships.

RTOs will need to be aware that the revisions to Training Standards at AQF 3 to match na-tional licencing requirements are necessarily reflected in post trade and para –professional qualifications within the revised UET12 Train-ing Package. RTOs will need to ensure that re-sources, methodologies and staff professional development are available to implement these amendments across the AQF levels.

Sustainability

As scientific evidence mounts that human ac-tion is contributing to global climate change, and that there are considerable environmental risks associated with global warming, interna-tional attention is increasingly being directed toward developing sustainable energy practic-es; which meet the energy needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own energy needs.

43

The focus of this attention is currently on limit-ing global carbon dioxide emissions, to main-tain atmospheric carbon below an acceptable level. Without limiting global population or growth in material living standards, only two vectors are available to reduce carbon emis-sions associated with human activity:


2. Reduce the carbon intensity of energy supply

Sustainability measures in the electrotechnol-ogy industry are primarily related to the first of these, disseminating new more efficient

technologies and seeking energy efficiency opportunities in existing processes. The Elec-tricity and Gas Supply industries are more fo-cused on the second, related to cleaner gener-ation (more efficient plants and cleaner energy sources) as well as minimising losses incurred through transmission and distribution systems.

Peak demand growth coupled with a his-torically low level of infrastructure investment over the past decade, has necessitated sig-nificant network upgrades in the current cycle. This has already had an impact on electricity prices which is expected to continue. Thank-fully, consumer awareness of the infrastructure

Figure 12: Energy Sector – Impact on Other Sectors

44

component of energy pricing is increasing which may facilitate changes in consump-tion patterns necessary to slow peak demand growth (and associated energy price rises).

In addition to these factors, which in them-selves represent significant challenges to the Electricity Generation and Supply industry, the imperative for sustainable, low carbon, energy efficiency centred growth is a factor of great impact across these industries.

Electricity supply and related services impact on all aspects of the Australian economy. Fig-ure 12 represents a high level analysis of in-teractions of various identified industry sectors with the energy sector.

The impetus for sustainable energy efficient systems across the economy is accompanied by the desire to implement technological solu-tions as evidenced by unprecedented demand for renewable and sustainable systems and energy supply.

Against this background there is a web of of-ten competing and/or convergent technology at various stages of maturation which offer sig-nificant benefits to sustainability and energy ef-ficiency targets. Predicting and responding to the possible skills demand arising from these is a difficult task as shifts occur in industry in-vestment priorities, responses to government policy as well as consumer demand and con-cerns for environmental safety.

Energy efficiency is seen as an opportunity to realise sustainability goals at relatively low cost to the economy.

Efforts to achieve improvements in energy ef-ficiency are diverse, including retrofits to com-mercial/industrial installations and energy sup-ply infrastructure and the early retirement of inefficient assets in favour of new investment.

A key aspect of the response of the Energy Supply Industries is that of investment in con-vergent and integrated technologies and the

integration of systems to address sustainability and energy efficiency goals.

Typically these include:

• Integration in energy networks of various generation facilities including:

- base load

- peak load generation

- large scale and small scale renewables systems

- localised and grid connected co/tri-generation.

• Improved systems control and data acqui-sition systems to enable more responsive systems management across the increas-ing variety of generation types, feedstock sources and transmission and distribution networks.

• Deployment of advanced metering sys-tems across networks to provide account-ability for bi-directional energy flows

• Development and mandating of standards for efficient appliances and systems

• Integration of smart appliances with distri-bution networks to enable demand man-agement

• Deployment of high speed data networks (NBN) to facilitate integrated control

The accompanying publication to this Environ-mental Scan, Skills to realise energy efficiency opportunities, presents a detailed analysis of the skills required to realise abatement oppor-tunities across the economy, including those related to industry, generation and buildings. The original work related to this analysis was conducted by the ISC in response to abate-ment opportunities identified by the Allens Consulting Group on behalf of the Victorian Government, mapping identified opportuni-ties against current national endorsed training standards for the energy sector industries.

EE-Oz notes that concurrent with the devel-opment of this document, a number of initia-tives, reports and surveys on energy efficiency

45

commissioned by government are being con-ducted, including:

• Extension of Energy Efficiency Opportuni-ties to Electricity and Gas Transmission and Distribution Networks

• National Energy Savings Initiative

• Review of Energy Efficiency Skills Demands and Training Provision Across the Trades and Professions

EE-Oz will be contributing to these and will in-clude relevant intelligence in the mid-year re-view of the Environmental Scan.

Maintaining an appreciation of scope and potential impact of various government stud-ies and initiatives, such as those listed above, combined with industry investment planning represents an ongoing challenge to the ISC.

The evaluation of skill requirements associ-ated with such initiatives can often result in an assessment of needs in isolation, if predicted needs for more or new and updated skills requirements are not considered in context of economy wide demand. Improved com-munications within and between government bodies and industry associations is required to ensure that the aspirations of such initiatives can be matched with workforce planning and development strategies to ensure sufficient skills are available to realise the goals set for such projects.

Co-generation/biomass – EnvironmentCo-generation/biomass is the use of technol-ogy to “recycle” energy by changing the form of energy so that it can be stored or re-used. Typically this occurs via the capture of waste heat from industrial processes or the mining of energy from waste products (e.g. sugar mill bagasse or by-products form diary produc-tion). It is the capture of wasted energy and/or the fact that carbon from the consumption of feedstock can be rapidly reclaimed via new growth that offers the sustainability and effi-ciency dividend.

This efficient re-use of energy can be applied at both small and large scale in both standalone and grid connected configurations. At the smaller scale (commercial or public buildings) tri-generation via combined heat and power (CHP) technologies produces heating, cooling and electrical power from an integrated system.

Various systems and technologies have been trialled and some deployed on a commercial scale. Some of these, notably in the sugar in-dustry, have had auspicious beginnings but have foundered on faltering markets for renew-able energy credits which supported the eco-nomic model for the original investment.

Intelligence from such false starts and regula-tory uncertainty has discouraged some invest-ment in large scale co-generation projects. The announcement of a carbon price to be introduced from July 1 2012 has potential to stabilise the investment environment and lead to increased investment in co-generation op-portunities.

ClimateWorks Australia in their 2010 Low Car-bon Growth Plan and subsequent updates to this work, have identified a number of co-gen-eration/biomass opportunities in a variety of in-dustries including steel making, cement manu-facture, food processing (including dairy foods), chemical and petro-chemical production.

Co-generation – Skills impactThe deployment of co-generation technologies requires both generic skills and specialised skills, the balance of which is contingent on the technologies and feedstock being exploited.

Skills to install and commission co-generation systems and to operate and maintain these as generation plants, are consistent with those for traditional thermal generation technologies (al-though working on a much smaller scale and in standalone environments may present new skills challenges for individual operatives).

Working within a particular industrial commer-cial environment however calls up new skills, particularly related to post-trade maintenance,

46

instrumentation and industrial control com-petencies which reside in the Electrotechnol-ogy Training Package but are increasingly accessed by operatives in these emerging generation sector operations.

This cross sector transfer of skills has been ref-erenced in relation to other aspects of this ESI industry environmental scan and is a feature of the move towards sustainable and energy ef-ficient energy systems.

As outlined in the accompanying publication to this Environmental Scan, Skills to realise energy efficiency opportunities,, EE-Oz has identified qualifications Trade, Post-Trade and Para-professional from the Electrotechnology, ESI - Generation and ESI – TDR Training Pack-ages covering various aspects, technologies and scales of application.

Peak demand management – EnvironmentIn an energy system, peak demand refers to the highest level of demand experienced within the network. In Australia, peak demand only occurs on about 1% of days but can result in a 50-100% surge in demand for energy.

Despite this limited duration, electricity net-works must be built to withstand peak demand

levels without failing. Over the past decade the rate of peak demand growth has far exceeded total demand growth for energy, largely due to the uptake of airconditioning systems (AC pen-etration has risen from around 30% in 2001 to over 70% in 2011). While this rapid growth is expected to stabilise, system enhancement to accommodate peak demand growth will con-tinue to be a major driver of electricity price ris-es, with over $15 billion of investment required in the next few years.

A significant proportion of industry representa-tives are now predicting that total electricity de-mand will remain stagnant in the short term as energy efficiency policies and increased prices both act to quell demand.

However peak demand will continue to grow, necessitating further network investment and accordingly driving price rises. ESI organisa-tions are urgently seeking to address critical network constraints and partner with indus-try and the community to moderate extreme peaks in demand growth.

Peak demand management – Skills impactWhile consumption patterns will be informed by smart appliances and systems across do-mestic and commercial/ industrial settings, the capacity of energy networks to take advantage

Figure 13: Example of residential substation peak demand. Two consecutive summer days in 2010, only difference is ambient temperature

Source: Energex presentation to EE-Oz Annual Conference 2010


Figure 13: Example of residential substation peak demand. Two consecutive summer days in 2010,

only difference is ambient temperature

Source: Energex presentation to EE-Oz Annual Conference 2010

Despite this limited duration, electricity networks must be built to withstand peak demand levels

without failing. Over the past decade the rate of peak demand growth has far exceeded total

demand growth for energy, largely due to the uptake of airconditioning systems (AC penetration has

risen from around 30% in 2001 to over 70% in 2011). While this rapid growth is expected to stabilise,

system enhancement to accommodate peak demand growth will continue to be a major driver of

electricity price rises, with over $15 billion of investment required in the next few years.

A significant proportion of industry representatives are now predicting that total electricity

demand will remain stagnant in the short term as energy efficiency policies and increased prices

both act to quell demand.

However peak demand will continue to grow, necessitating further network investment and

accordingly driving price rises. ESI organisations are urgently seeking to address critical network

constraints and partner with industry and the community to moderate extreme peaks in demand

growth.

Peak demand management – Skills impact

While consumption patterns will be informed by smart appliances and systems across domestic

and commercial/ industrial settings, the capacity of energy networks to take advantage of these

opportunities will be integral to realisation of these possibilities.

Skills in advanced metering, network design, systems control and data acquisition will help

consumers to understand exactly what they consume, at which times, what this costs and what

alternatives are available. This information transfer must work both ways, so that generators are

able to alter production levels to suit customer needs and reward preferred consumption patterns.


Figure 14 shows the combined growth expectations of the Generation and Transmission,

Distribution and Rail sectors of the Electrical Supply Industry. Growth expectations in the

Transmission, Distribution and Rail sector are slightly stronger than the aggregate, with two thirds of

employers expecting to increase their staffing levels in the year.

47

Figure 14: Employment expectations – Electricity Supply Industry firms 2012


of these opportunities will be integral to realisa-tion of these possibilities.

Skills in advanced metering, network design, systems control and data acquisition will help consumers to understand exactly what they consume, at which times, what this costs and what alternatives are available. This information transfer must work both ways, so that genera-tors are able to alter production levels to suit customer needs and reward preferred con-sumption patterns.


Figure 14 shows the combined growth expec-tations of the Generation and Transmission, Distribution and Rail sectors of the Electrical Supply Industry. Growth expectations in the Transmission, Distribution and Rail sector are slightly stronger than the aggregate, with two thirds of employers expecting to increase their staffing levels in the year.

Generation DriversRespondents to the 2012 Environmental Scan Survey from the generation sector indicated that the key short and long term driver of busi-ness demand is government policy.

This reflects the environment in which the sec-tor operates, with government policy providing the framework for transition to a low carbon economy (and with little to no export opportu-nities or foreign competition).

Transmission DriversRespondents from the Transmission, Distribu-tion and Rail (TD&R) sector identified the dual challenges of evolving work practices and im-plementing new technologies as the key short term drivers for the sector. These drivers do not necessarily act in concert, with combinations of these anticipated to create compounding skills demands in the future.

In regards to longer term drivers respondents saw the challenge of an aging workforce and accompanying skills deficits and skills devel-opment lags as the major factor in the industry securing a productive future.

Impact of the Workforce Development Funding StrategiesFrom November 2009, when the Enterprise Based Productivity Places Program (EBPPP) was introduced, the workforce development strategy of funding industry training places, brokered by the ISC, on the basis of co-in-vestment by enterprises and Government, has been highly successful in the energy sector in-dustries.

There have been three iterations of this imple-mentation model, each with a slightly different focus, demonstrating the flexibility of the model to meet identified goals. These programs are:

• Enterprise Based Productivity Places Pro-gram (EBPPP)

• Critical Skills Investment Fund (CSIF)

48

• National Workforce Development Fund (NWDF)

In ESI Generation these programs have cre-ated 139 Training places across the following qualifications, a breakdown of these places is provided in Table 11.

These places are all at trade or post-trade level and when compared to the in-training figures reported by NCVER VOCSTATS for the UEP06 Training represent a significant boost to train-ing in this sector.

In the ESI – TDR sector uptake has been against the EBPPP and CSIF workforce de-velopment programs, targeting qualifications across a range of AQF levels (Table 12).

Proportional to the total training uptake of these qualifications across the industry (re-fer to In Training Enrolments, Table 16 below) this is a significant increase, demonstrating the effectiveness of the fund in increasing industry engagement with the training sector

and developing skills of high value to the econ-omy.

Engineering graduate shortages are leading to a broader range of roles, historically carried out by engineers, being undertaken by para-professionals. This trend is reflected in the in-creased uptake of AQF 5 and 6 level qualifica-tions under these programs.

EE-Oz is cooperating with Engineers Austra-lia to bring about the implementation of Ad-vanced Diploma qualifications, aligned to the Dublin Accord, as a pathways to engineering programs in the Higher Education sector.

Programs under the CSIF are targeting skills needs identified as essential to address veg-etation control, asset management and sur-veillance requirements identified as part of the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission. This training will increase the capacity of enterprises providing contracted services to ESI network owners for asset inspection and vegetation control.

Table 11: Workforce Development Program Impacts – Generation Qualifications

Program Qualification Number of places

EBPPP Certificate III in ESI Generation 40

EBPPP Certificate III in ESI Generation Operations 11

EBPPP Certificate IV in ESI Generation Operations 72

EBPPP Diploma of ESI Generation Operations 16

Total 139

Table 12: Workforce Development Program Impacts – ESI - TDR Qualifications

Program Qualification Number of places

EBPPP Certificate IV in ESI substations 14

EBPPP Advanced Diploma of ESI Power Systems 33

Total 47

CSIF Certificate II in ESI - Asset Inspection 110

Certificate II in ESI - Vegetation Control 457

Total 567

49

Table 13: Current ESI-TDR Sector Trade and Post Trade Qualifications

ESI QUALIFICATIONS / SKILL SETS

UET09 Skill Set Refresher Units

UET30109 Certificate III in ESI - Transmission

UET30209 Certificate III in ESI - Distribution

UET30309 Certificate III in ESI – Rail Traction

UET30409 Certificate III in ESI – Cable Jointing

UET40109 Certificate IV in ESI – Power Systems

UET40209 Certificate IV in ESI – Substations

UET40309 Certificate IV in ESI – Network Infrastructure

The raised profile that this has given these skills has prompted industry to review the vegeta-tion control qualification and develop a new qualification for asset inspection. Industry is now considering the development of career pathways for new entrants and existing work-ers undertaking these qualifications.

Training market responsiveness

Pink slip programThe EE-Oz Pink Slip RTO Evaluation Process applies to RTOs who wish to extend their scope of registration to incorporate identified high risk qualifications and/or skill set from the UEE07 Electrotechnology and UET09 ESI Transmission Training Packages.

The Pink Slip RTO Evaluation Process has been developed by EE-Oz Training Standards based on an initial concept proposed by NSW VETAB. It ensures high quality outcomes for learners and speedier registration for training providers. By providing a benchmark for re-quired delivery and assessment resources, Pink Slips will provide evidence to the Aus-tralian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) when it audits applications for initial registration/exten-sions to scope.

EE-Oz appointed industry experts, with rel-evant educational and training experience, will conduct site visits at the RTO to determine a training providers capacity to deliver training and assessment which meets the require-ments of the training package qualification(s).


Industry Skills Councils contribute to the devel-opment of the Priority Occupation List (POL), used as the basis for determining qualifications eligible for funding under the National Work-force Development Fund.

EE-Oz supports the assessment made by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relation (DEEWR) in relation to the

compilation of the 2011 POL and confirms that the list reflects advice received from industry in relation to qualifications within the ESI sector which are currently in demand. Table 14 below lists applicable callings from the POL.

Table14: ESI-TDR Calling Extracted from 2011 POL

ANZSCO Code

Classification

3422 Electrical Distribution Trades Workers

3123 Electrical Engineering Draftspersons, Technicians

2333 Electrical Engineers

3411 Electricians

Industry intelligence indicates that these skills shortages will continue into the foreseeable fu-ture and may very well intensify as a result of considerable retirements expected in the next five years.

50

The ESI Passport Committee maintains a da-tabase recording all industry operatives who are issued with a passports for access to ESI networks. This information provides a snap-shot of the age profile of the personnel within the database. The data in figure 15 below is reported on a jurisdictional basis and allows an industry overview of the workforce age profile.

Current statistics show that the ESI workforce is still skewed considerably to the higher age bracket with more than 54% of the workforce 39 years or older and with 27% of the work-force 50 or older.

This means that whilst recruitment has been increased since the Global Financial Crisis, significant further investment in skills will be required to ensure that this age balance is re-dressed, and to place the workforce on a sus-tainable footing.

Although NSW has not entered a significant data set into the system at the time of this snapshot, other jurisdictions have done so.

The data has been taken across a range of callings within the sector that may require net-work access, requiring ESI Passport. Table 15 outlines passport categories which include the following ESI workers:

Table 15: ESI Industry Categories for Passport Issue

ESI Industry Callings Covered by ESI Passport

Meter Technician Non Electrical Worker

Support Worker Switching Operator

Team Leader / Supervisor

Technical Worker

Tester, Protection, Control & Cables

Trade Worker

Vegetation Worker Live Line

Apprentice Asset Inspector

Cable Jointer Electrical Inspector

Electrician Electricity Supply Worker - Non Trade

Engineer Lineworker Distribution

Lineworker Transmission

Source: ESI Industry Passport Data December 2011.

Figure 15: Age Profile of ESI Employees

Source: ESI Industry Passport Data December 2011.

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

15-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79

WAA

VIC

TAS

SAA

QLD

NTY

NSW

ACT

51

The Skills and Resourcing Reference Group of Energy Networks Australia (ENA), the peak body for Australias Transmission Distribution Networks has been requested by the ENA Asset Management Committee to provide ad-vice on skills imbalances within the sector. The committee has identified the issue in the fol-lowing terms:

The ESI is experiencing engineering, para-professionals, and trade supply/demand imbalance that is likely to worsen; there is strong competition from the resource sector and diminishing supply (quality and quantity)7.

The ENA Asset management committee sees this issue as having both long term and short term impacts, notably the ability of the sec-tor to respond more effectively to the demand for extra field resources during emergencies, in the shorter and longer terms, Increase the supply [of skills] and improve the attractiveness of the ESI.

The industry sees improvement in national consistency of skills and training requirements leading to industry efficiencies in sharing of field resources (including in times of emergen-cies) and the adoption of industry best practice in operations.


UET ESI – Transmission, Distribution and Rail Sector TrainingTable 16 shows NCVER statistics for enrol-ments against the current UET09 Training Package and the superseded UET06 and UTT98 Training Packages.

The UET ESI – Transmission, Distribution and Rail Sector Training Package has recently been reviewed and endorsed as UET12. This Pack-age has not yet been implemented on Train-ing.gov.au and therefore no enrolments are reported.

7 ENA AMC Strategy 2011-2012

The enrolment data is reflective of industry structure, with the Distribution lineworker quali-fication being dominant across all three itera-tions of the Package from UTT98 to UET09. Increased enrolments in the AQF 5 and 6 qualifications reflect the growing emphasis on higher level skills and new roles for para-pro-fessionals in the sector. There has also been a shift from the Certificate IV Power Systems to Certificate IV ESI – Substations reflected in the allocation of places under current workforce development programs.

Even taking into account a traditional appren-ticeship duration of 4 years and qualification implementation lags, it is of concern that a significant number (7.2%) of enrolments are against qualifications from the UTT98 Training Package (replaced in 2006 by UET06).

New national licencing requirements embed-ded in the UET12 Training Package qualifica-tions are anticipated to provide significant in-centives to enterprises and their partner RTOs to transition current enrolments to the new qualifications as soon as possible to ensure they meet national licencing requirements.

The implementation of the Training.gov.au website has restricted access to RTO scope information to current versions of Training Packages. Table 17 shows the number of RTOs with Scope to deliver qualifications from the Current Version (UET09 Version 3) of the ESI – Transmission, Distribution and Rail Sec-tor Training Package. It should be noted that a count of RTOs by qualifications will always include duplicate entries. Therefore, the count of RTOs with scope at qualification level (99) is higher than that at Training Package level (69) for UET09.

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Table16: In-Training UTT and UET – TDR Training Packages, All Versions






UET20110 - Certificate II in ESI - Vegetation Control - Current

UET20511 - Certificate II in National Broadband Network Cabling (Electricity Supply Industry Assets) - Current

UET20209 - Certificate II in ESI - Transmission Line Assembly - Current

UET30109 - Certificate III in ESI - Transmission 27 Current

UET30209 - Certificate III in ESI - Distribution 1145 Current

UET30309 - Certificate III in ESI - Rail Traction 84 Current

UET30409 - Certificate III in ESI - Cable Jointing 76 Current

UET40209 - Certificate IV in ESI - Substation 26 Current

UET50109 - Diploma of ESI - Power Systems 57 Current

UET60109 - Advanced Diploma of ESI - Power Systems 44 Current

UET20109 - Certificate II in ESI - Vegetation Control - Superseded

UET20206 - Certificate II in ESI - Transmission Line Assembly 0 Superseded

UET30106 - Certificate III in ESI - Transmission 44 Superseded

UET30206 - Certificate III in ESI - Distribution 1100 Superseded

UET30306 - Certificate III in ESI - Rail Traction 102 Superseded

UET30406 - Certificate III in ESI - Cable Jointing 174 Superseded

UET40106 - Certificate IV in ESI - Power Systems 27 Superseded

UET50106 - Diploma of ESI - Power Systems 0 Superseded

UET60106 - Advanced Diploma of ESI - Power Systems 4 Superseded

UTT20198 - Certificate II in ESI - Distribution (Powerline) 0 Superseded

UTT30101 - Certificate III in ESI - Distribution (Powerline) 197 Superseded

UTT30198 - Certificate III in ESI - Distribution (Powerline) 9 Superseded

UTT30298 - Certificate III in ESI - Transmission (Powerline) 8 Superseded

UTT30301 - Certificate III in ESI - Cable Jointing (Powerline) 6 Superseded

UTT30402 - Certificate III in ESI - Rail Traction (Powerline) 7 Superseded

Total 3137


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Table 17: RTOs with Scope for UET09 Version 3 qualifications

By Current UET09 Version 3 QualificationsRTOs with

Scope

UET20109 - Certificate II in ESI - Vegetation Control 6

UET20110 - Certificate II in ESI - Vegetation Control 0

UET20511 - Certificate II in National Broadband Network Cabling (Electricity Supply Industry Assets) 0

UET20209 - Certificate II in ESI - Transmission Line Assembly 3

UET30109 - Certificate III in ESI - Transmission 14

UET30209 - Certificate III in ESI - Distribution 24

UET30309 - Certificate III in ESI - Rail Traction 9

UET30409 - Certificate III in ESI - Cable Jointing 14

UET40109 - Certificate IV in ESI - Power Systems 5

UET40209 - Certificate IV in ESI - Substation 9

UET40309 - Certificate IV in ESI - Network Infrastructure 1

UET50109 - Diploma of ESI - Power Systems 9

UET60109 - Advanced Diploma of ESI - Power Systems 5

Total 99


Table 18: Total RTOs with Scope to deliver components of UET06 and UET09

By Versions of the UET Training Package

UET09 ESI - Transmission Distribution and Rail Training Sector Training Package

69

UET06 ESI - Transmission Distribution and Rail Training Sector Training Package

40


Table 18 shows the statistics for RTOs with Scope to deliver any component from the ei-ther the UET09 or UET06 versions of the ESI – Transmission, Distribution and Rail Sector Training Package, link to data source included.

UEP ESI – Generation Sector TrainingThe tables below reflect the impact of the cur-rently endorsed UEP ESI - Generation Sector Training Package. RTOs registered to provide training from this package (Table 21) far out-number the current number of enrolments (Ta-ble 19) and RTOs with whole qualifications on scope (Table 20).

This is due to UEP06 components being more widely applied at the unit level rather than the qualification level. This reflects the traditional reliance on in-house training by large state owned generation utilities which have a history of being self-regulating.

UEP06 units are also widely imported into other qualifications, particularly at AQF levels 2 and 3. These provide a range of skills appli-cable in a variety of industrial settings as they were developed in the context of established, large coal fired power stations, which are simi-lar in nature to other heavy industries.

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The revision of UEP06 initiated in 2010 has en-sured consultation with those developing and implementing alternative generation technolo-gies, including renewable and sustainable en-ergy sources. This combined with the impact of carbon pricing on established generators is anticipated to increase the take-up of quali-fications in the sector as skills become more mobile.

The enrolment data in Table 19 is extracted from the official NCVER VOCSTATS system, for the UEP06 Generation Training Package and shows data from mid-2011.

The generation sectors response to the initial round of Enterprise Based Productivity Places Program (EBPPP) which encouraged enter-prises to identify their own skills needs indi-cates that industry is already reacting to these impacts.

The most popular qualification brokered by EE-Oz under the EBPPP for the ESI Generation sector was the Certificate IV ESI Generation Operations (71 places). The next most sub-scribed qualifications were the Certificate III in ESI Generation Operations (51 training places) and the Diploma of ESI Generation Operations (16 places).

It should be noted that the NCVER VOCSTATS enrolment figures below (Table 19) do not ap-pear to report these enrolments fully as only 37 enrolments are reported nationally.

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Table 19: In Training – UEP06 Qualifications






UEP20106 - Certificate II in ESI Generation (Operations Support) 0 Superseded

UEP30206 - Certificate III in ESI Generation (Operations) 20 Current

UEP40206 - Certificate IV in ESI Generation (Operations) 3 Current

UEP40306 - Certificate IV in ESI Generation Maintenance 2 Current

UEP40506 - Certificate IV in ESI Generation Maintenance 1 Current

UEP50206 - Diploma of ESI Generation 12 Current

Total 37


Table 20: Numbers of RTOs Delivering UEP Qualifications


UEP20106 - Certificate II in ESI Generation (Operations Support) -

UEP30106 - Certificate III in ESI Generation (Systems Operations) 2

UEP30206 - Certificate III in ESI Generation (Operations) 9

UEP40106 - Certificate IV in ESI Generation (Systems Operations) 2

UEP40206 - Certificate IV in ESI Generation (Operations) 11

UEP40306 - Certificate IV in ESI Generation Maintenance 6

UEP40506 - Certificate IV in ESI Generation Maintenance 6

UEP50106 - Diploma of ESI Generation (Systems Operations) 2

UEP50206 - Diploma of ESI Generation 9

UEP50406 - Diploma of ESI Generation (Electrical/Electronic) 1

Total 48


RTO with Scope to deliver any component from the UEP06 ESI – Generation Sector Training Pack-age, link to data source included.

Table 21: RTOs with Scope to deliver UEP06 Components

By Training Package RTO

UEP06 ESI - Generation Sector Training Package


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The review of UET09 Version 3 in 2011 to pro-duce the recently endorsed UET12 Version 1 restructured all qualifications to incorporate NQC/NSSC policy initiatives and include com-ponents for green skills and address National Licencing Authority requirements was very comprehensive.

Further work in 2012-2013 will focus on the redesign of units to align with the template for unit of competency and assessment require-ments, identified by NQC/NSSC in 2010-11.

This work will encompass ongoing EKAS re-view work and the inclusion of the new com-ponents already identified including new post trade components to address pathways to higher level qualifications.

The UEP06 ESI – Generation Sector Training Package has also undergone extensive review in 2010-11 and a new version UEP12 is im-minent.

As with the UET Training Package the main fo-cus in 2012-13 will be the redesign of the units to meet NSSC requirements accompanied by an EKAS and pre-requisite review.

Ongoing consultations with regard to the de-velopment of new components for the large scale renewable/sustainable energy genera-tion sector will also be continued in 2012.

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GAS Supply Industry (GSI)

59

The GSI covers gas transmission and distribu-tion from wellhead to consumer access point, both through an extensive pipeline network and appropriate storage vessels, to meet the needs of domestic and international customers.

The GSI is at a critical juncture. A confluence of factors has combined to drive global demand for gas to an all-time high.

Technological improvements have opened up domestic gas to international export markets, as global demand for energy soars driven by rapid economic growth in Asia. Gas is expected to be the primary short term beneficiary of in-creased international focus on sustainable en-ergy practices, identified as a key transition fuel from more polluting hydrocarbon sources such as coal and petroleum, and able to provide both peak and base load power at competitive prices in addition to an alternative automotive fuel. This is further contributing to demand in both domestic and international markets.

At the same time, relatively recent extraction technologies have more than doubled acces-sible reserves, ideally positioning Australia to capitalise on this burgeoning international de-mand. These factors have led to predictions that domestic gas production will triple in Aus-tralia to 20308.

This rapid growth and forecasts of further fu-ture expansion however belie considerable concern among industry participants of the sectors capacity to expand under existing la-bour market conditions. Businesses report that deepening skills shortages endanger the development of infrastructure to support ca-pacity expansion.

This problem is at least partially related to inad-equate industry coverage in federal data sets. The sector remains underrepresented in formal government statistics with no occupational code (ANZSCO) explicitly related to industry participants (occupations are obscured within broad construction or plumbing classifications) nor are industry codes appropriate (ANZSIC); Gas Supply (3620) is based on an outdated town gas industry which excludes transmis-sion industry operations and Pipeline Transport (6501) and covers all pipeline utility operations including petroleum and water.

Without having an accurate picture of how many workers are currently in the industry, what their skills profile is and how sectoral growth can be expected to impact skills de-mand, RTOs have difficulty in making a busi-ness case to justify the development of training resources, recruitment of staff and formation of partnerships with industry.

At the request of peak industry bodies, EE-Oz Training Standards, the Australian Pipeline Association, LPG Australia, Energy Networks Australia, the Australian Workers Union and Transport Worker Union, the Skills and Labour Branch of the Department of Education, Em-ployment and Workplace relations (now the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education) conducted a Survey of Employers Recruitment Experiences in the Gas Supply Industry9.

This survey has provided insights into the GSI workforce and highlighted the dire need for skills in key occupations to facilitate industry growth. The results also suggest that the in-dustry is substantially larger than recorded in

Gas Supply Industry (GSI)

8 Draft Energy White Paper 2011, p.1499 http://www.deewr.gov.au/employment/lmi/regionalreports/industry/pages/2011.aspx

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formal statistics with responses from employ-ers representing over 11,000 workers (re-sponse rate for the survey was 45%).

Latest Intelligence

The Gas Supply Industry services both do-mestic and export markets. In 2010, approxi-mately 1,100 Peta Joules (PJ) of gas was sup-plied to domestic markets and a further 1,000 PJ into LNG export markets (all of which was from offshore basins in Western Australia and the Northern Territory). LNG export from the eastern gas market is set to begin from 2014.

The GSI has three discrete areas, the eastern, northern and western markets (Figure 16 be-low).

Eastern marketHigh prices and improved technology are shift-ing the focus of eastern gas market operations away from conventional production to meet domestic demand (mostly in the southern states), to unconventional reserves in northern NSW and Queensland to meet the demand from export markets in Asia. This shift will af-fect both gas and electricity markets, as gas powered generation increases.

The eastern gas market has just over 40% of Australias proven reserves or 45,230 PJs. Over three quarters of this comes from CSG reserves in Queenslands Surat – Bowen basin.

Figure 16: Australian Gas Industry schematic

Source: Australian Energy Regulator, State of the Energy Market 2011

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Western marketUpstream gas infrastructure in Western Austra-lia is approaching capacity, with new offshore and onshore pipelines required to link reserves to domestic markets.

Western Australia has almost 60% of Austra-lias proven and probable gas reserves (68, 898 PJs), of which the vast majority is in the Car-narvon basin. Despite this, WA accounts for just 32% of domestic sales.

Northern marketThe northern gas market operations have fo-cused on producing LNG for export, although a pipeline was built connecting the Bonaparte basin to communities in the Northern Territory in 2008. In its Gas Statement of Opportunities, the Australian Energy Market Operator has flagged the possibility of expanding gas pro-cessing and transmission, to supply southern gas demand centres with gas from the north-ern basins.

Emerging environmental factor and their skill impacts

Burgeoning export market - EnvironmentThe historical separation of international and domestic gas markets is ending, with implica-tions for domestic energy prices. Isolation from foreign consumers has held domestic prices below the international energy price and, as this gap closes, higher prices are driving in-vestment in infrastructure, as suppliers seek to expand their capacity.

AEMOs Gas Statement of Opportunities 2011 predicts that as early as 2015 Australia could be the second largest LNG exporting country in the world and the largest in Australasia, and that by 2020 Australia could generate half of global production growth.

While the report predicts that Australia will have sufficient overall supply for both domestic and export markets to 2030, capacity constraints (such as those arising from skills and labour

shortages) will increase the risk that this goal cannot be realised.

Burgeoning export market – Skills impactShould gas production fail to meet demand, industry is concerned that long term contrac-tual obligations to export markets will mean that it is the domestic market which feels the brunt of any shortfall.

In order to meet energy security and sustain-ability goals in the domestic economy, develop-ment of transmission and distribution networks must occur in a timely and effective manner. Ensuring that the skills necessary to realise these network aspirations exist in the quantity required by enterprises is a clear industry prior-ity. This will require developing additional skills in relation to:

• Certificate II in Gas Industry Pipeline Opera-tions

• Certificate II in Gas Industry Transmission Pipeline Construction

• Certificate II in Gas Industry Cylinder Op-erations

Age profile of GSI workforce – EnvironmentalFigure 17 illustrates the age distribution of the GSI workforce. Of significant concern is the low proportion of 15 – 24 years old in the in-dustry, almost 60% below the national aver-age. This means that for every worker in the 15 – 24 year age range in the industry, there are two workers over the age of 55 and approach-ing retirement.

For an innovative and technology driven indus-try experiencing dramatic expansion, this is cause for concern.

Additional information from the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, published in the 2010 Resourcing the Future report, notes that the advanced age of the gas workforce will make substantial replacement recruitment necessary, especially in light of the number of new LNG trains due for construction to 2015, highlighting replacement demand in gas

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operations could be around 2,000 persons per annum, including approximately 500 retire-ments.

This represents a significant proportion of the national workforce retiring each year and cur-rent training levels will simply be insufficient to meet this predicted demand for skills. New strategies to boost recruitment levels are cur-rently being sought.

Although members of the broader community are increasingly aware of the gas industry, it does not yet have the recognition of more es-tablished industries as providing a career path, rewarding and fulfilling employment for young workers.

Industry feels that the declaration of the Cer-tificate III as an apprenticeship will increase the desirability of the qualification, identifying it to students as a skilled technical vocation and provide an appropriate framework for devel-oping the high level technical skills required by autonomous workers in the industry.

Jurisdictional declarations of apprenticeships also have government funding implications, declaring this qualification as an apprentice-ship will increase incentives for industry to con-

tribute to the development of new operatives, further boosting training and recruitment levels.

To this end, EE-Oz has been supports efforts of jurisdictional Industry Working Groups (IWGs), developed through State and Territory Industry Training and Advisory Boards (ITABs), to peti-tion for the recognition of the Certificate III level qualification from the UEG Training Package as an apprenticeship.

The ISC is happy to report that on 24 Febru-ary 2012 the Western Australian Office of the State Training Board took the step to establish the UEG30106 Certificate III in Gas Industry Operations as an Apprenticeship. Industry is confident that this move will have significant impact on local recruitment efforts and looks forward to other jurisdictions following Western Australias lead.

Sustainability

As scientific evidence mounts that human ac-tion is contributing to global climate change, and that there are considerable environmental risks associated with global warming, interna-tional attention is increasingly being directed towards developing sustainable energy prac-tices; which meet the energy needs of the current generation without compromising the

Figure 17: Age distribution of workers in the GSI

Age profile of GSI workforce - Skills impact

15-24 25-54 55+%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Australian averageGas Supply Industry

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ability of future generations to meet their own energy needs.

The focus of this attention is currently on limit-ing global carbon dioxide emissions to main-tain atmospheric carbon below an acceptable level. Without limiting global population or growth in material living standards, only two vectors are available to reduce carbon emis-sions associated with human activity:


2. Reduce the carbon intensity of energy generation

Sustainability measures in the electrotechnol-ogy industry are primarily related to the first of these, disseminating new more efficient tech-nologies and seeking energy efficiency oppor-tunities in existing processes. The Electrical Supply and Gas Supply industries are more fo-cused on the second, related to cleaner gener-ation (more efficient plants and cleaner energy sources) as well as minimising losses incurred through transmission and distribution systems.

While many renewable energy sources suffer from challenges related to intermittent supply, prohibitive cost or untested technologies, gas is already well established in the global energy mix and has considerably lower emissions than other hydrocarbon fuels. Gas fired elec-tricity generation produces approximately 30% - 50% less emissions per megawatt hour than coal generation and is capable of generating base load power. LPG also provides a cleaner alternative to gasoline which powers almost one million vehicles nationwide.

Carbon price - EnvironmentThe Australian Governments Clean Energy Fu-ture package, which will introduce a price on carbon from 1 July 2012, will elevate the role of gas in the nations energy mix at the expense of more polluting hydrocarbon energy sources such as coal and petrol.

Treasury modeling demonstrates that electricity generation from gas, which currently accounts for about 15% of generation, could increase to

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44% by 2050, under a carbon tax. This is in ad-dition to demand for gas as a direct fuel source for heating, transportation and cooking.

Carbon price – Skills impactThe recurring theme of this report is that in or-der to realise the myriad opportunities provid-ed by a flourishing gas sector, including those related to sustainable energy usage, consider-able investment will be required in transmission and distribution networks.

The necessary first step for this to occur is in-vestment in skills. Unless the skills required to support network expansion are available, infra-structure investment bottlenecks risk compro-mising sustainability goals and carbon reduc-tion targets, in addition to export revenue.

Community concerns about Coal Seam Gas (CSG) - EnvironmentCoal Seam Gas production began in Austra-lia in 2004 and has experienced rapid growth from inception. The majority of activity is oc-curring in the Surat – Bowen basin, which con-tains most of Australias proved and probable CSG reserves and runs from northern New South Wales into Queensland.

Community sensitivities to the environmental impact of CSG exploration and exploitation have centered on the impact on water tables and prime agricultural lands. However com-munities also recognise the environmental, social and economic benefits of having a low cost, low carbon energy source, plus a reliable source of export revenue.

Longer term resolution of these conflicts will be in the best interests of all stakeholders. Community concerns can only be addressed through a comprehensive evidence based re-view of industry operations, focusing on estab-lishing environmentally sensitive technologies and work practices.

The application of environmental laws, regu-lation, and enforcement should be arrived at transparently and be applied consistently throughout the country.

Community concerns about Coal Seam Gas (CSG) – Skills impactNational Training Packages are industrys pre-ferred method for documenting work practices and developing clear performance expecta-tions from industry practitioners, of the stan-dard to which an individual is expected to per-form in the workplace.

Engaging industry regulators in this process will be essential in ensuring industry outcomes conform to community expectations.

Industry

Industry is extremely bullish about the future with a ratio of five employers expecting to increase their staffing levels over the coming year, for each expecting it to remain constant. No survey respondent from the GSI expected staffing levels to decline in the coming year (Figure 18).

Figure 18:Employment expectations – Gas industry firms 2012


This optimism is also reflected in the DEEWRs survey of employer experiences, which found that 89% of employers expected to increase staffing levels in the twelve months from July 2011, compared to 41 % nationally.

Over the short term, employers indicated they felt government policy is the primary driver of business demand, reflecting the prominent role identified for gas in assisting the global transition from high carbon emission fuels such as coal. The structure of incentive regimes

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promoting sustainable energy usage affect the value proposition offered by alternative fuels.

In regards to the longer term, employers iden-tified technology and aging workforce as the twin drivers of business demand.

Over the past few years, technology has played a key role in unlocking unconventional gas reserves and linking domestic gas produc-tion to foreign markets. This has placed up-ward pressure on demand. Simultaneously the implications of an ageing workforce are limiting industrys capacity to meet predicted demand. Over the long term, industry participants feel that the balance between these two compet-ing forces will determine industry growth.

National Workforce Development FundThe past 12 months has seen an increased up-take of the GSI Training Package from a very low base, largely as a result Government initiatives related to employer demand driven training. Under the NWDF 46 training places were brokered for the Certificate III in Gas In-dustry Operations, building on a similar uptake under the EBPPP program.

Under the EBPPP trial program, which com-menced in 2009, two industry organisations, in cooperation with EE-Oz Training Standards, secured funding to partner with a Victorian RTO to deliver the Certificate III and IV qualifi-cations from the Gas Training Package. One hundred and fifteen (115) operatives are being trained through the program; 80 LPG workers and 35 Gas distribution workers.

Under the formal EBPPP, introduced in 2010, another major industry employer is now train-ing close to 50 operatives against the Certifi-cate III Gas Industry Operations qualification.

These successes again demonstrate the value of providing assistance to individual enterpris-es in identifying their own workforce develop-ment needs and collectively brokering training places to meet these needs.

Market

Insufficient industry coverage in ANZSIC and ANZSCO codesObtaining data on employment in the sector and the identification of job roles in the sector is difficult due the lack of the gas industry cat-egories within the ANZSCO system used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Currently many gas industry job roles are not clearly identified as they are included in other groupings such as Plant Operators associated with civil construction and operatives in the petro-chemical sector. This has led to a lack of data on skills and skills shortages and no readily available taxonomy for industry to apply to its workforce.

In response to advice from the Australian Bu-reau of Statistics, EE-Oz and industry partners conducted a campaign to encourage industry participants to clearly identify themselves with the industry on their 2011 census form. The ISC looks forward to a review of ANZSCO codes utilised from industry participants in light of responses from the census.

Shortage of RTOs in the GSIThere are relatively few RTOs with Gas Supply Industry qualifications on scope, making it dif-ficult for enterprises to develop their workforce.

Evidence for this difficulty was provided in the DEEWR survey, which indicated that the pro-portion of recently recruited staff in the industry who require further development was one third above the national average. Of these, 89% re-quired skills specific to the job indicating that their training had not been contextualised to industry requirements. This category often in-cludes workers brought in similar fields in the construction or plumbing industries.

The additional training effort associated with bringing new workers up to speed represents a duplication of effort, an additional cost for employers and a waste of time for employees. Clearly improved outcomes could be achieved if training effort was directed toward areas of identified industry need.

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Employers in the sector report difficulties en-gaging RTOs to deliver Gas Training Package qualifications without supporting data to quan-tify the demand for these skills. Enterprises must be able to demonstrate to educators that the demand for training is ongoing rather than point in time, to encourage RTOs to invest-ment in human and physical resources to sup-port this training.

Despite these difficulties some headway is be-ing made. In the past twelve months a new pri-vate RTO on the eastern seaboard and a major Victoria TAFE have brought gas qualifications on scope and are seeking to expand their ca-pacities to deliver training.

Industry representatives hope that improved industry information provided by the DEEWR survey and investment certainty provided by the carbon tax, will encourage more RTOs to commit to developing resources to deliver UEG qualifications.


Industry Skills Councils contribute to the de-velopment of a number skills/occupation lists, which utilise ANZCO codes as their basis, in-cluding the Priority Occupation List (POL) and Skilled Occupation List (SOL). The difficulty in identifing skills specific to the GSI through these mechanisms is further evidence of the deleterious impact to the industry of the cur-rent classifications.

Despite the shortcoming of the ANZSCO clas-sifications, Government agencies have been quick to recognise that skills shortage condi-tions exist across a broad range of occupa-tions covered by the UEG Training Package, explicitly including these qualifications in pro-grams despite their lack of an ANZSCO code.

Anecdotally, industry representatives advise that skill availability is already the limiting fac-tor in determining sector growth. Current construction capacity is committed for the

foreseeable future to sanctioned projects and new projects must simply join the back of the queue, waiting up to five years for the requisite skills to become available.

The DEEWR survey demonstrates that em-ployers commonly have difficulty recruiting suitable staff and that key skills related to the development of gas network infrastructure are in deep shortage, finding that;

• A much higher proportion of employers in the Gas Supply industry reported recruit-ment difficulty (82 per cent) compared with all industries (64 per cent).

• Employers in the Gas Supply industry at-tracted fewer suitable applicants (1.5 suit-able applicants per vacancy) compared with all industries (2.0 suitable applicants per vacancy).

With projected annual growth between 8.9% and 12.6% over the next 20 years�, this situa-tion will only get worse.

In order to improve the skills base of its work-force, industry will focus on encouraging new RTOs to deliver UEG qualifications (and exist-ing providers to expand their scope) and re-cruiting new young workers into the industry in 2012.


Please note that the enrollments data sourced from NCVER is for the first quarter 2011, whilst RTO scope data from training.gov.au is from February 2012.

These figures (identified in Table 22) are from first quarter 2011 and so do not reflect the 46 training places brokered under the NWDF for the Certificate III in Gas Industry Operations qualification.

The number of RTOs with full qualifications on scope is approximately one seventh of those with some element of the Training Package on scope. This confirms intelligence that training

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delivery in the sector is still mainly at unit level. Industry sees this as a key constraint in raising the skills base in the sector.

Some sections of the industry are exploring ways in which endorsed components can be applied to develop personnel certificate schema which leads to full qualifications. Importantly this approach has led to greater understanding and engagement of industry with the Training Pack-age and an appreciation of the applicability of the industry developed standards to individual workplaces.

Table 22: In Training –UEG06 Training Package Qualifications


Enrolments for Reporting period Total Enrolments (Rounded)*


UEG20106 - Certificate II in Utilities Industry Operations 7

UEG30106 - Certificate III in Gas Industry Operations 81

UEG40106 - Certificate IV in Gas Industry Operations 56

Total 144


Table 23: RTOs with Scope for UEG06 Qualifications


UEG20106 - Certificate II in Utilities Industry Operations 8

UEG30106 - Certificate III in Gas Industry Operations 9

UEG40106 - Certificate IV in Gas Industry Operations 5

Total 22


Table 24: RTOs with Scope for UEG06 Training Package Components

By Training Package

UEG06 GSI - Gas Industry Training Package 195


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The comprehensive review of UEG06 Version 1.1 in 2011 to produce the recently endorsed UEG11 Version 1 restructured all qualifications to meet industry requirements and incorporate NQC/NSSC policy initiatives and include com-ponents for green skills.

As a result of this review the AQF level 1 level qualification was deleted and the AQF 2 qualifi-cation was replaced 4 new qualifications.

The AQF 3 and higher level qualifications re-quire further review to ensure they meet cur-rent industry needs. This may mean the cre-ation of new components to address emerging skills needs including those related to coal seam gas.

Further work in 2012-2013 will focus on the redesign of units to align with the template for the unit of competency and assessment re-quirements identified by NQC/NSSC in 2010-11. Clear policy guidance is not yet available on the implementation of the templates and systems for the publication of draft material are yet to be developed.

Further review work will encompass ongoing Essential Knowledge and Associated Skills (EKAS) review work and the inclusion of the new components already identified to address pathways to higher level qualifications.

Units included in UEG11 will be included in fur-ther work on the mapping of Australian Core Skills Framework indicators for inclusion in the new Foundation Skills section of the unit tem-plate.

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Ongoing consultations in regard to the development of new components for the large scale renew-able sustainable energy generation sector will also be continued in 2012.

APPENDIX A

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Appendix AStatus of Continuous ImprovementAt the time of this plan, the status of the four Training Packages is as follows:

Training Package

Code

Currently Endorsed Version

Revised Version for

Endorsement

Status in the Continuous Improvement Cycle

UEE07 UEE07 V4 UEE11 V1 Endorsed December 2011

UEG06 UEG06 V1.1 UEG11 V1 Endorsed October 2011

UET09 UET09 V3 UET12 V1 Endorsed February 2012

UEP06 UEP06 V1.1 UEP12 V1 Undergoing Quality Assurance processes

This reflects the work of industry Technical Advisory Committees, National Training Advisory Com-mittees and the EE-Oz secretariat in developing new and revised Training Package components to meet both industry priorities and NSSC and other government policy objectives.

This indicates that all four packages are in various stages of the continuous improvement process:

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Gas Industry Training Package

2011 - Continuous Improvement Plan Activity

Comment 2012 Environmental Scan

Activity 1: EKAS Review

An intensive Review of Essential Knowledge and Skills (EKAS) requirements has been completed for all AQF 2 and AQF 3 Level Qualifications.

Amended Units and Qualifications resulting from this review were endorsed in UEG11 Version 1.

Activity 2: Research of Gas Industry Job Roles

DEEWR commissioned project to establish Gas Industry job role categories completed. Research data gathered and validated with industry stakeholders.

This research will assist industry in identifying career pathways within the sector and developing new competencies and qualification to support the development of these.

Importantly this research will also underpin the development classifications for the use in identifying and reporting skills in need within the industry

Activity 3: Review of current and emerging regulatory requirements, codes of practices and applicable standards in response to changing industry needs

The Industry Skills Council has strengthened its relations with jurisdictional regulators during 2011 to allow the development of a national perspective on currently applicable and emerging regulatory requirements.

The rapid expansion of the sector and sensitivities around some aspects of the industry has meant that consultations are ongoing.

This activity is incomplete in 2011.

Activity 4: Review of Diploma and Advanced Diploma Level Qualifications

These qualifications have been reviewed as part of the Industry meeting NQC Qualification packaging rules formula and included in the endorsed UEG11 Version 1 Training Package.

In line with the EKAs review activity 1 above and the requirement to migrate to the new unit template, these qualifications will undergo further review by industry.

Activity 5: Review of pathways to higher qualifications from AQF 2 level

Redevelopment of all AQF 2 level qualifications completed, including:

• Restructuring of qualifications

• EKAS Review

• Streamlining of qualifications

AQF 3 level remains a single qualification at this time and further review is required to identify appropriate specialisations.

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Gas Industry Training Package



Activity 6: Competencies and Qualifications Coal Seam Gas Transmission and Distribution

This work has not progressed as rapidly as was anticipated and remains ongoing.

Activity 7: Streamlining of Training Packages and Migration to TGA

All qualifications now comprised of Core and Elective units only.

Elective Unit Schedules have been removed from the UEG Training Package.

Electives choices are grouped within qualifications to specify completion requirements.

Non-regulated qualifications incorporate 2:1 Core to Elective ratio and allow for importation of up to 1/6 of qualification from other sources.

UEG06 Version 1.1 was migrated to TGA via Contracted services in July 2011.

Newly endorsed UEG11 Version 1 Released in January 2012.

Activity 8: Inclusion of ACSF Indicators and Foundation Skills

No work has been completed on Gas Units in phase 1 of the ACSF mapping project in 2011.

A selection of UEG11 units will be included in phase 2 of the ACSF mapping in 2012.

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Electrotechnology Training Package



Activity 9: Energy Efficiency

As a result of consultations with industry a new suite of Training Package components for energy assessments was developed in 2011.

These comprised

• 4 new units of competency

• 4 new Skill Sets

• 1 new Certificate IV level qualification developed

All components were validated by industry and were endorsed in UEE11 Version 1 in December 2011.

Activity 10: Fuel Cells

This project was to be initiated in 2010 in cooperation an Australian manufacturer of Fuel Cells.

As a result of changes in the ownership and personnel the manufacturer discontinued its engagement with EE-Oz.

Industry sees this technology as being able to bring significant benefits through distributed generation of base load power at a reduced carbon cost and will continue to liaise with stakeholders on the development of appropriate Training Package components related to installation and maintenance.

Activity 11: Renewable Energy - Small Generation Units Up to 10 Kw

Units for Small Generation Units including those covering Small Wind Generation and Micro Hydro systems were updated and included in appropriate qualifications within the revised UEE11 Version 1.

Activity 12: Renewable Energy - Emergency Isolation

Initial research, testing and scoping of this issue revealed a complex set of requirements.

Industry briefings provided for DEEWR, DRET and DCCEE.

A joint project between EE-Oz, CPSISC and GSA scoped was scope and a WIP Application to develop a comprehensive workforce approach including cross ISC development of appropriate units and resources

This project has been approved by DEEWR and will be completed in 2012.

Project to commence in Q1 2012.

Activity 13: Industrial Networks

The work of this activity has been coordinated with activities 16 and 17 to ensure that new and revised competencies within the Computer systems and instrumentation/ Industrial Control disciplines are better aligned with industry requirements and current technologies.

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Activity 14: Vendor Mapping

Following initial project in 2010 it was anticipated that further work would be carried out to map vendor training to units and skill sets in the UEE Training Package.

However, the scope of the restructuring of UEE11 has meant that most of industrys effort has been focussed on achievement of this comprehensive review and vendor mapping work was not advanced.

Work on the mapping of vendor training programs will remain on the agenda for future continuous improvement.

Activity 15: National Licences – Electrotechnology Trades

All licenced Electrical qualifications have been updated to include new and revised components to address requirements for national licencing as identified by the Electrical Interim Occupational Advisory Committee of the National Occupational Licensing Authority (NOLA).

In addition to the update of qualifications associated with existing licence categories a new suite of qualifications from AQF 3 to AQF 6 have been developed to provide a career pathway for industry operatives classified under the new Electrical Fitter National Licence category.

These new qualifications have been endorsed in UEE11 Version 1.

Activity 16: Integrated systems

This review had two aims:

1. Refinement of selected integrated systems units to meet with Copper Development Associations (CDA) code of practice.

Reorganisation of units within and between the computers systems and instrumentation and industrial control discipline to better align with the requirements of industrys application of skills in the rapidly expanding area of industrial automation and control which is being driven by the resources boom and energy efficiency requirements. Further work in this area is anticipated as national and international standards emerge and technologies mature.

Currently identified changes have been incorporated into the review for UEE11 Version 1.

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Activity 17: Automation and Industrial Computer Systems

In harmony with the work detailed in Activity 16 above industry identified and developed a new Certificate IV in Industrial Automation and Control to meet the demand for specialist post-trade skills in automation and process control.

This qualification provides pathways from various trades to move into automation and has been welcomed by industry.

The identification by NOLA of an Electrical Fitter licence classification also may provide a pathway for the take-up of post-trade training using this qualification.

All Computer Systems and Industrial control qualifications were updated as part the review of UEE11.

Activity 18: EKAS Recoding

This work has been completed for all units as an important step for the publication of UEE11 Version 1. The full review of UEE07, including this work on EKAS, to create the UEE11 package included the amendment or replacement of almost all units within the package and the restructuring of all qualifications.

This work has positioned the package for the further review which will undertake to develop all units in the new unit template and assessment requirements formats, once policy is clear on these.

Activity 19: Sector skills Identification/Work Outcome

Work carried out by various discipline committees to improve the identification of career pathways

Activity 20: Rationalisation and use of imported units

Imported units within the UEE Electrotechnology Training Package have been reviewed and updated.

Included in this review was the identification of opportunities to replace native units with selected imported units and to use develop common units between EE-Oz managed Training Packages.

Activity 21: Streamlining of Training Packages and Migration to TGA


Elective Unit Schedules have been removed from the UEE Training Package.

Electives choices are grouped within qualifications to specify completion requirements.


The revised UEE07 Version 4 was migrated to TGA via Contracted services in July 2011.

Newly endorsed version endorsed UEE11 Version 1 was endorsed in December 2011.

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Electricity Supply Industry – Transmission, Distribution & Rail Sector



Activity 22: Career Pathways Certificate IV, Diploma and Advanced Diploma

The ESI-TDR Sector has identified and strengthened pathways from trade (AQF 3 level) to Cert IV level for both Electricians/Line workers to within the sector. These have been implemented in the review and restructuring of qualifications to meet national licencing requirements and address streamlining and other policy requirements.

Further work to extend these pathways to AQF 5 & 6 levels still needs to carried out. This will need to be coordinated with the identification of new qualifications at these levels to supplement the existing Diploma and Advanced Diploma.

Activity 23: Certificate II Pathways to higher qualifications - Vegetation Control

Certificate II ESI Vegetation Control has been fully reviewed and restructured. This review included the use imported units to create pathways for those with existing skills acquired in related industries in arboriculture and horticulture to enter the ESI sector.

Pathways to higher qualifications considered but not developed.

Activity 24: Incorporation of Pathways for Metering units

A suite of metering units initially identified in 2010 has been developed an endorsed in UET11 and UEE11 as required to provide pathways to these post trade skills from the both electrical and ESI sectors.

Currently these are positioned at Cert IV level with UET12 as industry agreement on new AQF 5 & 6 pathways has yet to be reached.

Activity 25: Smart Grids and Grid Connected Renewable Energy systems

This activity has to date resulted in the rationalisation of a group of units from the UEE07 Electrotechnology Training Package to be housed more appropriately with the UET12 package.

As is evident elsewhere in this report there is increasing crossover between sectors as Grid Connected generation and smart systems are deployed and workers within both sectors are increasingly seeking common skills especially at post trade levels.

The energy sector industries recognise that further work in the smart grid/distributed generation space which crosses all four EE-Oz managed Training Packages

Activity 26: Isolation of Renewable Energy Systems

See Activity 12 above.

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Activity 27: Distributed Generation

Distributed generation combined with smart grids and energy efficiency strategies have great potential to produce productivity gains whilst addressing key sustainability goals.

The fact that limited effort can be reported directly against this activity indicates a key feature of the nature distributed generation in that it calls-up range of technologies and skills which are in ways discrete but will act to enable to distributed generation across smart girds.

Some of the activities which have been documented elsewhere in this report, notably Activities 24, 25, 11, 12, 33 and 38 demonstrate this inter-connection.

Activity 28: Peak Demand - Energy Markets and infrastructure development

As discussed above, industry has not progressed this work directly. However, there is related activity in the Generation, Gas and Electrotechnology sectors which will impact on this area as it grows in importance as an energy efficiency strategy. The application of equipment standards in refrigeration and air conditioning sector is an example of how this occurring.

Activity 29: Refresher Training

The success of the ESI sectors Refresher Training strategy, as demonstrated in the natural disasters of 2011combined with the expanded take of the ESI Skills Passport initiative, has been widely recognised by government as a benchmark for harmonisation.

Industry further refined existing Refresher competencies via a comprehensive EKAS review in 2011.

Significantly, as a direct result of the Queensland floods and cyclone experience, a new refresher training competency was created to allow for common polarity testing procedures which ensure that services could be more rapidly restored in times of emergency.

These amendments have been endorsed in UET12.

Activity 30: Streamlining of UET ESI- TDR Training Package and Migration to TGA

All qualifications now comprised of Core and Elective units only. Elective Unit Schedules removed and electives grouped to specify qualification completion requirements.


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This activity has progressed and changes have been incorporated into UET112.

Ongoing work on the EKAS will be included in work which will position the ESI-TDR Training Package for transition to the new unit template and assessment requirements as policy is defined.


Stage 1 of the ACSF Project has developed draft ACSF indicators for units at the trade level qualifications within the Training Package.

Incorporation of these draft components

into the Training Package is dependent on

1. Finalisation of a review of the ACSF

2. Policy on Foundation Skills In the new Unit template being defined.

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Electricity Supply Industry – Generation Sector



Activity 33: Renewable Energy Large scale Generation

This activity was to focus on the development of qualifications for large scale solar and wind generation technologies.

Progress on the development of large scale solar has been limited by the delays in investment decisions in large scale solar plant. Solar Projects planned in NSW and Qld are yet to be progressed and whilst industry has identified applicable existing Training Package components it is awaiting the opportunity to engage in consultations as such plant is being deployed and becomes operational.

Within the large scale wind sector engagement with major owner/operators on training matters has been retarded by concerns about competition and commercial advantage in this sector.

In 2011 a degree of maturity around these concerns has arisen and industry is beginning to understand the role it can play in developing national standards that facilitate skills portability within the sector to meet the needs of a variety projects.

Within the revision of the UEP06 Training Package EE-Oz has reviewed and updated some existing and identified new competencies which reflect the scope of work available in the industry.

Importantly pathways for qualified electricians to undertake post-trade training at AQF 4 level to enable them to work in the sector as wind technicians have been identified and included in the UEE11 Electrotechnology Training Package.

The identification by NOLA of an Electrical Fitter licence classification also may provide a pathway for the development of post-trade training so these workers can carry-out maintenance tasks in the large scale wind generation sector.

Activity 34: Gas Fired Electricity Generation

This activity conducted a review of existing units and their relationship to qualifications.

Amendments will be endorsed in UEP12.

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Electricity Supply Industry – Generation Sector



Activity 35: Cert II Pathways to higher qualifications

A feature of the review of the UEP06 qualifications was to remove the out-of-date qualification structures including the embedded Certificate II qualification incorporated into the AQF level.

Although the Certificate II in Generation Operations was revised in UEP06 V1.1, including access from the AQF 2 qualification to higher level qualification was a priority in the review of the higher level qualifications and thus a further review of the Certificate II in the light of the restructuring of other qualifications was warranted.

Industry has redesigned the qualifications in line with streamlined qualification policy whilst providing career pathways.

Activity 36: Streamlining of UEP ESI- Generation Training Package and Migration to TGA


Elective Unit Schedules removed and electives grouped to specify qualification completion requirements.


Where possible these policy objectives have been achieved for regulated qualifications.


As a part the review of qualifications for UEP12 EKAS redevelopment and recoding, associated with Activity 35 above, has been undertaken.

Further work on higher level qualifications and for large scale renewable energy systems will be required.


No work has been completed on Gas Units in phase 1 of the ACSF mapping project in 2011.

A selection of units will be included in phase 2 of the ACSF mapping in 2012.

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Cross Sector



Activity 38: Renewable Energy Inspections

In late 2010 EE-Oz coordinated an industry response to the Draft revised Regulations to the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act 2000, which included provisions for an inspection regime for Small Generation Units.

In the light of these regulations being passed industry has reviewed units and associated Skill Sets applicable to renewable energy installation inspections.

Updated units and related Skill Sets have been incorporated into UEE11 Version 1.

These units will meet the needs of independent inspectors providing contracted services and inspectors those employed by ESI network providers.

Activity 38: Pathways for HV switching competencies

A suite of new units for switching has been developed and endorsed in the UET12 ESI – Transmission, Distribution and Rail Training Package, Version 1.

These units will be imported into the UEE11 Electrotechnology Training Package to provide pathways for holders of qualifications from both packages to access these as post trade skills and to aid progression to higher level qualifications within both packages. Rationalisation between UET12 & UEE11 will continue to be considered where industry identifies opportunities for flexibility and reduced maintenance whilst maintaining regulatory compliance.

Electrocomms and EnergyUtilities Industry Skills Council Ltd


Unit 2, 48 Mort Street, Braddon ACT 2612

Tel: 02 6262 7055 Fax: 02 6257 4222

[email protected]

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