Skills for Sustainability
Presentation to the CEET Conference
October 30, 2009
Virginia Simmons CEO, Chisholm Institute
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Purpose
To provide an overview of the ‘state of play’ with respect
to the government expectations and actions concerning
the implementation of ‘Green Skills’ in VET. This involves:
 The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
 The Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and
Employment (MCTEE), previously MCVTE
 Multiple federal and state government departments
 The National Quality Council
 Industry Skills Councils
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Sustainability Skills – a National Priority
In November 2008 the Ministerial Council requested the
National Quality Council to incorporate a Green Skills
strategy into its 2009 workplan:
 to give priority to developing flexible and responsive
training products that include embedding sustainability
skills in all training packages, skills sets and
customised short accredited courses
 to develop appropriate standards as part of the
Australian Quality Training Framework for voluntary
certification of RTOs as providers of Green Skills
 and report on progress by November 2009
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International Pressure
Bonn Declaration - UNESCO
The UNESCO World Conference on Education for
Sustainable Development held in April 2009 announced
that there is a need to:
 Re-orient education and training systems to address
sustainability concerns through coherent policies at
national and local levels
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International Pressure
Copenhagen Climate Change Conference
December 7 – 18, 2009
Legislation setting up an Emissions Trading Scheme
(ETS), also known as a carbon pollution reduction
scheme (CPRS) – is being debated in the lower house
this week where Labor has the numbers to force its
passage to the Senate.
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Clean Sustainable Skills Package $94m
On July 30, 2009 the Prime Minister announced:
 10,000 places for young job seekers to build their skills
through participating in an environmental work
experience and training program
 30,000 apprentices in carbon exposed industries will
graduate over the next two years with qualifications that
include clean and green skills, and all new apprentices
commencing after 1 January 2010 will graduate with a
core set of green skills, knowledge and training
 4,000 training opportunities for insulation installers upon
completion of their employment in this field
 6,000 local green jobs in projects funded by the Local
Jobs stream of the Jobs Fund
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Key Documents and Stakeholders
Each state and territory has its own policy requirements
for RTOs.
For example, the Our Environment, Our Future Sustainability Action Statement 2006, Department of
Sustainability and Environment Victoria is the basis for
Skills Victoria’s sustainability targets for TAFE Institutes
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Key Documents and Stakeholders
Living Sustainably: Australian Government’s National
Action Plan for Education for Sustainability 2009 –
Department of Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts
 Strategy 2: Re-orienting Education Systems to
Sustainability
• Objective: The VET sector incorporates
sustainability in all national training packages and
implements sustainable campus management
• 6 actions to support this objective
 Parallel approaches for schools and Higher Education
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Key Documents and Stakeholders
Environmental Sustainability: An Industry Response,
May 2009
 Produced by Industry Skills Councils
 Identifies 120+ specific units of competency relating to
sustainability in 25 training packages, referenced to
about 270 qualifications
 Identifies issues to consider in different industries
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Key Documents and Stakeholders
National VET Sector Sustainability Policy and Action
Plan (2009 -2012) – auspiced by MCTEE and produced
by the National VET Sector Sustainability Action Group
24 key actions under four headings:
 Developing a Workforce Skilled for Sustainability
 Providing VET system products and services that
support skills for sustainability
 Encouraging the adoption of sustainability values,
principles and practices by VET leaders, partners and
champions
 Reducing the VET sector carbon footprint
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National Green Skills Agreement
 Draft prepared in September by National VET Sector
Sustainability Action Group, consisting of senior
officials from all States and territories
 Considers the skills and training implications of
transitioning to a low carbon, sustainable economy
 Presented by the Deputy Prime Minister at a Forum on
October 23. To be considered by MCTEE in November
and COAG in December
 Trigger for requirement that ISCs embed sustainability
skills in all Training Packages by March 31, 2010.
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National Green Skills Agreement
Major focus on VET with four key objectives:
 Embedding sustainability practice and teaching in VET
within the national regulatory framework
 Up-skilling of of VET instructors and teachers to deliver
skills for sustainability
 Strategic review of training packages to embed
sustainability knowledge skills and principles
 Implementing a transition strategy to re-skill vulnerable
workers
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NQC Responses (1)
1. Sustainability Skills Stocktake and Gap Analysis
 Analysis complete, progress report received and
consultations underway
 Possible points of intervention foreshadowed:
 Identify gaps in units/qualifications and fill them
 Modify existing units/qualifications
 Add resource materials to focus on inferred sustainability skills
 Conduct PD for trainers/assessors/others
 Prioritise occupations and apply 1 – 4 above
 Create a single reference point for communication
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Economic Activities in the ‘Green Economy’
Clean Energy
Power
Generation
Cleantech
Infrastucture
Power
Storage
Technology
Transport &
Sustainable
Biofuels
Environmental
Resource
Management
Energy &
Material
Efficiency
Environmental
Services
Cleaner
Production &
Diversification
Water
Advanced
Materials
Manufacturing
Services
Energy
Intensive
Building
Efficiency
Business
Services
Manufacturing
Power Grid
Efficiency
Retail
Services
Agriculture
Waste
Management
Land
Management
& Protection
Engineering
Materials
Management
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NQC Responses (2)
2. AQTF Standards Framework for Green Skills Providers
 10 draft standards developed, ready to be tested
 Matching against AQTF Excellence Criteria: Leadership
(2), Learning & Assessment (2), People Development
(2), Relationship Management (2), Integrated
Information Management (2)
 Key issues identified for feedback from RTOs and users
of the training system
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Standards for Green Skills Providers
Narrow focus on green skills delivery, not operations or
infrastructure - carbon footprint.
Delivery issues include responding to:
 Creation of new jobs e.g. a carbon auditor
 Job substitution e.g. shifting from land filling and
incineration of waste to waste minimisation and
recycling
 Job realignment e.g. a builder whose existing skills are
increasingly applied to creating more energy efficient
buildings
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Some Standards Issues
 Green stands aligned with or separate from AQTF
Excellence Criteria - aligned
 Green standards pre-requisite to or independent of
assessment against Excellence Criteria? - independent
 Assessment at RTO or industry sector level? – industry
sector
 Emphasis on green skills needs to emphasised – not a
comment on the carbon footprint
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Some Sustainability Issues for NQC
 Mindset or learnt skill? - mindset
 ‘Built in’ (culture) or ‘bolt on’ (compliance)? – culture
 Enduring or ‘flavor of the month’? – enduring: parallel
with quality
 Existing or new skills - both
 Training Packages vs accredited programs - contentious
 How to support Clean Sustainable Skills Package
priorities – emphasis on apprenticeships
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Some Employer Issues
 Sustainability: sound business practice or green for its
own sake?
 Waste minimisation is bottom-line in some industries,
less so in others
 Employers will respond to consumer demand
 Role of incentives e.g. rebates
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Some Provider Issues
 Perceived value of obtaining a ‘green tick’
 Predicting and responding to new and emerging
occupations
 Training packages and accredited programs – speed of
response
 Scope of registration may influence which ‘green’ units
of competency can be imported into training packages
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Thank you
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