REGIONAL EDUCATION, SKILLS AND JOBS PLAN
Victoria – Loddon Mallee
2012 – 2014
JULY 2013
This plan was first published in July 2012. This is the July 2013 edition.
Details in this report are correct at time of drafting.
This report can be found at the Regional Education, Skills and Jobs webpage (www.deewr.gov.au/resj) or the MyRegion website (www.myregion.gov.au).
For more information about this plan, please contact:
The Office of Regional Education, Skills and Jobs
GPO Box 9880
Canberra ACT 2601
Email:
ISBN:
978-0-642-78683-8 [PDF]
978-0-642-78684-5 [DOCX]
With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms and where otherwise noted all material presented in this document is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/).
The details of the relevant licence conditions (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/legalcode) are available on the Creative Commons website (accessible using the links provided) as is the full legal code for the CCBY 3.0 AU licence.
The document must be attributed as the Regional Education, Skills and Jobs Plan 2012-14 – Loddon Mallee.
Disclaimer about data used in this plan
Data used in the development of this plan comes from a variety of sources and was correct at time of drafting. This document should not be used as a data source as data referred to may have been updated or reformulated since the publication of the plan. Refer to primary sources for confirmation of data.
Contents
Regional Education, Skills and Jobs Plans 4
Strategies 4
Community engagement 4
Implementation 4
Executive summary 5
Characteristics of the region 8
Population 8
Early childhood education and care 9
School education 10
Tertiary education and training 11
Jobs, skills and workforce development 12
Other characteristics 15
Murray–Darling Basin Plan 15
Transport 15
National Broadband Network 15
Issues, goals and strategies 16
Issue 1 Availability of suitable, accessible early childhood education and child care services. 17
Issue 2 Improvement of education, training and employment outcomes for the Indigenous and migrant population. 18
Issue 3 Pockets of complex disadvantage in the region. 19
Issue 4 Increased participation in vocational and tertiary education, particularly in disadvantaged communities. 20
Issue 5 Improving levels of collaboration between industry and education providers. 21
Issue 6 Low levels of Year 12 attainment and transitions to further education, training or employment for the region’s youth 22
Issue 7 Difficulties in recruiting a trained and experienced workforce in the horticulture and agriculture industries. 23
Issue 8 The need to consider future workforce planning needs for the region. 24
Issue 9 High numbers of teenage parents who are unemployed or in low paid positions. 25
Issue 10 Communities adjusting to the economic and community effects of drought; current economic conditions and the Murray–Darling Basin Plan. 26
Appendices 27
Appendix A — Stakeholders 27
Appendix B — Existing related plans and strategies 28
Abbreviations 30
Regional Education, Skills and Jobs Plans
The Australian Government announced the Regional Education, Skills and Jobs Plans initiative in the 2011–12 Budget, as part of the Building Australia’s Future Workforce package. The initiative addresses four key areas of the Australian Government’s productivity and social inclusion agendas: early childhood education and care; Year 12 attainment; participation in vocational and higher education; and local job opportunities.
The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) has deployed 34 Regional Education, Skills and Jobs (RESJ) Coordinators to work with local stakeholders to develop Regional Education, Skills and Jobs Plans for the 46 Regional Development Australia (RDA) areas that cover non-metropolitan Australia.
The plans present locally identified opportunities and challenges and outline local strategies to improve education, skills and jobs outcomes in regional Australia.
For more information, including the contact details of your local RESJ Coordinator, please refer to the Regional Education, Skills and Jobs webpage at www.deewr.gov.au/resj.
Strategies
Each plan reflects community priorities and includes goals and local strategies to achieve the community’s objectives, based on four key themes: early childhood education and care; school education; tertiary education and training; and jobs, skills and workforce development.
The plans build on the range of services and programs already offered by DEEWR and the strategies draw on the programs of other government agencies and the opportunities arising from major local projects.
Community engagement
The plans were developed by RESJ Coordinators with close community engagement and include views from young people, parents, employers, educators, service providers, peak bodies, community leaders, government organisations and agencies, and other interested individuals and organisations. The plans draw strongly upon existing strategic plans in each region, including the local RDA regional plan.
DEEWR acknowledges the traditional owners of the Loddon Mallee RDA region and their elders past and present recognising their continuing connection to country. This plan strives to build and harness mutually respectful relationships and reflect community priorities in education, skills and jobs development for the region.
Implementation
The RESJ Coordinator, on behalf of DEEWR, will oversee the implementation of the strategies and promote and coordinate linkages between the government agencies, providers and stakeholders involved in this plan’s implementation.
Progress towards achieving the goals within each plan will be closely monitored, while stakeholders will be kept informed through participation in plan strategies.
This edition incorporates strategies that respond to changes in local circumstances identified through continuing community input or changing government priorities in regional Australia as well as access to new data. The plans continue to be living and responsive documents that will be revisited throughout their implementation to June 2014.
Executive summary
The Loddon Mallee region is situated in the north-west of Victoria, sharing state borders with South Australia and New South Wales. It is an expansive and diverse region, occupying more than a quarter of Victoria. The region encompasses 10 Local Government Areas (LGAs): Buloke; Campaspe; Central Goldfields; Greater Bendigo; Gannawarra; Loddon; Macedon Ranges; Mildura; Mount Alexander and Swan Hill. Approximately 33 per cent of the region’s 300,000-plus population based in the Greater Bendigo LGA.
Over the next two decades, there is expected to be population growth in Loddon Mallee, particularly in the southern part of the region, with Bendigo projected to grow at 1.5 per cent per annum. In the north of the region, population growth is expected to be moderate and be centred in and around Mildura.
With one of the most consistently warm climates within the state, the region’s economy is based on tourism, agriculture, horticulture and its value chain. In addition, manufacturing plays an integral part in the economy, particularly in Bendigo and its surrounds.
The region is actively addressing issues relating to efficient water usage and renewable energy, and is working to embrace the opportunities provided by the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN).
A comprehensive environmental scan and community consultation have been carried out to identify the key education, skills and jobs challenges for the region. These challenges include:
· the availability of suitable, accessible early childhood education and care services
· improvement of education, training and employment outcomes for the Indigenous and migrant population
· increased participation in vocational and tertiary education, particularly in disadvantaged communities
· improving levels of collaboration between industry and education providers
· low levels of Year 12 attainment and transitions to further education, training or employment for the region’s youth
· pockets of complex disadvantage in the region
· high numbers of teenage parents who are unemployed or in low paid positions
· difficulties in recruiting a trained and experienced workforce in the horticulture and agriculture industries
· the need to consider future workforce planning needs for the region
· communities adjusting to the economic and community effects of drought; current economic conditions; and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
The key goals of the RESJ Plan are to:
· improve access to early childhood education and care services and programs
· assist early childhood education and care providers to meet the National Quality Framework workforce requirements
· increase the retention of Indigenous and migrant students in education
· strengthen pathways from schools to employment and tertiary education
· increase participation in vocational and tertiary education to grow the region’s skilled workforce
· facilitate collaboration and partnerships between industry and education providers to meet the skills needs of the community
· improve Year 12 (or equivalent) attainment and improve transition rates to further education, training or employment
· achieve better economic outcomes for disadvantaged communities
· improve education and training outcomes for teenage parents
· improve access to a skilled and trained workforce for the horticultural and agricultural industries
· address skill shortage issues through the promotion and implementation of workforce development strategies
· support communities to adjust to changes in economic and environmental conditions, particularly the horticultural and agricultural sector.
The Loddon Mallee has an RDA Committee with a broad plan that includes opportunities for education, skills and employment. Parts of the Loddon Mallee also lie within the Ballarat-Bendigo (Central Victoria) and North Eastern Victoria priority employment areas, each of which has a Local Employment Coordinator in place. The Loddon Mallee RESJ Plan complements the existing goals and strategies in the RDA Plan and the Local Employment Coordinators’ Regional Employment Plans.
Some outcomes achieved by the RESJ Coordinator working with local stakeholders include:
· Developed the Food and Beverages Skills Passport by bringing together industry partners, employers and training organisations to train people in core skills that are transferable across food manufacturing industries located in the north west of Victoria. Key elements of the project included the development of consistent training material endorsed by local industry and a website that maintains a database of passports issued. As of January 2013, 72 participants had undertaken the training, and reports indicate that around 55 of those have either found jobs in the industry or retained employment in positions requiring upgraded skills.
· Developed the ‘Horticulture with a Difference’ pilot program delivered in Robinvale by Sunraysia Institute of TAFE from mid-August to early November 2012. This project, which has resulted in employment outcomes for five of the 14 disadvantaged jobseekers engaged, had an innovative course structure that included a Certificate II in Horticulture and units of competency in Automotive studies to creatively link skills that are useful in the agriculture sector. The project was a result of collaboration of local service providers brought together by the RESJ Coordinator and the Victorian Advancing Country Towns project officer.
· Facilitated two Early Childhood Education and Care Industry Roundtables in 2012. One in Bendigo and the other in Echuca/Moama, with 54 and 32 stakeholders attending respectively representing unions, early childhood education and care service providers, employment agencies, registered training organisations, tertiary institutions and all levels of government. The aims of the forums were to identify workforce development issues for the sector and to develop regional strategies to address those issues. The RESJ Coordinator is supporting the implementation of the strategies identified.
· Hosted a forum in June 2012 to develop awareness of literacy and numeracy challenges within the Loddon Mallee region. The forum was attended by 29 stakeholders, predominantly from training organisations, and focused on understanding the regional challenges and contextualising language, literacy and numeracy training within a vocational context. As a result of the forum a group of interested registered training organisations led by the RESJ Coordinator is exploring relevant training for trainers, as well as raising the profile of language, literacy and numeracy assessment.
· Worked with a not-for-profit organisation that advocates for young mothers to remain or re-engage in education to enable four teenage mothers to access Family Day Care In Venue Care which has allowed them to undertake non-accredited training. All four participants are planning to return to secondary school in Semester 2 2013.
· Worked with the Mildura Aboriginal Corporation, Loddon Mallee Preschool Association and Swan Hill Rural City Council to enable a local preschool at-risk of closing to remain open. This group negotiated a rent-free lease for the preschool that obliges the preschool to employ an Indigenous school-based apprentice undertaking a Certificate III in Children’s Services. This preschool provides early childhood education and care to around 75 children aged 3-4 years and employs five staff members.
· Formed the organising committee that conducted a “Belonging, Being, Becoming” workshop in 2012 focussed on improving Indigenous early childhood outcomes. Approximately 60 people attended the forum from early years services and the Indigenous community. The workshop was successful with services reporting improved knowledge of culture and the community identifying parent capacity building as critical. From this workshop, the organising committee submitted an expression of interest for a Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters to be delivered in Mildura.
Characteristics of the region
This section sets out the characteristics of the region identified through a comprehensive environmental scan and local consultations. The information detailed in this section is not exhaustive of the characteristics of the region, but provides an overview and insight to some of the challenges facing the region.
To guide the RESJ Coordinator’s identification of issues and engagement with the community, various data sets have supported the development of this plan. Data used in the development of this plan was sourced from DEEWR, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and other relevant sources. Data referred to may have been reformulated and was correct at time of drafting. Different data sets are refreshed at different intervals, for example, unemployment rates are updated monthly for national and state/territory figures and quarterly for regions.
Population
According to the 2011 Census, the estimated residential population of the Loddon Mallee region in 2011 was 308,782, an increase of 15,128 since 2001. This was modest growth of 5.0percent compared to Victoria as a whole (14.2%).
The City of Greater Bendigo, based in the south of the region, is the largest LGA with approximately one-third of the population, followed by Mildura Rural City in the north, with nearly one-fifth of the population. Other major towns include Castlemaine, Echuca, Gisborne, Kyneton, Maryborough, Robinvale and Swan Hill.