Session overview:

This session is designed for RTO Compliance Managers and operational staff looking to translate the Standards for RTOs into measurable outcomes for the RTO.  It will examine selected elements from the Standards, identify key benchmarking components and systematic approaches for RTOs, to determine appropriate outcomes of performance for compliance.

The session will examine each selected element in turn; clarify the intent of each element; highlight words/concepts of each element that need RTO definitions; define a systematic approach to benchmarking measurable outcomes; and considers strategies for presentation of outcomes based evidence for compliance purposes.

It will initially be facilitator lead to establish the concept and participants will then work in small groups to develop and present their own views of underpinning intent/key words and systematic approaches to benchmarking measurable outcomes.

Participants will take away a deeper understanding of:

• Good practice behaviours intended by the Standards
• Systematic approaches to benchmarking outcomes
• Strategies and approaches they can apply within their own organisation

Presenter Bio:

Simon Hitchick provides specialist consultation services drawing on his extensive VET sector experience. Most recently, Simon was the General Manager of TVET Australia’s National Audit and Registration Agency (NARA) managing the audit and registration of multi-jurisdictional RTOs.  During his four years with TVET Australia, Simon played a key role in the development of NARA’s regulatory approach and led the transition and wind down of the NARA operations in conjunction with the establishment of the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA). Simon represented NARA through engagement with sector stakeholders on a range of policy and issues, providing input into national projects and reviews.

With over ten years’ experience in the VET sector, Simon started his career as a workplace trainer/assessor and progressed to senior management positions in several private RTOs including St John Ambulance Australia (NSW). Simon’s core strengths include the development and management of quality assurance systems across a range of industries and sectors, delivery of strategic organisational goals and strong leadership skills focusing on building individual and team effectiveness.

Session overview:

This presentation will expand on the themes published in an article titled PLOC your way to compliance in the RTO Magazine (4th Edn). VET is delivered across many different types of RTOs including: TAFE, private RTOs, industry association and enterprise RTOs. What is a consistent requirement across each of these, is the need to ensure that:

• The RTO is well managed, and
• The role of the RTO is valued within the broader organisation; particularly when the RTO is not the core purpose of the business (i.e. a school, industry association or enterprise RTO).

This session will provide two key discussion points that are intended to raise individual awareness of these issues and to provide conference participants with some useful strategies to implement within their own RTO:

• How do you align the requirement to be ‘compliant’ with good principles of management and leadership (Greg)
• How do you internally promote the benefit of your RTO to the rest of the organisation to ensure that the RTO is valued and is given its share of access to resources, people and funding (Gillian)

Presenter Bio:

Gillian’s earlier career was in the private sector working in retail management and in providing consultancy advice to a diverse range of retail organisations. After developing her teaching and training skills in management and retail, Gillian has undertaken a number of management roles relating to the management of VET delivery, audit and quality processes and articulation pathways with universities and VET in schools partnership programs.

Recently Gillian has managed one of Queensland’s most recognised Industry Association RTOs, implementing and managing major structural change that has significantly raised both the financial viability and the industry credibility of this RTO. She has underpinned her professional commitment to the sector completing a Graduate Diploma in Further Education and Training and, more recently her MBA.

Co-presenter: Greg has worked successfully in the public and private Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector as a member of several senior executive teams to improve productivity and performance. He has also been responsible for a number of large projects requiring significant organisational change. More recently, Greg has undertaken several consultancy roles working with enterprises in the areas of employment, training and social performance. To add to his qualifications in a management and in vocational education and training, Greg completed his doctoral thesis in 2007. In 2008 Greg was awarded an Australian Endeavour Executive Scholarship.

Session overview:

We take a unit of competency and analyse the critical aspects, knowledge, skills, range statements and context of assessment to ensure the training and assessment will cover all aspects of each unit.  E-learning, we like to think, constitutes innovative learning however, questions are still raised as to whether the training delivered and the assessments conducted via this model are valid, sufficient, authentic etc. and meet the Rules of Evidence.  

This session will explore:

• gathering evidence with Cloud-Based technology;
• the impact of High-Speed Broadband on the VET sector; and
• issues relating to ‘Validity’ and ‘Authentication’ in eAssessment.

Presenter Bio:

Francis Kneebone is the senior eLearning consultant and trainer for V2Training.  He is an experienced RTO manager and eLearning developer and is passionate about the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning. Francis has also worked with the Australian Flexible Learning Framework as a Senior Project Manager.

Session overview:

This session explores the power of visuals and their application in training, to enhance the learning and retention of information. Participants will be offered a range of visual options and will create their own relevant storyboard. The session will include a short overview of the how the brain works and uses the visual storyboard to recall specific information and aid the learning process. Examples from a workplace case study will also be shared to provide an insight into the application of the process.

This presentation will focus on the visual needs of learners, the benefits of using a visual storyboarding for retention and will ask participants to ‘use their imagination’. Attendees will take away with them a handbook and the living storyboard that they develop to use back in their own learning environment.

Presenter Bio:

Catherine is the Principal/Owner of The Training for Learning Company, which has been in operation since 1995. She has been developing, writing and conducting training in the corporate sector for 24 years. Conducting needs analysis, forecasting and operating her business and training in this area sees Catherine as a well-recognised and sought after trainer.

Her qualifications include Cert IV in Training & Development TAE40110, Diploma in Assessment Systems and Graduate Certificate in Education. Catherine was National President of AITD Australian Institute of Training & Development 2007 – 2010.

Catherine conducts VET programs in Training & Assessment, Management and Business Administration. Her background in retailing, as a buyer and partnership in a chain of photo retail stores is testament to her belief in service as the competitive edge in business. Her sessions on communicating across the generations have seen her present to groups around Australia and the United States.

In addition to the many training manuals she has written, Catherine has published three books for trainers, “Visionary Thoughts”, “The Trainers Activity Manual” and “the Team Leaders Activity Manual”. She has also developed a range of resources for engaging the participants in training. She has presented her workshops Innovation in Training & Training with Panache at the National AITD Conference in Sydney, and around Australia for the Institute.

Session overview:

An auditor recently told us he would love to see an RTO with their Training and Assessment Strategies on YouTube!  We’re not there yet, but we do have unit information and apprentice call-up reminders in video format to send to a mobile phone.  The students love it because it’s visual, lecturers love it because it’s different, quick and easy to produce.

In this session (co-authored by Esther Fink, University of Queensland) you’ll see how, through a 2011 e-learning innovations project, lecturers at Charles Darwin University explored different ways and formats to connect with students about learning and pathways.  Mobile course and unit information was trialled for areas as diverse as Automotive, Health, Tourism and Childcare. The project introduced the use of Microsoft Photo Story to develop short videos that can be sent to a student’s mobile phone, iPad or other device in a readily accessible format.  Lecturers have also taken this technology and new skill to develop videos for inclusion in e-learning courses and to send apprentice reminder notices in addition to the original purpose.

Participants of this session will take away new ideas about using readily available technology, accessing the wiki site and step-by-step how to guides enabling them to create their own videos.

Presenter bio:

Sue has over 10 years’ experience in VET and is currently a VET Developer at Charles Darwin University.  She has been involved in conducting internal audits, assisting with AQTF compliance and continuous improvement, developing training and assessment materials, providing e-learning support and delivering the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. 

The Office of Learning and Teaching at Charles Darwin University, of which Sue is a member, provides professional development and support for lecturing staff to enhance the student experience; whether by assisting with compliance, developing new skills or exploring new techniques and technologies.

Session overivew:

In March 2010, Skills Australia released Australian Workforce Futures: a national workforce development strategy. This strategy has had considerable influence in shaping Government policy on Skills and the VET sector. The first part of this presentation will highlight strategies to address the key national workforce development challenges in Australia, which are firstly to increase workforce participation and within marginalised groups and second to deepen workforce skills to improve productivity.

The National Workforce Development and Productivity Agency, which has replaced Skills Australia, is finalising the next iteration of this strategy. An important part of this project is identifying possible scenarios for Australia’s future to 2025. Scenarios are alternative visions of the potential future, and provide a means to make decisions that take account of uncertainty and to address the limitations of long term forecasting. This development process began with a seminar conducted with the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and was followed by the contracting of two futurists and detailed modelling of the potential scenario outcomes. The new strategy will be published by December 2012. The second half of this presentation will focus on progress to date and insights into some of the key likely theme.

Presenter bio:

Robin Shreeve has worked in the skills sector for more than 30 years in Australia and England. He is currently the Chief Executive of Skills Australia. Skills Australia is an independent advisory body advising the Australian Government on workforce development and workforce skill needs. Robin has been the Chief Executive of two large Tertiary Institutions – one in Australia, the North Coast Institute of TAFE and one in Westminster, Central London.  For different periods between 1989 and 2005 Robin worked for the Department of Education and Training in New South Wales Australia. His final position was Deputy Director-General for Technical, Further and Community Education (TAFE). Robin has also been a Board Director for a number of organisations including the NSW Board of Studies, AeSharenet, Worldskills Australia, TAFE Global Pty Ltd, the Paddington Development Trust, the London Apprenticeship Company and the Westminster Small Minority Business Council. He currently sits on the Advisory Boards of the Critical Skills Investment Fund and the L H Martin Institute.  Robin holds degrees from the Universities of York and Sheffield and has spoken and published widely on vocational education and training and marketing topics.  

Session overview:

The Australian Government is investing $43 billion over 8 years in fibre, wireless and satellite broadband infrastructure as part of the National Broadband Network (NBN).  There is strong evidence that the NBN will be a key enabler of many economic, social, technological and environmental developments (Bowles, 2011).  This new digital economy will have an impact on all Australian industries and will require every Australian to improve their information and communication technology (ICT) skills.   Participants will take away tools and processes to develop a digital business strategy which will enable them to capitalise on the training and business opportunities being made possible through the roll out of the NBN.

Topics included in this session are:

• Functioning in a digital economy
• Determining your business’s current digital capability
• Designing your digital future and developing a digital roadmap
• Implementing and evaluating for digital success

Presenter Bio:

Allison Miller has been involved in education and training for nearly 20 years as an educator, professional development, and e-learning leader. She is the director and principal consultant of Vanguard Visions Consulting, which is a learning, development and assessment consultancy which specialises in cutting edge e-learning and e-assessment solutions and research services to improve organisational capacity and performance through developing a culture of ongoing development. Allison also manages national e-learning projects for the National VET E-learning Strategy and is the convenor of the national ePortfolios Australia Conference.

Session overview:

This no-nonsense presentation explores how to build an efficient, quality focused training business. Based on many years of experience with VET professionals Richard has identified key issues that continue to perplex/frustrate RTO decision makers. This presentation targets the challenges faced by RTO managers and owners around Australia, offering solutions and strategies that will help you take a pro-active and structured approach to managing your training business.  Topics will include:

• Discerning what’s nice to know and what you need to know as an RTO manager/owner - new regulators, ‘shifting goal posts’ and rigid compliance requirements
• Demonstrating and recording continuous improvement
• Managing the changing and challenging approaches of auditors
• Strategies for you, as a manager to work less than 70 hours per week
• Creating a workplace that’s comfortable, fun and quality focused
• Managing staff, particularly trainers and assessors. - staff professional development – for compliance or for the business? When is enough, enough?
• Selecting and/or developing assessment resources - Why did the same material pass the previous audit and fail this audit?;Why did the assessment material I just paid a fortune for fail the audit?; Exactly what needs to be assessed for each unit of competency?

This 60 minute workshop could genuinely change your outlook!

Presenter Bio:

Diversity and integrity are the corner stones of Richard’s consultancy company and reflect Richard's 26 year career in vocational education and training, business and security management. Richard has extensive experience in:

• Registered Training Organisation (RTO) compliance
• Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) compliance
• RTO registration and audit support
• Training design and course development
• Course facilitation
• Risk management and business solutions.

He has designed training and assessment resources for use in the business services and property services sectors. These resources are utilised by major training institutions throughout Australia including TAFE colleges.  Richard has also designed, developed and presented Professional Development seminars to assist and support VET practitioners throughout Australia and has been the key note speaker at a number of industry forums.  He provides training services, guidance and coaching to dozens of corporate clients including registered training organisations, major retailers, licensed clubs, government agencies and private enterprises throughout Australia. During 1996 Richard established one of Brisbane's first specialist security industry training organisations. This training business grew to become Queensland's largest privately owned security industry training provider.  He holds Diplomas of Quality Auditing, Project Management, Training and Assessment, Business Management and Security and Risk Management as well as a Voc. Graduate Diploma of Management (Learning).

Session overview:

This presentation will highlight the findings from Dr Margaret Kling’s PhD studies and how these are important and relevant in all Education environments – in particular their application in the VET sector.

The session will illustrate how a New Model for Adult Learners, developed as a result of this study, will provide new insights into adult learners and how the perception of self in a learning environment can be directly related to outcomes. Educators will find the information applicable in a range of settings and the session content is aimed at illuminating options for improving learner engagement and outcomes. It will utilise an interactive and participatory process with attendees taking away a reflective tool and several templates for use within their own education environments. The outcomes of the session will provide several new and important considerations for the VET educator.

Presenter Bio:

Dr Margaret Kling has over 30 years’ experience with a diverse and extensive background in the training and development discipline. Margaret is an Accredited Practitioner and a former member of the council of the QLD/NT arm of the Australian Institute of Training & Development (AITD) and was a member of the Board and Secretary for Adult Learning Australia (ALA). Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Science (Psychology), a Master of Training and Development, TESOL and a PhD researching Adult Learners.

Session overview:

Did you know almost half of Australia's working age population does not have the reading, writing or numeracy skills to participate effectively in the type of training required for trade or professional jobs? As a result, between 7 and 8 million Australians are in danger of being confined to low-wage jobs with little prospect of improvement. Australia's Industry Skills Councils jointly provided a report (entitled No more Excuses) on the necessity of identifying the LLN needs of each industry and addressing these.  It outlined the LLN challenges facing the Australian workforce and the impact this has on industry. Without massive improvement in the LLN skills of Australian adults, Australian industry will not remain internationally competitive.

Each individual ISC has addressed these issues with the majority aiming at long term improvements at the foundation skills level by embedding or ‘building in” the LLN and employability skills in the job performance, the Training Pakcages and skilling the Vocational Trainers who already use their LLN skills rather than the short term ‘bolted on” model.

This presentation is a snapshot of how you can also ‘build in’ the LLN knowledge and skills in your industry or enterprise and your staff.  There will be a limited number of copies of the ‘No More Excuses’ report available to provide to participants.

Presenter bio:

Irena is a developer of “LLN in VET” resources and the Certificate IV in Language Literacy and Numeracy Training and Assessment.  She is the director of an RTO delivering the Vocational Graduate Diploma and Vocational Graduate Certificate in LLN.  Irena holds a Masters in Adult Education and is a Quality Assurance consultant for WELL resource projects.

Session overview:

Training and Assessment are the core products and services of an RTO and SNR/AQTF standards make it very clear that these must be of a very high quality. Despite the fact that providing top quality products and services is a key objective of any good business, the level of non-compliance with this standard is very high. It is appropriate to have a risk-based approach to the development and delivery of training and assessment.

This session shows participants how to develop a Risk Management Framework that is focused on training and assessment and based on AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 principles and guidelines. Learn how to identify possible risks with the development of training materials and assessment tools and also the delivery of training and assessment services. Once developed, this Framework can be used to inform the RTO’s training and assessment processes and also demonstrate to auditors that quality products and services are an organisational imperative.

Presenter bio:

Marilyn Harvey is the Principal Consultant for Velocityworx, which specialises in organisational improvement within the education and training industry. She has extensive experience in the VET sector and works with RTOs to embed sustainable quality management practices. Marilyn is well known for her practical approach to workshop facilitation.

Session overview:

This presentation will seek to provide RTO Managers and Leadership staff with a fresh sense of liberty to grow their RTOs through the power of keeping the RTO’s management process simple, while focussing on quality outcomes for clients.  Topics to be covered include:

• Change the one constant – steps for keeping up with change and hints to remain informed when the amount of critical information is overwhelming
• Quality/Compliance Management – one task at a time.  Review, reveal and repair cycles
• Audit Readiness – sharing the pressure, leaving it up to everyone not someone
• Stakeholder focus – is everyone happy? - the pursuit of happiness
• Lift up your eyes – don’t stay where you are, keep your eyes on where you are going

Presenter bio:

Peter Basell is the Managing Director of RTO Answers Pty Ltd.  RTO Answers provides VET consultancy services, NVR, AQTF and CRICOS compliance products for RTOs and training organisations across Australia.  Over the past 12 years, Peter has held various positions in RTOs such as CEO, Principal, Director of Training and RTO Manager.  Peter also has experience as a contracted NARA Lead Auditor and an endorsed quality consultant.

Session overview:

Often confused with other social networks Twitter stands out in its information sharing capabilities – yet it is not easy to learn. Twitter started out as microblogging, changed into a messaging service and now performs a myriad of useful activities. For educators it provides a collection of web functionalities and services both in helping you keep up-to-date and network; and helping your students to acquire knowledge. This session looks at what you need to get started and running Twitter, understanding its contexts and grammar, to enhance your own Personal Learning Network and its role in training and education.

Facebook offers challenges to privacy and containment of educational activity – and yet it is the place many of your current and future students are investing so much of their time and effort. But how do you make it all work without going out there and befriending students? There are ways to usefully engage on Facebook both for educational activity, as well as for RTO and course promotion. This session will show you how your trainers can beneficially use Facebook as a social network through a series of case studies and examples.

Presenter bio:

Howard is a psychologist who is an E-learning Consultant at e-Works.  He has managed several projects for the Australian Flexible Learning Framework including Inclusive E-learning and Victorian Elearning Innovations Coordinator.  In addition he also consults privately in the adoption of social collaboration. Howard is interested in how technology can enable better engagement, support, connectedness and collaboration in e-learning.  He likes exploring how online tools can both create new ways of sharing information and learning as well as create socially connected contexts to enhance informal learning.

Session overview:

Transform your training with learning skills that separate the extraordinary from the mediocre in this fun-size train-the-trainer boot camp experience. In 90 minutes, participants will learn how to create powerful new openings and incorporate highly effective closers by using proven participant-centered techniques. These techniques can be used to get better results from your training and more enthusiasm from your participants. There will even be an opportunity to work in teams to create brand new openers and closers that can be incorporated into your own training.

This will be a highly dynamic session where participants will get a taste for the instructor-led/participant centered approach to learning which is at the heart of the 2 Day train-the-trainer boot camp.

Presenter bios:

Marc is the CEO and Founder of MRWED Training and Assessment, a private Australian RTO, specialising in trainer training. He has been involved in education and training for 20 years. This experience includes conducting over 250 “trainer training” courses in the last 12 years. Marc is a popular international speaker, having delivered workshops and keynote addresses in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, India, Tanzania and the United States. Marc won a personal accolade in 2009, by being named as one of US Training Magazine’s top 10 young trainers of the year. His organisation MRWED is a genuine employer of choice, having been named as an Australian Best Place to Work three times by the Great Places to Work Institute, winning two Australian Business Awards for “Recommended Employer” and most recently, being named as one of Asia’s Best Employer Brands.

Jason is a dynamic, participant-centred trainer who has gained impressive results in corporate environments specialising in sales, communication, coaching and management training. During this time Jason has also developed online training programs and has been involved in the development of training material to meet client needs and increase profitability. In 2011, Jason won best young trainer of the year (male) at the LearnX Asia-Pacific Awards. He also won MRWED Trainer of the Year for 2010 and 2011, as voted by students.

Session overview:

Is there a risk that your song and dance routine could lose its magic?

There is nothing worse than being asked to train some dry, compulsory theory topic that they have all heard before, and all know the answers, because they have all ‘done this one before – yawn’ . Their body language says it all …  ‘not again ... I dare you to get me interested ... What time is lunch?’

In this workshop participants will look at the principles of how to achieve Early Engagement with some good Framing-Up activities, and how to build in the WIIFM sales principle into training.  ‘How to hook ‘em ... and get ‘em open to learning’

Refresh and upgrade your skills, and excite your students to learn - and keep on learning! This session will stimulate and challenge your thinking about training and provide you with proven techniques that guarantee good learning and long term retention of subject matter. If you’re keen to sharpen your skills and to deliver more effective training, this is the workshop you’ve been looking for! This will be a very interactive hands-on workshop.

Presenter bio:

Mindworks director, Laurie Kelly, speaks both nationally and internationally on current knowledge of how the mind works to maximize the impact of training, and to create an openness factor in our approach to change and new learning.

Laurie has been opening up the mysteries of the mind to audiences from all walks of life for over 20 years. He has a reputation for having an uncanny ability to communicate on a level that everyone can appreciate and is passionate about the importance of the information he shares.

Laurie Kelly’s experience also includes conference keynote & workshop sessions and public and in-house training programs, delivered in Australia and overseas.  He has worked extensively within many departments of the Government sector, and within the areas of Education, Health, Resources, Council and Corporate organizations.  Laurie is one of the most sought-after presenters in his field.

Session overview:

This session is designed for RTO, Quality and Training Managers.  So often the perfect audit trail established by RTO managers is thwarted by trainers and no-one knows how to fix it.  The answers are here!  In this session hear about how to establish systems that make it safe for your trainers and the RTO to work together and meet the requirements and standards of each other. Participants will leave this session with the ability to clearly communicate the RTO’s needs and system changes that will aid in making it easy for trainers to comply and managers to monitor.  This session will also provide methods for sharing quality improvement ideas with your trainers.

Presenter bio:

Jane has education and training experience that spans over 15 years. She has held a number of senior management roles and holds a wealth of experience in operational management across a number of sectors, specialising in identifying and addressing training needs for optimum business performance and sustainability.  She established and operated successful training facilities in both Australia and New Zealand and is widely recognised and respected for her breadth of knowledge and experience.

As a recognised leader/specialist in registration and accreditation, assessment, audit and compliance, Jane consults and conducts seminars for RTOs.  She is noted for her training and professional development in the areas of making the assessment process more credible and fun for learners, improving outcomes for RTOs and how to improve the credibility of trainers to support the organisation at audit.

Jane runs one of the most successful education and training publishing companies in Australia and New Zealand, providing high quality training/assessment material which qualified for the Noted Quality Tick.  She is the principle curriculum writer for the publishing arms of the companies and is responsible for all research, development and training for communications and business materials and assessments. She is known as a leading supplier of pre audit, staff development, and assessment and system development services to the training sector.

Session overview:

Implementing 5 key practical and value-based business management principles within your RTO operation will enable your organisation to provide quality products and services to your client groups, while promoting efficiency in business operations, generating sustainability and readiness to capitalise on available business growth opportunities.

This session will refer to a contemporary RTO case study from a NSW RTO entity to exemplify results of applying the 5 key principles; including lessons learned/hints and tips for implementation.

This session will identify:

• The 5 key principles to managing a successful RTO business (why, who, what, how and when)
  The key concepts to consider when implementing each principle
• How to create an RTO structure that delivers results by applying the principles
• The simple key methods to create efficiencies and promote quality within your RTO business
• How to create a sustainable RTO business for now and the future

Presenter bio:

Jenny is the Managing Director and founder of Think.Learning. Pty.Ltd. and tertiary qualified in services including vocational education, across both public and private sectors – with a specialist focus on the RTO environment within NSW.

Jenny has been asked to contribute to and has been a member of, many VET related industry bodies including: ERTOA, The National transport and Logistics Industry Skills Council Steering Committee, Australian Institute of Training and Development.  She was one of the key leaders in the collaboration of both private and public bus companies in NSW to form a bus industry training committee that contributed towards the review and re-design of national training package units of competency.

Establishing and developing RTOs and training businesses throughout NSW, Jenny and her team work with CEOs, executive teams an managers to create a business environment where they can achieve the highest levels of productivity and growth, industry engagement, leading practice, regulatory compliance, quality product and service delivery, customer satisfaction and staff engagement.

Session overview:

Often, people start in a role and get promoted to higher positions because they perform that role well.  However they are sometimes not skilled or experienced in management.  This is not only found in RTOs, but across a number of business types.  This session will explore the theme of leadership and is aimed at those who have ended up in a leadership or management role without necessarily having formal training.  This type of transition to leadership can be challenging and, in RTOs, has specific implications.

The session will combine a mix of leadership theory, case studies and practical work. Participants will undertake a short survey to identify their leadership style and brainstorm in groups their top two challenges.  Collectively participants will source possible solutions, with Nick providing suggestions that apply at a ‘whole of RTO’ level in this highly interactive session. Bring your thoughts and questions along and hear Nick share his stories and experiences. 

Let’s put our heads together, pool our resources and importantly have a laugh about the challenges that leadership brings!

Presenter bio:

Nick is an experienced RTO professional, having worked in roles as varied as Trainer, Training Coordinator and Manager, Compliance Manager and RTO Manager.  This experience has been gained in both the not-for-profit sector as well as commercially oriented RTO’s.  Nick currently manages several program lines for Aegis Aspire, a large RTO based in Victoria, and consults to industry on the operational aspects of RTO management.

It is fair to say that Nick attained his leadership role by “rising through the ranks” and he now manages a multidiscipline team of approximately 30 staff to deliver quality strategic business outcomes for the Aegis Aspire.

Session overview:

The objective of the presentation is to demonstrate through Case Studies, the various facets of and opportunities of RPL when working with industry and how that leads to better relationships/partnerships with industry, increased profitability and an increased understanding of the scope of the benefits of RPL.

Part 1:

Four Case Studies will be presented (samples to be approved by organisations once confirmed):

• Mitsubishi Tonsley Park Plant and Bridgestone (approx 2000 workers made redundant how RPL changed their outcomes)
• Construction Industry Training Centre / Construction Industry Training Board project (over the past 2 years approx 200 Riggers and Scaffolders have gained their Certificate III)
• SA Ambulance (approx 100 workers across South Australia undertaking Certificate IV in TAA many who were delivering training and assessment already)
• Training Prospects

The Case studies will cover the issues that had to be addressed and strategies/processes

Part 2:

Discussion on future industry opportunities using RPL:

• Indigenous and other mine/resource workers
• Apprenticeships
• “457” Temporary Visa Skilled Workers

Part 3:

Overview of Compliance considerations when conducted RPLs:

• Rules of Evidence
• Dimensions of Competency
• Critical Aspects
• Process

Presenter bio:

Wendy has been a Workplace Trainer and Assessor for over 20 years. She has spent many years successfully training Trainers and Assessors. Wendy has been employed by two ITABs and been a committee member of several others. She has managed three Registered Training Organisations, has been employed by the COAG RPL South Australian project as a Recognition of Prior Learning expert and is a qualified Quality Auditor as well as being a former NARA Auditor/Quality Consultant.

Wendy is the Director of Cato Human Resources Ltd and RPL Assist. CatoHR is a business that provides training consultancy, to both Registered Training Organisations as well as training and development divisions of Corporations. RPL Assist is a division of Cato Human Resources which provides services to Individuals, RTOs and Enterprises.

Wendy has been engaged by numerous industry sectors including, Transport and Distribution, Construction, Electrotechnology, Utilities, Manufacturing, Business, Real Estate, Retail, Community Services , Emergency Services and Local Government to deliver training and assessment services.

Session overview:

Presenting is both art and science.  To make a real connection with our audience we need to learn both. Trust + emotion + a clear message + action = successful learning transfer and behavioural change. 

This session will focus on three key messages: that connection is essential for engagement; that being authentic and congruent with your message is critical and, the importance of being a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of another presenter.

Content to be delivered:

• How ensuring the Connect 4 model is embedded in every presentation or training session.
• Why all business is about relationships and why building trust is an essential influencing strategy.
• Defining yourself as a trainer/presenter.  Why you must be an expert in being you.
• Building a personal brand based on who you are and what you can bring to the learning environment.
• Why being authentic builds connection and trust.
• Strategies for owning the floor, engaging your audience and building long –term trust based relationships.
• In this fast paced, information overloaded world, trust can be the new economy.

Presenter bio:

Dynamic, infectious, inspiring and passionate are all words that have been used by her clients to describe Paula as a trainer and presenter. Paula has been actively involved in training and developing people for the past 20 years with participants of all ages. Author of the book Speaking in the Shower-Presentation Skills Exposed, and the developer of Australia’s first and only Presentation Skills Diploma qualification, Paula is a leading authority on standing up and speaking out.  She specialises in developing exceptional trainers and presenters. Paula has been awarded CSP designation by the National Speakers Association of Australia, the highest possible designation held by only a small number of professional speakers worldwide. Paula’s expertise include: Presentation Skills; Training and Assessment; Developing your Personal Brand; Leadership; and Small Business. Her passion is to help individuals strive to reach their full potential and she has an active interest in small business and the entrepreneurial mindset. Apart from a busy training schedule, Paula is often sought after as a keynote speaker and presenter both locally and overseas.

Qualifications held: Bachelor of Arts (Training and Development),Graduate Certificate of Education (Career Education), Diploma of Management, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, Accredited Franchise Executive Programme (AFE –Diploma Franchising), Certificate of Colour and Image Consultancy

Session overview: coming soon

Presenter bio:

Kathryn has been in the public service since 1983 and has often said that the one thing she has really loved about her career is the diversity of opportunities she has had over that time.  For example, Kathryn has:

• catalogued materials for the print-handicapped for the National Library of Australia;
• managed the construction and fit-out of a metal fabrication workshop and designed a commercial kitchen while working for ACT TAFE while it was part of the federal Department of Education
• developed an Employer Sponsored Child Care Policy (the first ever for an APS agency) while working for the Department of Social Security

Kathryn has also worked on some of the most significant contemporary issues facing Indigenous Australians, including:

• the 1997 Ministerial Summit on Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
• the Government’s response to the Bringing Them Home Report
• implementing the 1998 amendments to the Native Title Act
• setting up the Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination and the Ministerial Taskforce on Indigenous Affairs
• designing the 8-point plan for addressing petrol sniffing in central Australia and
• organising the 2006 Ministerial Summit on Violence and Child Abuse in Indigenous Communities

Kathryn is currently responsible for the development and implementation of a Unique Student Identifier (USI) in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. 

Session overview:

Leading workforce development and planning solutions highlight that national and state/territory policy directions are moving from VET into workforce development.  They demonstrate what employers, enterprises, industry sectors and regions want, with case studies and examples.

The objectives of this session are to:

• build participants’ understanding of workforce development and planning, underpinning theories and a simple 5 step model to use with clients;
• link policy with practice and market driven services, where RTOs lead with workforce planning and development for themselves, and as a basis for funding proposals and submissions; and
• show the breadth of organisations interested in workforce development and planning services and what they want assistance with.

Participants will gain an insight into leading edge workforce development and planning practices plus emerging business trends and impacts, including the roll out of the NBN; identifying industry sectors to watch for increasing demand; and gaining hints on how to position themselves (as individuals and service providers) in this market.

Presenter bio:

Wendy is an innovator in Workforce Development and Workforce Planning, Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Small Business Management. Her underpinning approach to business is to maximise her clients’ capabilities, capacity and productivity.

Based in South Australia, the company’s clients are all around Australia and Wendy has extensive networks in industry, with employers, business associations, government and Registered Training Organisations.

A session overview and presenter bio will soon be available.

Session overview:

The 5 fundamentals for rock solid competency creation - and 5 stories to prove it!

1.       Knowledge
2.       Creativity
3.       The right space
4.       Practice
5.       Mentors

This presentation is designed to reinvigorate our thinking on how we as a sector approach skill development. The stories include real life examples of people who have developed their vocation, how they went about it and what we can take away from it. The presentation will seek to debunk Australian policy development and various research to empower participants with improved knowledge.

Presenter bio:

Therese Hickey recently set herself up as an independent Vocational Education and Training Consultant after several years working as Quality Manager for a private Registered Training organisation and completing a project with the National Quality Council.

Therese’s work varies from Auditing for the VRQA, provision of services to assist RTOs to meet regulatory and compliance obligations as well as projects that support industries and enterprises to improve their workforce capability.

Session overview:

Companies in Australia spend millions of dollars annually on inductions, training and workshops for employees. The hope is that the participants develop new skills, have a greater workplace engagement and are less likely to leave the company. The reality is that poorly delivered training can result in disengagement and resentment. Training in the workplace is more than just providing the information and facts – you need to make participants care enough to absorb the information and put it into action.

This session will provide you with suggestions on how to deliver training that is engaging, dynamic, persuasive and most importantly memorable.  Topics include:

• How to jazz up ‘dry’ or ‘boring’ topics
• How to win ‘em over and build rapport with your participants
• How to maintain their attention
• How to avoid death by PowerPoint
• How to increase engagement and interaction
• How to include follow up to really make your training stick!

Presenter bio:

Sharon has a knack for making the complex simple. She believes ‘passionate people persuade’ and that to make your message stick, you need to balance information with delivery style. The results of applying these simple ideas can be seen during her extensive career, including many years as a senior business manager in the pharmaceutical industry. Along the way, Sharon twice won the National Representative of the Year award, as well as numerous other awards. Her passion for persuading others, combined with a self-acknowledged competitive streak, has come to the fore in her membership of the international speaking group, Toastmasters. She has won numerous public speaking awards, represented South Australia in three national speech contests and is a past Division Governor of the South Australian chapter.  Sharon is trained in many selling techniques and is a certified Professional Sales Coach and a nationally accredited Trainer and Workplace Assessor. Her special interest areas include persuasive presentations, pitching, public speaking executive sales and networking.

Session overview:

This presentation aims to deliver to providers, easy to understand practical advice. Debbie will ‘cut to the chase’ in regards to vulnerable areas CRICOS providers need to monitor closely. She will provide handy hints to relieve the compliance burden and participants will walk away with practical easy to follow compliance advice.

The session will provide:

• a refresher on the legislation (Current legislation in brief, including the National Code 15 standards);
• identification of the key high risk (non-compliance) areas;
• practical advice on best practice;
• advice on how the important areas for providers to ensure they monitor; and
• a list of reports available to assist in monitoring international students (PRISMS reports - getting the most out of PRISMS to assist providers)

The session will also raise any new 'hot' topics and allow for question time.

Presenter bio:

Debbie Phipps Director Rainbow Connextions Pty Ltd has many years experience working for the Queensland Government CRICOS work Unit, up to a Manager level, with almost 2 years’ experience managing the unit. In that role, she developed and implemented the new templates, assessment forms and Fact Sheets during 2007 when the new National Code 2007 was introduced. Debbie has also managed the Queensland Government Course Accreditation and Vocational Placement Unit for almost 2 years.

She has worked in the School Sector and RTO sector and has a good understanding of what it is like on the 'other side' from within the organisation. Debbie now is a CRICOS Consultant and is seeing firsthand the difficulties faced by organisations in trying to get through what can appear endless red tape. Debbie is committed to helping you to become compliant, stay compliant and get on with your business.  Sleepless nights before CRICOS audits can be a thing of the past!

Session overview:

As an owner and operator of a relatively new RTO of 3 years – Carol and her team have experienced wonderful growth along with many challenges along the way.  This session aims to provide an interesting overview for others to hear about how they have survived thus far and that, although being an RTO it isn’t always an easy ride, it is worth the pain!!

Content to be covered:

• being an RTO is not a license to make money
• the rules keep changing - you have to keep up!
• growth is challenging
• give yourself permission to succeed
• you become a master of wearing many hats
• there is always room for professional and ethical providers

Presenter bio:

In three years Carol has built her small home based business into one of the Top 50 fastest Growing Businesses in Victoria! After identifying the need on the Mornington Peninsula for a training organisation who would make learning a welcoming experience, provide exemplary customer service across the board and give participants the confidence and self-belief to succeed, Carol Campbell was inspired to start Nepean Industry Edge Training (NIET) in 2009.

Carol and her two teenage sons live on the Peninsula and initially wanted to have a business that would fit in with school pick up and after school activities, well, it was a good plan until the business took off faster than expected and the dining table became a board table! Now based in Frankston and Mornington and employing 8 full time staff and 10 sessional trainers NIET training will turn over one million this year with further growth planned for 2013, Carol has just recently been nominated for the Telstra Women in Business Awards.

Session overview:

The Strategic goal of Gold Coast Institute of TAFE (GCIT) is for 78% of teaching staff to have a Diploma of TAA/TAE or higher teaching qualification. This session will provide an overview of the GCIT Teacher Capability Framework, implemented in 2011 by the Training & Development team.  The session will describe how this is linked to the TAA50104 Diploma of TAA, TAE50111 Diploma of VET and TAE50211 Diploma of TDD with articulation into the Bachelor of training with Griffith University.

Participants will hear about how the framework incorporates teacher induction, mentoring & coaching, online facilitation skills, LLN skills, teaching & sustainability, recognition (RPL etc.), educational leadership, instructional intelligence, assessment refocused, cross cultural communication strategies, challenging student behaviours, and teacher observation and feedback. This program is 100% funded by GCIT for all teaching staff.

Jamie will also talk about how in 2012, GCIT has also established four teacher & administration professional development weeks to be run in the term breaks throughout the year. This framework has been recognized as ‘best practice’ by the Queensland Teachers Union, Queensland Public Service Union & Albert Duffy- industrial relations advisor for the Department of Education and Training Queensland.

Presenter bio:

Jamie has been employed at the Gold Coast Institute of TAFE for 20 years across a variety of roles including Teacher, Lead Vocational Teacher, Educational Auditor, Education Manager- Education Quality, Education Manager Training and Development. In his most recent position, he has driven and been primarily involved in the evolution of the highly regarded ‘Teacher Capability Framework’.  Jamie’s comprehensive experience, credentials and passion for ensuring quality professional development opportunities exist for teaching staff, give him a fantastic platform to deliver an interesting session about how to look at professional development from a best practice perspective.

Jamie is a committee member for the IBSA Sector Advisory Committee for Education Qualifications and holds a BAW, Dip TAA, Dip Retail, Dip Hospitality, Diploma of Tourism and Diploma of Quality Auditing.

Session overview: coming soon

Presenter Bio:

John Dwyer is a national AQTF trainer and consultant with experience in education spanning more than 40 years. He brings extensive registered training organisation (RTO) experience to Velg Training, having a comprehensive history in developing and delivering a range of workshops on assessment tools, recognition of prior learning (RPL), moderation and validation processes relating to AQTF compliance.

Previously, John was the Manager of the Competency Assessment and Development Services of the Global Institute for Learning and Development (gild). John has been a pre-qualified AQTF consultant registered with Queensland’s Department of Education and Training (DET), and has also been employed on a contract basis through DET as the TAA/TAE Technical Advisor for Audits.

Session overview:

Companies in Australia spend millions of dollars annually on inductions, training and workshops for employees. The hope is that the participants develop new skills, have a greater workplace engagement and are less likely to leave the company. The reality is that poorly delivered training can result in disengagement and resentment. Training in the workplace is more than just providing the information and facts – you need to make participants care enough to absorb the information and put it into action.

This session will provide you with suggestions on how to deliver training that is engaging, dynamic, persuasive and most importantly memorable.  Topics include:

• How to jazz up ‘dry’ or ‘boring’ topics
• How to win ‘em over and build rapport with your participants
• How to maintain their attention
• How to avoid death by PowerPoint
• How to increase engagement and interaction
• How to include follow up to really make your training stick!

Presenter bio:

Sharon has a knack for making the complex simple. She believes ‘passionate people persuade’ and that to make your message stick, you need to balance information with delivery style. The results of applying these simple ideas can be seen during her extensive career, including many years as a senior business manager in the pharmaceutical industry. Along the way, Sharon twice won the National Representative of the Year award, as well as numerous other awards. Her passion for persuading others, combined with a self-acknowledged competitive streak, has come to the fore in her membership of the international speaking group, Toastmasters. She has won numerous public speaking awards, represented South Australia in three national speech contests and is a past Division Governor of the South Australian chapter.  Sharon is trained in many selling techniques and is a certified Professional Sales Coach and a nationally accredited Trainer and Workplace Assessor. Her special interest areas include persuasive presentations, pitching, public speaking executive sales and networking.

Session overview:

Workforce Planning Australia has worked with local government, broader government, not-for-profit and small business to build workforce planning capability, maximise a systematic approach to workforce planning and workforce development and ensure the right capability to deliver the business plan. Jenny's presentation will take you through the important stages of workforce planning.

Topics covered will include:

• Executive buy-in - it's crucial
• Evidence - using tools and templates
• Data - know what you've got
• Plan - continual not set in stone
• Integration - business as usual

Participants will take away practical examples of how workforce planning has been implemented in a variety of workplaces and/or regions.

Presenter bio:

Jenny Hoysted is an Associate with Workforce Planning Australia. Jenny has a background in education, management and organisational development spanning many years. She has worked in a variety of educational, environmental and government settings nationally and is also an experienced executive coach. Jenny has a passion for working with people and is a positive, dynamic and inspirational leader with the ability to engage stakeholders.

Session overivew:

A key objective of the National VET E-Learning Strategy is to develop the Australian training system’s capacity to capitalise on the roll-out of the National Broadband Network (NBN).  Strategically utilised, the new technological environment will provide unprecedented opportunities to extend the reach, effectiveness and customised nature of training, and significantly impact achievement of government objectives for a more inclusive and better qualified workforce. 

Hear about the vision and key characteristics of the current Strategy in this session, where Janine will look at the Strategy’s three goals:

• Develop and utilise e-learning strategies to maximise the benefits of the national investment in broadband.
• Support workforce development in industry through innovative training solutions
• Expand participation and access for individuals through targeted e-learning approaches.

Presenter bio:

Janine Schubert is the Director, Queensland VET Development Centre (Training and Tertiary Education Queensland Operations) for the Department of Education, Training and Employment.  In this role she is responsible for the development and maintenance of products and for the development and implementation of staff capability strategies for the Queensland VET sector, as well as providing leadership on the strategic direction in the management, delivery and responsiveness of products and services for TAFE Queensland and the Queensland VET sector.

Janine is the former Queensland representative for the National Quality Council and was a member of the NQC Framework Implementation Action Group (FlAG) which oversaw the implementation of the recommendations outlined in the VET Products for the 21^st Century Report.  She is also the Queensland Flexible Learning Advisory Group (FLAG) Representative for the National VET E-Learning Strategy for 2012-2015.  She has held many senior positions within the Department and also with the Qld Office of Child Care and the Department of Families, Youth and Community Care.  Janine started her career as a teachers specialising in early childhood education and development and is now charged with leading the growth in the delivery and responsiveness of products and services including technological services to the Queensland VET sector.

Session overview:

Unfortunately many businesses including RTOs are like the crime scenes we see on TV.  They are waiting to be investigated and need the same forensic attention in order to build a better business.

RTO Owners/Managers want simpler and more profitable businesses but sometimes they’re so busy with the day-to-day running of the business (and maintaining AQTF compliance) that they miss the key signs which can help them the most. Just like CSI’s at a crime scene, Tamara Simon follows the evidence and find the suspects in an RTO’s business, people and systems to find the areas costing them time and $$$.

As a BSI (Business Scene Investigator), she will reveal the 5 signs RTO businesses are like crime scenes and practical tips RTOs can do immediately to ensure they have a simpler, profitable and more sustainable business.

Presenter bio:

For over ten years, Tamara Simon aka ‘The Business Scene Investigator (BSI)’ has been helping organisations capture the knowledge in the heads of business owners and their team so they run on auto-pilot; become more sustainable and saleable; and give the owner back their life!

Rather than you staring at a blank piece of paper or avoiding developing business systems, she is able to quickly and easily get the 'stuff' out of your head to not only bring more time, money and simplicity to your business TODAY; but build a better business for TOMORROW.

As founder of Business Scene Investigation and a business systems specialist, Tamara has been following the evidence and cleaning up businesses by providing simple and practical solutions to increase their profit and productivity. With a background in change management, organisational development and vocational education and training, Tamara has more than a decade of experience in business development across private, public and not-for-profit organisations. She has spoken at international and Australian business conferences as well as presented her survival tips to teachers and students.  Her articles have been published in association/network magazines including Women’s Network Australia, Building Designer’s Association of Queensland and Master Builders Queensland.

Tamara’s management and leadership expertise was recognised as a Queensland finalist in the Telstra Young Business Women’s Awards and a Brisbane finalist in AIM’s Young Manager Awards.

Session overview:

While instructing tactics in the Army we were continually drilled with the concept of ‘combined arms warfare’: using the strengths of one branch to mitigate the risks of another, providing a stronger coalition of force. 

Using the same concept, sound partnerships with quality RTO’s and training providers have allowed me to rapidly develop my company by providing clients with a ‘complete’ training solution.  In this presentation participants will be provided with an overview of the opportunities presented through well researched, well-articulated partnership agreements with quality organisations.

The session will focus on three primary areas:

1. the benefits available through partnership -  such as greater scope for clients, reduced overheads, availability of greater staffing pools, access to SMEs in key topics and cross pollination of operational and training procedures. 
2. Exploration of the risks that are presented in establishing partnerships such as organisational security, poaching of staff, theft of clients, increased compliance risks, additional complexity in organizational and administrative procedures. 
3. Provision of  a basic roadmap for partnership success that aims to embrace the positive aspects of proactive partnering and mitigate or minimise  threats.

By the end of this session attendees will have a renewed enthusiasm for networked training opportunities and a greater understanding of the systematic approach required.  It is intended that small and large providers alike will embrace the concept of ‘combined arms’, and use sound, practical partnerships to improve the services they provide clients as an industry and as business people.

Presenter bio:

Andrew Bridge joined the Australian Army in January 1999 and is a graduate of both the Australian defense Force Academy and the Royal Military College - Duntroon.  He completed a range of postings as an Artillery Officer including deployments to the Solomon Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan and was intimately involved in the training of military personnel for deployment. He completed a number of training positions within the ADF including roles as an instructor and training coordinator at Duntroon before leaving the full time Army in 2009.

Since then, Andrew has worked with his business partner to establish an RTO, embracing partnerships with other providers to grow a successful company specialising in training design and delivery of accredited and non-accredited training solutions. He remains active in the Army reserve as a training liaison and continues to develop his understanding of the civilian training industry as his business grows.

Session overview:

Learning and development professionals are the custodians of the future success of their organisations and they have to take their roles seriously. Rather than simply being a support function, their role is the engine room for growth. More importantly, when we stop investing in our people, both personally and professionally, we stop investing in long term viability and competitiveness. This session looks at the things that VET professionals can do to maintain the balance and will inspire the audience with the very personal account from MRWED CEO, Marc Ratcliffe in his journey from Trainer to Train Wreck and back again!

Presenter bio:

Marc is the CEO and Founder of MRWED Training and Assessment, a private Australian RTO, specialising in trainer training. He has been involved in education and training for 20 years. This experience includes conducting over 250 “trainer training” courses in the last 12 years. Marc is a popular international speaker, having delivered workshops and keynote addresses in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, India, Tanzania and the United States. Marc won a personal accolade in 2009, by being named as one of US Training Magazine’s top 10 young trainers of the year. His organisation MRWED is a genuine employer of choice, having been named as an Australian Best Place to Work three times by the Great Places to Work Institute, winning two Australian Business Awards for “Recommended Employer” and most recently, being named as one of Asia’s Best Employer Brands.

Session overview and presenter bio coming soon

Session overview:

This presentation looks at the issues involved in managing an Enterprise embedded RTO.

In particular it will consider the issues of:

• recruitment of Trainer and Assessor resources within the organisation,
• managing the quality and consistency of assessment across a large and diversified organisation,
• embedding the role of the RTO into the process of on-boarding and continued professional development, and
• how to fund training programs both internally and through external sources.

There will be a focus on encouraging experienced staff to take on roles as trainers as assessors in order to provide the best quality knowledge transfer to newer staff and the problems associated with this (primarily issues relating to maintaining standards and quality in terms of assessment and competence). It will also provide participants with a model of embedding continued professional development of staff through the use of both off the job and on the job training and assessment, flexible training pathways for staff and mapping the competencies to mandatory training in order to maximise the ability of staff to obtain qualifications.

Explore ideas about connecting training programs to organisational goals/strategic plans, maintaining the necessary internal funding to deliver the programs and options for accessing and securing external funding and income generation to supplement the internal income stream.

Presenter bio:

Paul Rasmussen is the State Manager for Learning and Development for Uniting Care Community. His responsibilities include all Organisational Learning and Development activities for more than 3000 staff and 6000 volunteers including the operation of the organisations RTO. His work over the last few years has been focused on Enterprise Level Learning and Development strategy, management and policy implementation for large Government and Private organisations. He has extensive experience in driving organisational change through Learning and Development with a particular emphasis on the utilisation of E-learning as a means to meeting organisational goals while delivering quality outcomes for participants. He also has an extensive background in IT Training, having been involved in Project Management, Contract Management and Enterprise Level Training solution development with systems such as Primavera, EDocs and Trim.

Session overview:

This presentation will focus on an overview of Mini Auditing and the purpose of mini auditing within an educational context.

It will clarify:

• why it is important to complete mini audits?
• the role as an auditor
• what it is that an auditor is expected to do?
• the planning of the mini audit
• auditing techniques

Ray will talk about process auditing and take a brief look at one sample process (mapped back to the standards) and step through each phase of a mini audit, identifying what is compliant what is not.  He will discuss the relationship of corrective actions to the internal audit process and the audit report. Candidates attending this brief will improve their skills and knowledge in planning, preparing and conducting internal audits. The outcome will reduce risk and improve quality and compliance in their RTO.

Presenter bio:

Ray has worked in the VET sector for over 12 years in a number of positions from Trainer/Assessor through to Training & Compliance Manager, Manager Projects & Innovation and also CEO of two RTOs (one of which was his own RTO – Skynet Education).

He has worked in public and private RTOs setting up governance and quality management systems, and  in TAFE where he set up an AQTF Internal Audit division. Ray has developed and facilitated the VET Quality Framework Legislative Instrument and Risk Management Briefs and road showed to over 200 RTOs all over Australia in 2011. He has audited many RTOs throughout Australia and has developed resources aligned with the VET Quality Framework, AQTF, and the National Code. Qualifications include: Certificate IV in Training & Assessment (BSZ, TAA & TAE), Diploma of Training & Assessment, Diploma of Quality Auditing, ISO 9001:2008 Lead Auditor, Masters Degree of Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Masters Degree of Education.

Session overview:

Learn how to develop creative and holistic training (and assessment) which allows you to combine competencies to achieve practical outcomes, and at the same time increase level of learning for participants. This presentation will provide a step-by-step process to aid in doing this, using Frontline Management as the basis. It will encourage participants to look at developing learning that is enjoyable yet meets competency requirements, and give them an insight into developing holistic training and assessment.

Presenter bio:

Gene Howell is a senior manager at the Australian Institute of Management in WA. He oversees and delivers on some of AIM's premier programs, all of which he has personally developed. The most well-known program which encapsulates a holistic and creative approach is Frontline Management Intensive, where participants play a giant boardgame for 3 days - fast becoming one of the most popular programs. Gene also writes, and his latest book on leadership was released in February.

Session overview:

1. What are the key factors that determine successful E-Learning systems:

• Use an LMS designed for the Australian Vocational sector 
• Understanding the needs of students in the Australian Vocational sector
• Materials the cover the subject and allow blended delivery
• A common sense approach to the separation of theory and practical
• A common sense approach to the use of multimedia and interactivity
• Giving support to the teacher/trainer/student
• Longevity and upgrading systems and software
• Having an organisation culture that supports E-Learning
• Continuous improvement
• Have the ability to change your systems and L&A strategies
• Measure your success by results
• Having a business model that is sustainable

2. Practical demonstrations of a successful TAFE, Private provider, VET in Schools, English Language delivery and Corporate Training.

3. One LMS or many?  Examples of successful E-Learning providers using a number of LMS solutions.

4. Why some organisations are successful and others are not.

Presenter bio:

Hans has over 30 years’ experience in the Vocational Training Industry. With a practical background in Electronics, Teaching, Instructional Design, online materials development, and VET sector LMS design, Hans has designed and implemented 5 Computer Learning Systems during.  He has produced over 3500 online courses, online material covering 20 subject areas and has implemented hundreds of successful E-Learning systems, materials and delivery models.  These have occurred across Vocational (Public and Private), Corporate, Secondary Schools, and Language training.  Holding qualifications in Electronics, IT, Mathematics, Instructional Design, Training and Teaching and having had 6 years as a Trainer in the Army, 13 years as a teacher and resource developer at Bendigo TAFE and 15 years with WebTrain, Hans is well placed to present on this topic.

Session overview:

This session will focus on the key players and stakeholders within the Australian National Training System. An overview of who’s who within the vocational education and training (VET) sector and what role they play. Kerri will explain how to stay up to date with the emerging changes and issues facing the sector by looking at which organisations a registered training organisation (RTO) should be following (i.e Newsletters, Newspapers, Magazines, Media Release, Websites) to gain regular updates. She will explore how social media can become a main source of information, focusing on social media tools such as Twitter and LinkedIn Groups. 

Presenter bio:

Kerri has been a Queensland school VET Coordinator and trainer/assessor and has also worked for the Queensland Studies Authority as a Standards and Assessment Officer (Quality Assurance) and as a Senior Lead Auditor within the VET Branch. Since the end of 2008 Kerri has been working as a private consultant for a range of organisations in the areas of establishing RTOs, conducting internal audits, consulting on AQTF compliance, developing a number of accredited courses, convening state and national conferences, developing training and assessment materials, conducting professional development workshops and conducting Certificate IV in Training and Assessment workshops for teachers in Queensland schools. She has authored several Business Education textbooks and has experience lecturing and tutoring at Queensland University of Technology. Kerri is currently employed by Velg Training as a consultant.

Session overview:

Achieving high levels of performance from employees is the holy grail for human resource management and, ultimately, organisational effectiveness. It all starts with a highly effective recruitment process but segues very quickly to the performance planning and development process.  There are so many factors that can affect performance and so many different strategies that you could employ as a manager/business owner to increase motivation in your business. But which ones work best? What’s the 20% of actions that you can take that will yield 80% of the outcomes that you desire? As a resource-stretched manager, what are the absolute ‘must dos’ if you are to be successful? What disciplined management practices make a real difference in driving performance at all levels of your organisation? Join this interactive session to explore new ways AND reinforce ‘tried-and-true-but-not-consistently-implemented’ ways of increasing performance effectiveness in your organisation. Together we’ll cover how to:

• Incorporate a ‘Success Performance Plan’ in your recruitment process
• Kick things off with a professional induction
• Apply Daily, Weekly, Monthly & Quarterly disciplines to drive motivation and performance
• Implement a not-too-burdensome performance development process

Take away tips, tools and templates to use back in your business!

Presenter bio:

Reay Mackay, Managing Director of the VM Learning, a Brisbane-based Learning and Development company and home of the aXcelerate Training Management System. He spent most of his early working career in IBM where he developed his passion for custom service and the people management and development strategies and systems that drive excellence in customer service. Since joining VM Learning in 1992, Reay has spent most of the past 20 years as a practising manager and also as a facilitator of leadership development, performance management and time management.

His past roles as President of the Australian Customer Service Association (Qld Division) and evaluator of the Premier’s Excellence Awards has exposed Reay to best practices in customer service and leadership development in both public and private sector organisations.

Reay has an MBA from Deakin University with a focus on Human Resource Management, a Diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Diploma of Electrical Engineering from QUT (formerly QIT).

Session overview:

Producing eLearning/eAssessment resources is within the skills set of all trainers and assessors and does not require huge budgets.  There are a number of free or low cost tools that can be used to produce quality resources as well as ways to adapt traditional materials into ‘e’ resources.

This session will provide:

• An overview of concept of eLearning and eAssessment
• Discussion on technologies used in eLearning/eAssessment - computer, tablet, smartphone, ‘i’ devices 
• Advice about the quality free/low cost resources are available
• Ideas on how software commonly available in most RTOs can be used to develop ‘e’ resources
• Information about how traditional classroom delivery and assessment resources can be adapted to become ‘e’ resources

Wendy will provide real world examples sourced from what she currently uses in course delivery and assessment, as well as the resources currently being developed for use.

Presenter bio:

Wendy is currently a trainer/assessor for Aged Care/Home Care qualifications as well as IT subjects at Taree Community College. She also works as a Registered Nurse on a casual basis in aged care and general nursing. Her clinical background began in the mid 1980’s as a Registered Nurse in both emergency and geriatric fields. Wendy has held positions such as Assistant Director of Nursing (Aged Care) and Medical Services Coordinator (Aboriginal Health Services).

The 1980’s was also the time when she was introduced to the world of computers. Not being satisfied with just using computers, her passion has led her to studies and experience in programming, building and repairing them. Her journey down the training pathway began about the same time, quickly settling into the areas of nursing/health and IT.

Wendy’s involvement in recent eLearning projects has further fuelled a long standing passion with technology and education. She was recently invited to present a session on eAssessments at the eLearning11 event in Sydney.

Session overview:

Session overview:

This session will explore using the training and assessment system to produce business change, cultural improvements and optimized performance.  Listen to tales from big and small food producers indicating which methods deliver VET outcomes and business improvement. 

Participant will learn about techniques and systems that have been proven successful in the biggest and smallest companies in the food processing sector.  They will be encouraged to consider the use of techniques which:

• build worker participation across the industrial divide,
• guarantee compliance and product integrity
• result in business improvements led by operators and supported by management

Presenter bio:

Les Cameron has worked in food processing industry training for over 20 years. He now directs an Australian Training Award winning RTO operating in 4 states. Les has worked both inside and beside the TAFE sector and has great sympathy for the difficulties the sector is having. As well as a plethora of smaller companies Les has worked with multinational processing companies like Unifoods, Simplot and Coca Cola; large retailers like Franklins, David Jones and vertically integrated providers such as Darrell lea. He is also currently chair of the GV Food Cooperative aiming to take control of the vacated Heinz site at Girgarre in central Victoria. He is committed to an outward looking agency that recognises the imperatives of food security.