E-Newsletter — Industries on the move!

Issue 15                                                             SPRING 2011

 

INSIDE THIS ISSUE                                                                     Download Current Issue

 
Celebrate Maritime Day a Great Success
 
AFRA School Road Show
 
 

Chain of Responcibility Legislation

Road Traffic Amendment Act 2011

Harmonisation of Occupational Health and Safety

Carbon Tax

TLISC E-Scan

Proposed Changes to Rail Operations and Rail Infrastructure

National Workforce Development Fund

Service Skills Australia Update

 

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 Seaman J.Quinn with Captain Allan Gray
An estimated 20,000 people attended the Celebrate Maritime Day which was held at the historic B Shed in Fremantle on Saturday 27 August 2011. For the first time the LTC participated in the event as one of 41 stallholders who provided information and advice to the many visitors at the expo.

The annual event, which gives people a chance to talk to representatives from organisations involved in the maritime industry, also offers activities for the whole family, including boat trips on the harbour and face painting.

Federal Master of the Company of Master Mariners, Captain Allan Gray, who is Harbour Master at Fremantle Ports, said the event was a positive step forward by the industry to raise its profile and highlight the many opportunities that existed in the sector.
“Showcasing WA’s dynamic and diverse maritime industry provides the community with an insight into the important role the sector plays,” he said. “Fremantle is the State's most diverse port with its container terminals, bulk import and export facilities, and its increasing popularity as a cruise liner destination.”

The LTC was very privileged to witness the special “Sunset Ceremony” performed by the Australian Navy for special occasions, at the completion of the expo.

Fremantle’s Celebrate Maritime Day was presented by the Company of Master Mariners of Australia with support from Fremantle Ports, the WA Department of Transport, Royal Australian Navy, Svitzer and Australian Maritime Systems.
 
 
 
Canning Coalition, working with members of the Australian Furniture Removals Association (AFRA), are currently undertaking a school Road Show for year 10 and 11 students, highlighting the diverse career pathways and benefits of working in the furniture removal industry.
 
They hope to enlist young and enthusiastic workers through fun demonstrations and interactive games and to show the wide range of possible positions in the industry from packing, furniture removals and driving trucks to warehouse or office based positions such as domestic and international sales, scheduling, logistics, accounts, imports and exports.
 
Students can apply for Workplace Learning in one of six of Perth’s leading removalist companies and in 2012 successful Year 11 students will be offered the chance to start a rewarding career in the industry. 
 
For further information, please visit:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Road Traffic (Vehicles) Bill containing the Chain of Responsibility legislation, will go before parliament later this year or early next year. This bill contains a Model Compliance and Enforcement provision that seeks to widen liability to include an increased number of parties in the transport chain and to define categories of risk for breaches of the law. In the event of an offence, this new legislation extends liability beyond the driver and the owner to  include, in addition, consignors, packers, loaders and receivers.
 
The aim of extending liability is to improve deterrence all along the transport chain and by so doing, improve safety and reduce infrastructure damage.  If the Bill is passed, an implementation period of 12 months is expected and the legislation therefore would come into effect in in 2013.

Further details on the proposed legislation can be found at :

http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/freight/19707.asp#3

For further reference, a draft version of the full bill is available here

http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/freight_road_traffic_bill_09_markedup.pdf

 

 
Amendments to the Road Traffic Act 1974 have come into effect from 1 October 2011. These amendments relate to penalties for drink and drug driving offences. The amendments include a range of increases in fines and disqualification periods for drink and drug driving offences for all drivers in Western Australia. In addition to the increased penalties, some groups of drivers will be required to drive with a zero Blood Alcohol Content (BAC), including holders of extraordinary licences, recently disqualified drivers and drivers of the following:

  • Heavy vehicles with a Gross Combination Mass (GCM) exceeding 22.5 tonne
  • Passenger vehicles (e.g. buses) equipped to seat more than 12 adults including the driver, while carrying passengers
  • Omnibuses, while carrying passengers for reward or hire
  • Taxis, while carrying passengers for reward or hire
  • Vehicles carrying dangerous goods

Exemption to the zero BAC is provided for certain drivers responding to an emergency incident. The extension of the zero BAC limit to the driver groups above, recognised the increased risk that those drivers pose to passengers and other road users when driving with alcohol in the blood.

For more information on this act, please refer to the following link

http://www.warta.com.au/documents/FAQ%20Drink%20&%20Drug%20Driving%20Penalties%2026082011.pdf
 

 

The harmonisation of Occupational Health and Safety laws across Australia will come into effect from 1 January 2012. The aim of the harmonisation is to provide nationwide consistency for businesses with regard to health and safety laws. There are certain provisions, however, that will not be adopted in WA.

A concise review or the upcoming changes is available by following the link below

http://www.warta.com.au/General-News.html
 


The carbon tax, which was passed by the Lower House in October and by the Upper House in November, is now a matter of law and will come into effect for many industries from 1 July 2012. The Australian Trucking Association argued for an exemption for truck drivers, given that 85% of trucking businesses had fewer than 5 employees and therefore had a limited capacity for passing on the cost of the carbon tax through increases. With this in mind, a two year exemption was granted for the trucking industry to allow for the renegotiation of long term contracts and improvement of fuel efficiency.

For more information, follow the link below

http://www.truckworld.com.au/News/Trucking_wins_two_year_exemption_from_carbon_tax.aspx
 
 
 
 
 
 
The best of the training sector were honoured at the Western Australian Training Awards, held in the Convention Centre in Perth on Friday, 16 September 2011 The outstanding efforts of apprentices, trainees, vocational students, training providers and employers were recognised by the awards and some of the winners will go on to represent WA in the national Australian Training Awards in Brisbane on 25 November 2011.

The LTC would like to offer it’s congratulations to all the winners with a special mention for Joe and Kaye Reither (pictured) and their staff at Nara Training for their great success in winning the award for Small Provider of the Year. The company, which was established in 1997, operates out of Bunbury and delivers training in a number of areas including transport and logistics, construction, forestry, mining, plant operations, frontline management and training and assessment, as well as high risk work and the Skipper’s Ticket. They also offer traineeships in a number of areas.
 
We would also like to extend our congratulations to Eduardo Pena who completed his traineeship in Transport and Logistics and came away with the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Training award on the night.


The list of winners is attached below.

http://www.trainingwa.wa.gov.au/trainingawards/detcms/navigation/latest-news/

Joe and Kaye Reither

 
 
 
According to an interim report card on the State Government’s Training WA strategy, there are a record number of people undertaking training in WA. Following the government’s investment to support an additional 21,000 training places, there has been a 12 % increase in the number of Western Australians undertaking government funded training and apprentice numbers have also increased by 9.4%. Training and Workforce Development Minister Peter Collier said more importantly, this training was occurring in industries that had a high demand for skilled workers.

http://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/WACabinetMinistersSearch.aspx?ItemId=143859&minister=Collier&admin=Barnett
 
 
 
 

The Logistics Training Council hosted its annual Training Forum for Registered Training Organisations delivering training in the transport, logistics and wholesaling industries on Friday 18 November at the Boulevard Centre in Floreat Park.
 
More than 40 people from a wide range of private, public and enterprise RTOs attended. The day was very successful and the feedback from participants and presenters was very positive.
 
Cameron Baker, the new General Manager, Skills and Engagement from the TLISC, attended for the first time and gave an update of the skills council’s focus, as well as training package updates.
 
Other presenters included Paul Gale (pictured below) from the Department and Workforce Development who gave a presentation on Skilling WA; Ian Kent from Toll Mining Services who spoke from an industry perspective; and Steve Bowler, a lawyer from Clayton Utz, who gave a WA perspective of the proposed national harmonisation of work health and safety laws.
 
Lucinda Pita from the Department of Training and Workforce Development and Jillian Dielesen from the LTC also provided relevant information and updates.
More details and presentations will be available on the website in due course.
 
Paul Gale (left) speaking at the LTC RTO Forum
 
 
 


The TLISC has released its 2011 Environmental Scan. The e-scan aims to provide contemporary and projected advice on the condition of Transport and Logistics sectors, their workforce planning and development needs and projected reliance on the national training system in the next 12 months.

http://www.tlisc.com.au/resources/TLISC_eScan_2011.pdf


 
 
The development of three new qualifications for Rail Infrastructure has been announced along with two new qualifications and a Skill Set for Rail Operations activities. A review was also conducted on the previously endorsed Rail Infrastructure Certificate II and III qualifications and related Skill Sets which resulted in a number of proposed improvements. For a detailed outline of those changes, please follow this link.

http://tlisc.com.au/index.php?menuID=402
 
 
 
 
The recently published document, Building Australia’s Future Workforce, outlines a number of initiatives that will have a direct bearing on the whole training sector in Australia, including of course, the transport and logistics sector.
 
Recent changes to the proposed plan, including the creation of Skills Connect, and the most relevant initiatives to our interests have been summarised and are available here www.logisticstc.asn.au/whatsnew.asp on the Logistics Training Council website.


 
 
 
 
 
Service Skills Australia (SSA) is the national body responsible for the Retail Training Package which applies to Wholesaling. As Wholesaling comes under the LTC’s banner, we must ensure that stakeholders are kept well informed of workforce development strategies and training initiatives.

A review has been undertaken investigating the possible causes of low level student enrolment and poor industry engagement in the wholesale sector. Wholesale qualifications had been available at Certificate II and III but industry consultation found strong support for consolidating the two qualifications into one. As a result, SSA has rebranded the qualification as ‘Business to Business Sales’ which will be delivered at Certificate III with no prerequisites needed. The new name appeals further to employers as not all classify themselves as wholesalers. The qualification includes new units that are more responsive to the needs of industry such as e-commerce and relationship building.

For an update on the 2011 environmental scan for wholesale please click on the link below:

http://www.serviceskills.com.au/sites/default/files/WholesaleRetailFloristryScan_Print.pdf
 
 

 

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