Industries unite to back youth

ENCOURAGING young people to reach their full potential was the theme behind the South Gippsland Bass Coast Local Learning and Employment Network annual general meeting recently.
The workforce is changing, and 32 people from a range of learning and employment industries attended the meeting to learn how to navigate young people to success.
“The South Gippsland Bass Coast Local Learning and Employment Network is a unique organisation. It doesn’t deliver services, but works in partnerships to respond to issues affecting young people and their access to education,” network executive officer Wendy Major said.
The venue for the meeting was the Victorian Desalination Plant in Wonthaggi.
This venue was chosen due to its employment links for young people in areas such as science and engineering, as well the network’s ongoing partnership with WaterSure.
“Ultimately, the desalination plant is a worksite and contributes to the education of young people in the pursuit of a future career,” Ms Major said.
“The venue we hold our meetings at is often used as a learning tool to help stimulate engaging conversation topics for our members.”
WaterSure’s community liaison officer Rosemary Swart was invited to the meeting as a guest speaker, along with Maggie Hill from the Foundation for Young Australians.
Ms Swart spoke about her role with WaterSure, which looks after the plant for AquaSure.
WaterSure has an ongoing partnership with Wonthaggi Secondary College and schools across the region, which helps students access the plant.
Through WaterSure, young people learn about occupational health and safety, are exposed to the workforce, and are given opportunities to access the lab.
Ms Hill engaged the audience with information about the New Work Mindset.
Nowadays, more industries are looking for skill sets rather than qualifications. Ms Hill spoke about her research pulling apart job advertisements to identify clusters of skill sets that are in high demand.
These clusters include carers, generators, artisans, designers, informers, technologists and coordinators.
Ms Major said the guest speakers were enjoyed by the attendees, who were given the tools to help drive young people to greater success.
Highlights from the year were also discussed at the meeting, including the further development of the Structured Workplace Learning program, the delivery of new training opportunities in recently constructed VET trade training facilities, and the relocation to Ogilvy Street, Leongatha, alongside the Trade Skills Alliance.

Inspiring change: from left, WaterSure plant director Greig Mercer, WaterSure community liaison officer Rosemary Swart, the Foundation for Young Australian’s general manager for public affairs and marketing Maggie Hill, the South Gippsland Bass Coast Local Learning and Employment Network’s outgoing chair Barbara Look and executive officer Wendy Major offered information about the changing workforce and education opportunities at the South Gippsland Bass Coast Local Learning and Employment Network’s recent annual general meeting. The incoming chair of the network is Peter Francis (absent).

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Jul 4 2017. Filed under Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry