News Stories

2010 myfuture Video Competition

The 2010 myfuture Student Video Competition is now open.

Click here to find out more about the myfuture Video Competition.

Applications now open for the Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN) Practitioner Scholarships Program

Applications are now open for the Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN) Practitioner Scholarships Program

This program was included in the ‘Building the Basics Package’ component of the ‘Jobs and Training Compact’, announced in the 2009-10 Federal Budget. Its primary objective is to provide an incentive for individuals to enter the adult LLN practitioner field by supporting them to undertake approved study towards an adult LLN practitioner qualification.

The program is specifically targeted at:
• new entrants (individuals with no prior qualifications as teachers or trainers) who wish to gain an adult LLN qualification and enter the field;
• vocational trainers wishing to gain an adult LLN specialisation and enter the field; and
• individuals with prior relevant training (eg generalist teachers) wishing to ‘up-skill’ into an adult LLN specialisation with the intention of entering the field.

Indigenous people are also encouraged to apply within each of these categories.

The first application round under the program is now open. Applications are invited from eligible individuals who are interested in undertaking an approved course of study in adult LLN, commencing in the second half of 2010.

Successful scholarship recipients will receive up to $5,250 toward tuition fees and eligible study expenses.

The program guidelines, a link to the online application form and other relevant information is available from http://www.deewr.gov.au/llnscholarships.
For further information, email llnscholarships@deewr.gov.au or phone (02) 6240 9790.

Applications must be received by 5.00pm (AEST) on Friday 30 April 2010.

Compact with Young Australians: New Education and Training Requirements for 15 to 24 year olds

Early school leavers and young people without Year 12 or equivalent qualifications are particularly vulnerable to the labour market effects of an economic downturn.

On 30 April 2009 the Australian, State and Territory Governments, through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), agreed to a Compact with Young Australians to increase young people's engagement with education and training pathways. This joint action will ensure that as the economy recovers from the global recession, young Australians will have the skills required to realise their potential.

The Compact with Young Australians focuses on the importance of education and training for young people by supporting young people to gain skills and knowledge through stronger engagement in education, training and employment. Under the Compact:

• all young people will be required to complete Year 10 through a National Youth Participation Requirement and then to be in full time education, training or employment until the age of 17
• 15 to 24 year olds will have access to an education or training entitlement
• changed conditions to Youth Allowance (Other) and Family Tax Benefit (Part A) for young people aged under 21 without Year 12 or an equivalent qualification, making education and training a precondition for income support.

For more details, visit: Compact for Young Australians

Upgrade your career development skills and qualifications: Certificate IV materials now launched online

Australia's first Certificate IV in Career Development was finalised late last year and is being offiered by RTOs across the country.

Work on the learning guides to support sixteen specified units of the Certificate IV began in October 2007. A team of Australia's leading career development experts selected nine elective subjects, clustered the seven compulsory units, and has monitored the writing of a total of seven guides. The Certificate IV learning guides are now available as free downloads from www.career.edu.au. A limited number of CD-ROMs of the guides will also be available while stocks last.

The Certificate IV in Career Development has been included in the Productivity Places Program (PPP), which provides new training places in industries experiencing skills shortages.

Support materials for the fore-runner of the Certificate IV, Australian Career Development Studies (ACDS), will continue to be freely available from the website. Visit www.career.edu.au for more information and to download the learning guides.

Finding Your Passion

In an edited extract of a speech in The Australian, July 29 2008, Condoleezza Rice, the first female secretary of state of the US, has some succinct career advice. She advises students at Perth's Mercedes College to find their passon, to figure out what they really love to do and then to do it well. Her advice is to explore everything before them and to reject limits imposed on particular groups.

'It doesn't matter where you came from. It matters where you are going.'

Read more at The Australian.

New Parent Articles

Are you an Assister? Then why not check out our new Parent Articles section! Within our new Assist Others section of myfuture you will find some great new career ideas to research and explore. Our new Career Development Today, Support Your Child and Activities tabs contain a wealth of information for those who are helping a friend, child or family member to explore or choose a new career path.

The Revised Professional Standards for Australian Career Development Practitioners: Ensuring Quality of Career Development Practice and Services

The Revised Professional Standards of Australian Career Development Practitioners (2007) will provide Australians with assurance that career development services provided by CICA members are supported by published ethical and professional standards and fully implemented by 2012. A complete pdf version of the document, supporting CICA Policy and Procedure Statements on Professional Qualifications and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) are now available on the CICA website at www.cica.org.au.

The main change to be found in the revised standards 2007 booklet is in Section 4: Entry level qualifications, where the original four categories concerning qualifications of practitioners have been consolidated into two - Professional and Associate.