The VET Sector News II-August 2021

National Skills Week 2021: RETHINK your ideas

National Skills Week, which is now in its eleventh year, will once again aim to bring to life the positive messages by exposing the talents, skills, career routes, and worth of apprentices and trainees across Australia to the general public and business community.

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Automation, COVID-19, and labour markets

Rapid technological progress poses challenges for labour markets. Automation can both displace and create jobs. Currently, an unprecedented digitalization of our economy is underway. Artificial intelligence [AI] has become a reality and machines are able to learn how to outperform humans in some cognitive tasks. This ongoing technological transformation of work can interact with the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic shock resulting in fewer jobs for the less educated and low-skilled workers as well as a further decline in the labour share of national income.

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COVID-19 has widened Australia’s educational digital divide. But one program is closing the gap

Right across the country, it’s a similar struggle. An estimated one in three Indigenous children does not have the internet at home.

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Australia’s education exports plunge by a third

Australia’s education exports have plunged by a third due to the international border closure, with ­revenue dropping to $26.7bn in the year to June, down from $40.3bn recorded in calendar 2019. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show its largest service ­export sector is mainly made up of international student spending on tuition fees, rent, travel costs and other living expenses.

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Rudd joins $622m education start-up board after big raising

Education technology platform Crimson Education has secured $23.8 million in a funding round led by HEAL Partners, valuing the New Zealand-based start-up at more than half a billion dollars, and adding former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd to its advisory board.

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Cost Recovery Implementation Statement (CRIS) for the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS)

The Department of Education, Skills and Employment have issued a draft of proposed charges for CRICOS registered institutions, after a two-year suspension of the ARC (Annual Registration Charge). Feedback on the Exposure Draft of the CRIS is requested by 5 pm AEST MONDAY 23 AUGUST 2021. Please use the response template to provide feedback.

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UQ leads climate action as first Australian university to provide Carbon Literacy training

Helping individuals and organisations tackle the climate crisis is the focus of an Australian-first training program adopted by The University of Queensland.

After a successful pilot, UQ Business School became an accredited partner with the Carbon Literacy Project as the first university in Australia to launch a Carbon Literacy Program.

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Consider changes to Australia’s skilled migration program, Canberra urged

The Australian government should consider changes to post-study work arrangements for students on courses leading to jobs in occupations with a “persistent skills shortage” or those who graduated in the top 10% of their courses or achieved first class honours, a report has recommended.

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International students, temporary migrants may gain from changes proposed to the migration program as 500,000 migrants leave Australia

Over half-a-million migrants have left Australia since the start of the pandemic, creating a huge skill deficit in the country. Experts say international students and temporary migrants seeking permanent residency could emerge as the biggest beneficiaries if the government accepts the recommendations made by a Joint Standing Committee on Migration.

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Only Victoria has the deep skills to lead on Messenger RNA technology (mRNA) development

Messenger RNA technology (mRNA) has demonstrated the ability to change the timeline for developing and delivering a new vaccine from years to months.

It represents one of the greatest scientific accomplishments of our generation. Where we place and operate an mRNA vaccine facility is a critical decision for the future of the nation and for the security and welfare of the population.

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Privacy concerns as students are given access to all University of Sydney IDs

Concerns over the University of Sydney’s data management have been raised after a database of UniKeys was found to be openly accessible to students.

Until last Friday, the University’s Services Portal provided access to a searchable list of UniKeys indexed to their owners. This includes those of undergraduates, postgraduates, recent graduates, professional and teaching staff, and management.

While not sensitive information in itself, a UniKey is a unique identifier which could expose individuals to identity theft and unauthorised access to personal data.

“It’s pretty easy to manipulate,” one student said. “If someone gets access to someone’s University account, they can do things like email spoofing or access bank account details, HECS debt, and other personal information.”

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Make the move to USI web services version 4

USI web services version 3 will be decommissioned in October 2021. Web Services version 4 went live on 30 September 2020. All providers who use the USI Registry System through their student management systems will need to move to the latest version.

New providers who onboarded after the latest version was introduced will be using version 4 and do not need to make any changes.

To find out if your student management system is using the most up to date version of web services, talk to your software developer (digital service provider). For any queries, contact us at IT@usi.gov.au