Title:Employability Skills TrainingWebinar Session
I’d like to welcome you to today’s webinar session on the Request for Proposal for the Employability Skills Training Panel 2017-2020.
Before we commence, I’d like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which we meet today. I would also like to pay respect to their Elders, both past and present, and to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who are in attendance.
Today we will provide you with information on the Employability Skills Training Panel 2017-2020, including outlining the Government’s broader expectations for the PaTH Strategy. We will also provide you with details on the procurement process that was released on 25 October 2016.
The Department of Employment is committed to ensuring the Employability Skills Training Panel 2017-2020 procurement process is conducted in a fair and transparent manner. The Department has appointed Maddocks Lawyers as the independent Probity Adviser to assist and monitor the Department’s compliance with probity principles.
We recognise that you will have questions and we will answer as many as possible today, but there may be some that we need to take on notice and come back to you with a response. Responses will be published on the Employment Services Procurement Information website. Respondents are encouraged to regularly check this site for publication of new responses. A list of Questions and Answers are already currently available on this website.
If you have further questions following today’s session, you may send them by email to the Employment Services Purchasing Hotline. A slide at the end of today’s presentation has the contact details for both the Employment Services Procurement Information website and the Employment Services Purchasing Hotline. The addresses are also set out in the Request for Proposal under “Contact Details”.
A copy of the PowerPoint slides used in this presentation will be available on the Department’s website after all the sessions have been delivered.
Title:Overview
In today’s presentation I will be outlining the Employability Skills Training program, the Department’s broader service delivery expectations, what Providers will be required to cover in the training blocks, as well as pricing and how and when payments will be made to providers by the Department.
I’ll also cover the Department’s expectations of providers’ geographical coverage for training and what we are expecting to see in your responses to the Request for Proposal.
Title:Overview of Employability Skills Training (EST)
I will start with an overview of Employability Skills Training, or EST.
EST is part of the Youth Jobs PaTH budget measure which forms the core of the Government’s Youth Employment Package, announced in the 2016-17 Federal Budget. The PaTH will:
•help young people become more competitive in the labour market
•be flexible, allowing employment service providers and job seekers to flexibly use all elements of the programme so it best suits the job seeker’s needs, and
•offer stronger incentives for businesses to hire job seekers
It comprises three elements:
- Prepare: Employability Skills Training to help young job seekers understand the expectations of employers in recruitment processes and in the workplace
- Trial: Voluntary Internships of four to 12 weeks to give young job seekers a chance to demonstrate their skills in the workplace where there is reasonable prospect of subsequent employment
- Hire: A new Youth Bonus Wage Subsidy of up to $10,000 to support the employment of young people
The slide shows a Venn diagram of the way the Prepare element, or EST, is linked to both the Trial and Hire elements of the Youth Jobs PaTH.
PaTH was developed in response to feedback from Industry as well as Employer Surveys and other research. Feedback has consistently identified the need for young job seekers to improve their employability skills and level of experience. In particular, young people often lack work experience and fall short of employers’ expectations in terms of positive attitude to work, reliability, personal presentation, and motivation.
The Prepare element of the Youth Jobs PaTH will equip young people to understand and meet the expectations that employers have of job applicants during the recruitment process and of new employees in the workplace, and to be aware of and pursue employment opportunities in their region, including how they relate to the development of sustainable employment and career development.
The RFP includes program design amendments resulting from stakeholder feedback to the EST Consultation Paper released in August 2016. I’d like to thank those who provided a response to the Consultation. Overall the feedback was positive and supported the general approach outlined in the paper.
The most common feedback was the need to be flexible to allow for different models of delivery to meet the entry-level requirements of particular industries, and that the training fee needed to be increased to ensure the training is of high quality. I’ll expand on these changes as we work through the presentation.
EST Providers will be expected to accept referrals from jobactive providers and begin delivering courses from April 2017.
To participate in EST, a young job seeker must be aged 15-24 and referred to EST by their jobactive provider.
EST providers will be delivering this training to a diverse cohort. This will include young people with either no or varying levels of formal educational attainment, those who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse, homeless or having a disability – or any combination of these factors. Job seekers will not be required to undertake the training where they already have sufficient work experience and employability skills or where they are experiencing employment barriers (such as language, literacy and numeracy skills, and homelessness or domestic violence) that need to be addressed first.
Training will be delivered in two blocks. The first block of training (training block 1) will focus on pre-employment skills and preparing job seekers to meet the needs of employers. The second block of training (training block 2) will focus on young job seekers gaining a sharper understanding of the labour market so they can identify and pursue sustainable employment opportunities. I will go into each block in more detail shortly.
Title:Employability Skills Training – Service Delivery
In response to feedback on the Consultation Paper, EST respondents may now propose to deliver:
•either one or both blocks of training. If proposing to deliver one block of training only, you must identify which training block you intend to deliver in your response.
•services either across the entire Employment Region or only in one part of that region.
It should be noted that all elements of the Youth Jobs PaTH package can be delivered flexibly depending on the work readiness and individual needs of the job seeker. For example job seekers can undertake Training Block One followed by an Internship and then Training Block Two; or do both Training Blocks in succession; or move straight to an internship and then a job with a Youth Bonus Wage Subsidy.
As such, your response should demonstrate you can design and deliver the relevant Training Block(s) you propose in your response. Respondents have the flexibility to propose how they will design and deliver courses that meet content and delivery requirements set out in the RFP (Sections 2.3 and Section 3).
Respondents should note that training must be delivered face-to-face rather than online. There may be scope for additional optional online learning modules, but these must not be used to substitute for the required number of contact hours.
The training must be delivered in a group setting which should be tailored to the needs of each individual. Industry awareness experiences may be offered in Training Block One and must be offered in Training Block Two.
Each training block must be delivered for 25 hours per week for three weeks for job seekers with full participation requirements. For job seekers with a partial participation requirement, each training block must be delivered for 15 hours per week for five weeks. (see Section 2.3.2.2).
Training blocks(s) should be able to be tailored for delivery to job seekers with reduced participation requirements. Note that the proportion of job seekers who are anticipated to have partial participation requirement is very small – 1.1 per cent of the indicative eligible job seekers (see Appendix E of the RFP).
Providers must assess job seekers to determine whether they have achieved the required learning outcomes from the relevant training block and determine if the job seeker is ready to apply their skills in a job or work experience opportunity. Section 2.3.2.4 of the RFP provides further information on assessment of learning outcomes.
Job seekers will not be expected to travel for more than 90 minutes each way, by their usual mode of transport, to attend the training.
Additional Training Content
Respondents are encouraged to offer additional content to enhance job seekers’ employability, beyond the required content for each training block. This may take the form of industry specific training such as a White Card (construction) or a Responsible Service of Alcohol, elements that could also meet the core content requirements for the training blocks.
Industry Awareness Experiences
The aim of industry awareness experiences is to provide job seekers with an insight into the tasks and duties of different occupations and industries highlight the expectations of working in those industries and help identify the job seeker’s interests and aptitude. Industry awareness experiences could take the form of employer visits to the training environment, creating workplace environments, group tours of workplaces or short work experience opportunities.
For Training block one, industry awareness experiences may be used, however block two training must include industry awareness experiences. In your response you are required to outline what form these industry awareness experiences will take and how they will operate.
EST Providers will be required to appoint a Competent Person to undertake all Risk Assessments. For industry awareness experiences conducted off site at an employer or business premises, there are additional Health and Safety requirements EST providers will need to undertake. The Competent Person will identify all relevant risks, and determine appropriate actions to mitigate these risks. EST Providers will be required to ensure that such actions are taken.
Title:Training Blocks
I will now go into more detail about the training blocks.
Training block one will focus on pre-employment skills and preparing job seekers to meet the needs of employers. This training block will consist of 75 contact hours in total. Job Seekers will develop their knowledge, understanding and experience in basic employability skills such as teamwork, communication, personal presentation, reliability and digital literacy. Training in these skills will be as work-like as possible.
EST Providers will deliver this training in either the context of a specific industry’s work environment (e.g. retail, hospitality, construction) or in the context of a mix of industries and occupations that address the needs of a broad range of employers. Further details of Training Block One requirements can be found at Section 2.3.3 of the Request for Proposal.
Training Block One content must cover the ten core skills for work listed in the Core Skills for Work Developmental Framework. Delivery of Training Block One must be contextualised to the work environment. Respondents are expected to offer a range of training methodologies, such as interactive, experimental and scenario based learning.
Training block two will focus on Job Seekers gaining a sharper understanding of the labour market so they can identify and pursue sustainable employment opportunities. This training block will also consist of 75 contact hours in total. Training Block Two will focus on advanced job search skills, job preparation, career development and interview skills. Further details of requirements can be found at Section 2.3.4 of the Request for Proposal. Content requirements are provided at Section 2.3.4.1 and delivery at Section 2.3.4.2 noting that Training Block Two must include involvement from employers and industry awareness experiences.
Title:Pricing
This Request for Proposal is subject to price competition and respondents must bid within the maximum pricing structure. In response to feedback from the Consultation Paper, the Department has increased the maximum amount payable for delivering the training. The maximum amount for Training Block 1 is higher in recognition that the content being delivered is more specialised and that Providers delivering this training will be expected to work with jobactive providers to identify employment, internship and work experience opportunities for job seekers to be placed into following successful completion of the training block. Prospective training providers may offer to deliver the training for a lower price, thereby increasing their competitiveness.
•Training block one maximum amount payable (including GST)
•Regional $1,260.90
•Non-regional $1,009.25
•Block two training maximum amount payable (including GST)
•Regional $1,008.70
•Non-regional $807.40
Please note that the pricing for Training block two in regional areas has been amended from the original RFP from $1,008.90 to $1,008.70. An addendum has been issued to this effect.
Title:Payments
The Department will pay 50 per cent of the respective price per job seeker on commencement of the job seeker in the training block (Commencement Payment) and 50 per cent of the respective price per job seeker only on the job seeker’s completion of the training block (Completion Payment).
Respondents should note that the Department has set the following maximum and minimum job seeker numbers:
•Optimal number of job seekers per course in a training block is 12
•Maximum number of job seekers for each training course is 15
•Minimum number of job seekers for each training course and for which the Department will pay a commencement fee is:
•Regional areas – 8
•Non-regional areas – 10
The Department reserves the right to put in place special arrangements regarding group size if the number of eligible job seekers in an Employment Region is very low.
Title:Employment Region Coverage
The Department is seeking to establish a Panel of EST providers to deliver the services in each of the 51 Employment Regions around Australia. The Department’s intent is to select at least three EST providers for each Employment Region, however the final number selected for each Region will be at the Department’s discretion.
EST Providers will be required to use appropriate facilities in the Employment Region(s). Where EST providers are appointed to deliver across a full Employment Region, they will be expected to have adequate delivery sites to ensure access for job seekers across that region, noting that job seekers are not required to travel more than 90 minutes each way, by their usual mode of transport, to attend training.
Respondents must identify, through the Coverage and Price Form:
•Each Employment Region the response covers
•If the intent is to deliver full or partial coverage for each Employment Region applied for
•Where proposing to deliver partial coverage, the respondent must identify the specific location(s) within the Employment Region(s). A description of the area within the Employment Region they intend to deliver EST must be included
•The training blocks they propose to deliver in each Employment Region
•Identify their price per job seeker for each training block and Employment Region proposed.
Respondents can specify conditionality of coverage in nominated Employment Region(s). This means that respondents can offer to deliver the services in an Employment Region(s) only if they are appointed to the EST Panel to deliver services in another Employment Region(s). Any proposed conditionality of coverage must be specified in the response.
Respondents should note that the Department reserves the right to negotiate with them in relation to the location(s) as nominated in their response where the Department considers, in its absolute discretion, that it is necessary to do so in order to achieve the objectives of this RFP process and the delivery of Employability Skills Training.
We are in the process of publishing a link to an interactive map of the Employment Regions on the Employment Services Procurement Information website to allow prospective respondents to examine the Employment Regions in more detail. We are also looking into providing a list of all Australian suburbs by Employment Region.
Title:Probity and Purchasing Arrangements
Title:Probity and Purchasing Overview
In this part of the session I will cover:
•the objectives of the Request for Proposal process, including factors that will be taken into account in assessing value for money
•probity principles
•communication protocol
•some aspects of electronic lodgement, including use of 360Pro, and the RFP closing time