More than 130 people attended the 2008 NSW Utilities and Electrotechnology ITAB Annual conference over two days in July at Crown Plaza Hotel, Hunter Valley.

The conference, with the theme ‘Making Training Work”. was well attended by industry, TAFE teachers and managers and training package developers, with the ITAB’s Chairman Rob Alexander and other Board Members taking on the MC duties.

David Collins, General Manager, NSW DET State Training Services opened the conference with the NSW Strategic VET Plan for Vocational Education and Training 2008-2010 (Download Presentation). Then Alan Gregory, Water Theme Leader, CSIRO gave us an outside perspective of Future Tends in Utilities Service Provisions (Download Presentation).

Other presentations on the day covered;

• TAFE NSW: Doing Business in the 21st Century initiative (Phil Cox, Institute Director, TAFE – Hunter Institute: Download Presentation)
• A Case Study: managing Effective Industry & RTO Partnerships (Grant Palmer, Training & Education Leader, Connell Wagner: Download Presentation)
• Using “Recognition of Prior Learning” to increase capacity (Paul Dollison, Senior Coordinator, Country Energy: Download Presentation)
• Industry Skills Councils and Workforce Development – Skilling Australia for the Future strategy (Bob Taylor Chief Executive Officer, EE_Oz Training Standards: Download Presentation)
• Increasing opportunity for industry through “User Choice” funding (John Skeen, Manager, Training Programs Unit, NSW DET: Download Presentation)
• Targeting Skills Needs in Regions – a cross industry recruitment strategy for regional NSW, Joe Calabrese: Download Presentation)
• Plugging in to Core Skills – Language Literacy & Numeracy in the Workplace (Louse Wignall, Director, Wignall Consulting Services: Download Presentation)

Following the main program the conference then split into two workshops:

• Recognising and Rewarding Excellent Electrical Apprentices Chaired by Phil Moore, NSW Commissioner for Vocational training, Julie Frail, Assistant Director, Educational Programs, Thomas St Cluster, NSW TAFE & Geoff Eastman, Manager in Construction & Engineering, NSW Industrial Division, Downer Engineering Power
• Green Skills Strategy Forum: Priorities for green skilling of the NSW energy, gas and water workforce Martina Rienzner, Senior Project Manager, NSW DET (Download Presentation)

On the second day of the conference the focus was on separate workshops. Delegates divided into industry specific training themes to discuss priorities for Gas, Water, Electrotechnology and Electricity Supply Industry Sectors. The ITAB will be working closely with industry to assist with these priorities.

The conference was made possible thanks to the support of our sponsors; Energy Australia, Country Energy, E Oz Training Standards, NECA NSW Group Training, Future Plus Financial Services, Hunter Water, Government Skills Australia and was supported by NSW Department of Education and Training.

Photos from the Conference
 

 
Visit the Annual Conference 2007 Overview.