Date: 2007-07-09

Skills assessment changes for some Trade occupations from 1 September 2007


As of 1 September 2007 there will be new skills assessment arrangements for applicants from India, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, South Africa and the Philippines who wish to have their skills assessed for the General Skilled Migration programme in one of the following trade occupations:

o general electrician
o general plumber
o refrigeration and air-conditioning mechanic
o motor mechanic
o carpenter and joiner
o electrical powerline tradesperson
o cable jointer
o bricklayer

New assessing authority

Under this new service, applications from potential migrants in the above countries and trades will no longer be assessed by Trades Recogntion Australia. From 1 September 2007 applications will be assessed by the VETASSESS Consortium, a group of Australian registered training organisations.

Consortium members include Kangan Batman TAFE, Box Hill Institute of TAFE, Victoria University, Swan TAFE, Great Southern TAFE, South West Regional College and Central Gippsland TAFE.

Skills assessment

Under the new skills assessment service, there will be three assessment phases:

* A free self assessment tool for potential applicants to gauge their suitability for the assessment process (this will be available on the VETASSESS website).

* A paper based pre-assessment that would take into account qualifications and work experience in the relevant trade (applications accepted from 1 September 2007).

* A technical interview and in country practical assessment. (A schedule of visits to each of the five countries for 2007/08 will be published on the VETASSESS website.)

Assessment Standards

Occupational Action Groups comprising state government, industry regulators, state registering authorities and employer and employee representatives agreed the assessment standard for each occupation. Applicants seeking skills assessment in the trades of general electrician, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic, motor mechanic, carpenter and joiner, bricklayer, cable jointer and electrical powerline tradesperson will all be assessed against specified Certificate III training packages. Applicants seeking skills recognition as a general plumber will be assessed against specified streams of the Certificate III training package.
To ensure that applicants are fully aware of the skills required to meet Australian standards, applicants will be able to do a self-assessment of their skills and determine if they are ready to proceed to the assessment stage. These self-assessment tools will describe the critical competencies and major skill sets required to meet Australian standards.

The self assessment tools will be downloadable from the VETASSESS website or can be completed online through an interactive interface after 1 July 2007.
For more information, please go to Skills assessment for migration at www.vetassess.com.au and visit the Questions and Answers page.

SOURCE: http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/Programmes/TRA/3Newskillsassessmentservice.htm