As part of a growing Australia-wide backlash against the forecast changes, the group gathered in Melbourne last week to discuss the impact funding cuts would mean to jewellery apprentice placements.
Industry sources say the Victorian State Government’s proposed cutbacks in TAFE funding, combined with lower numbers of jewellery workshops taking on apprentices, means that the two usual pathways to training as a jeweller or metal artisan are under threat.
The Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE (NMIT), one of only five TAFEs in Australia training apprentices, has formally put the jewellery industry on notice of its imminent “wind-back” of apprentice training. A check with TAFE colleges in other states by the Gold and Silversmiths Guild of Australia (GSGA), indicates a similar precarious situation.
The second training pathway is the Advanced Diploma in Jewellery making, a two-year full-time course covering hand skills, design and business skills, culminating in a graduate exhibition. Already, at the Royal Melbourne Institute of TAFE (RMIT), this course has been combined with the ceramics department and is no longer a standalone Gold and Silversmithing Diploma.
Attending the meeting at GAA House in Melbourne were representatives from major industry bodies including the GSGA, JAA, GAA, NMIT and the Australian Education Union.
Items for discussion included the viability of the current training system, alternative training options, funding options and the possible establishment of a Group Training Organisation to keep the apprenticeship system going.
The group received an update from the coordinator of the jewellery department of NMIT on the funding parameters and the future outlook. Input was also received from Southbank TAFE in Queensland and Peter Keep of CIT TAFE in WA.
An outcome from the meeting was that the industry bodies would work together to negotiate with governments to ensure the valuable resources didn’t disappear.
Comments have ranged from a proposed tax on imports to help pay for local apprenticeship training, to looking overseas for successful training models.
Further information about the meeting at GAA House, and a detailed background document on the impact of changes to TAFE funding can be found on the
GSGA website.
What do you think? Login and have "Your Say"