TAFE Conference a success

News Extra

Victorian Body Trades TAFE Teachers recently hosted the 16th Biennial Body Trades TAFE Teachers Conference at the Holiday Inn in Melbourne in January.
Panel beating, vehicle painting, vehicle trimming and body making teachers from The Gordon Institute, Central Gippsland Institute, University of Ballarat, Kangan Batman Institute and Bendigo Regional Institute recently came together to put on the conference for the Body Trades TAFE Teachers of Australia.
The conference was a huge success, said Garry Edwards, conference convenor, with delegates coming from all over Australia for the five days. The theme of the conference was 'The Body Trades TAFE Teacher in the New Millennium'.
The conference gives body trades teachers the opportunity to come together every two years to discuss issues pertaining to vocational education, training and new technology within the body trades areas. It is also seen as a great opportunity to give collision repair and body trades suppliers the opportunity to talk to TAFE teachers from across Australia at the one venue. The delegates also have the opportunity to break into their particular study areas to discuss matters that relate to their particular vocation within the industry.
The conference gathered great support from sponsors, said Edwards, with the main supporters being PPG, AAMI, 3M, Wurth, BTB Auto Glass, SIKA, Motex, K&H , Kangan Batman TAFE, Bendigo Regional Institute, Snap On, BOC Safety, Standox, DuPont, Akzo Nobel, VACC, GPI, Cormack Anest Iwata, Preston Motors, FABTEX, PACER, RUPES, Independent Body Repairers, Weld Services, FESTOOL, ITW, Car-O-Liner, Automotive Training Victoria and Automotive Training Australia.
"We received great support from a lot of other companies as well," said Edwards, "Including fantastic support from many of our student's employers. We asked them for a small donation and they came good. Without this fantastic support, we just couldn't run the conference."
Kim Bannikoff, newly-appointed Victorian director, Employment, Training and Tertiary Education (EETE), opened the conference and welcomed the delegates to Victoria. He was followed by Adrian Stephens, representing the Australian National Training Authority, who gave the keynote address, 'Where is Vocational Education and Training going in the 21st Century?'
Mike Horton, general manager, automotive refinish, PPG Industries Australia, presented the delegates with a snap shot of where the Australian collision repair industry is going in the next five years and created huge discussion amongst those in attendance, said Edwards.
The next guest speaker was John Parish, director of Kangan Batman Institute of TAFE in Melbourne. Parish, an ex-panel beating teacher, was able to give delegates an institute director's perspective on where the body trades teacher is going in the 21st century.
Representing Automotive Training Australia (ATA), Brenton Pilkington, chief executive officer, Automotive Training Board South Australia, gave the delegates an overview and update of where the Training Package review stands at the moment. This certainly created further discussion throughout the conference and Pilkington was able to take many of the recommendations back to his RS&R Training Package Continuous review group.
There were many other guest speakers throughout the conference, including presentations from Automotive Training Australia, WorkSafe Victoria, BOC Safety, 3M Australia and Motex. One highlight was certainly the presentation by Graham McDougall from BMW Australia, who gave a fascinating presentation on BMW technology relating to body manufacture and repair.
"Another highlight was the industry representation on our panels and forums," said Edwards. "If we were going to discuss issues relating to our current training system, then we wanted industry representation on our panels and forums. The session titled 'Training Packages and Vocational Education and Training through the Eyes of Employers' involved Andy Holzer from Inkerman Panels, Alan Costello from Surrey PanelCare, Graeme Hemley from Paratus Industries and Andrew O'Hoy from Vawdrey Australia as panel members. They were able to give delegates an idea of how the training system worked for their organisation and put forward improvement opportunities which created great interest amongst the delegates in attendance."
Geoff Gwilym, manager, Employment Education & Training at the VACC, was the facilitator for the session on 'Attracting and Maintaining Young People in the Body Trades and Collision Repair Industry'.
Panel members included Maureen Joseph from AAMI, Garry Carlton from Automotive Training Australia (ATA), Tim Loden from Akzo Nobel, John Howes from Uneeda Body Works, Geoff Collins from the VACC and Steve Wells from PPG Industries.
This session gave panel members the opportunity to present delegates with their organisation's contribution to attracting and maintaining young people in the industry. Maureen Joseph talked about the very successful AAMI Apprenticeship program, Geoff Collins spoke on the VACC's approach to attracting young people into the industry and Steve Wells from PPG and Tim Loden from Akzo Nobel spoke about their respective companies' scholarship programs for apprentice vehicle painters.
The Richmond Campus of Kangan Batman Institute of TAFE was the venue for the trade day, where suppliers and sponsors were invited to set up a display and discuss new technology, products and services with all delegates.
At the close of the conference, recommendations were put forward by each study area trade group, and South Australia put its hand up to host the 2004 conference.
For further information on this year's conference or the 2004 conference, contact Garry Edwards at Kangan Batman Institute of TAFE, Melbourne, tel: (03) 9350 1244.