Subsidised courses announced for Skills First program

The set list for the Skills First program, which aims to help people access vocational education and training, was recently released by the Department of Education and Training on 1 July 2021. The list includes courses and skill sets that are subsidised for students who start their training between 1 January and 31 December 2021.

Skills First skills sets are new, accredited short courses which are playing a valuable role in re-skilling and upskilling through:

• addressing a skills or knowledge gap
• addressing an emerging skills or knowledge need.

These skills sets are comprised of nationally recognised training units that can be used as building blocks to other full qualifications. A Statement of Attainment is provided upon completion of a skill set.

A selection of skill sets which may be of interest to health care providers including public hospitals and community service providers to promote upskilling of staff include:

Program code	Program name
22277VIC	Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officer (Acute Health Setting)
22469VIC	Introduction to the National Disability Insurance Scheme
22510VIC	Identifying and Responding to Family Violence Risk
22521VIC	Gender Equity
22529VIC	Performing Allied Health Tasks and Supporting People with Disability
22530VIC	Identifying, reporting and preventing abuse and/or grooming of people with disabilities
22531VIC	Culturally considerate disability support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
22532VIC	Supporting people with Psychosocial disability
22540VIC	Supporting people with complex personal care needs, including behaviours of concern
22558VIC	Supporting people with disability to use medications
22561VIC	Intermediate risk assessment and management of family violence risk
CHCSS00079	Homelessness support work

Additional courses are listed on the Department of Education and Training’s website, click here to view them.

Eligibility:

To be eligible for a Skills First skill set, you must be:

• An Australian citizen or permanent resident; or
• A New Zealand citizen; or
• An Asylum seeker (as part of the Asylum Seeker VET Program under Skills First).

Age or existing qualifications does not affect eligibility to participate in training, however, may impact the fee involved. Prospective, eligible students are eligible to start up to two skills sets per calendar year.

Costs:

Fees are variable based on the following factors:

• tuition fees determined by the training provider
• eligibility for a Skills First concession fee reduction
• eligibility of the prospective student under the JobTrainer fund
• normal amenities/material fees may be charged.

For more information regarding training providers and availability of skills sets, please refer to the Victorian Skills Gateway.

AFS stay abreast of any opportunities within the health and social assistance sector, particularly education, so we can continue to communicate how these may be of interest to your organisation.

If you have any questions regarding the Skills First program or how you can benefit from this opportunity, please contact Amelia Matic on 03 5443 0344 or email afs@afsbendigo.com.au