Manufacturing and Engineering Transition Project Progress

View Project Overview (and Outcome)

August 2019: Update on feedback from the first round of consultation

The Manufacturing & Engineering IRC has been seeking feedback from industry & other stakeholders about changes to training products proposed to form the basis of Release 3 of MEM. These consultations were conducted with over 170 stakeholders who attended face-to-face consultations, webinars and industry meetings across the country over 8 weeks. The majority of participants were associated with Registered Training Organisations. Many of the participants also provided additional feedback about Release 2 of MEM which was endorsed by the AISC in April.

The feedback showed that RTO’s were particularly concerned about how some of the changes to MEM R2 & R3 would be treated insofar as ASQA compliance requirements were concerned. Primarily, the concerns centred around changes to pre-requisites and the addition of workplace practice requirements to some units the MEM IRC considered to be central to the trade qualifications.

The feedback provided has been considered at a meeting of the IRC who were concerned about the potential for the changes to be misinterpreted.

To that end, the IRC has determined to prioritise the dissemination of detailed advice to Industry, Training Providers, STA’s and ASQA and other regulatory bodies outlining the rationale for the changes, how the IRC anticipates the changes should be implemented, and some strategies designed to reduce the regulatory burden associated with the changes.

In the first instance the advisory material will concentrate on:

• Information associated with the introduction of workplace practice requirements.
• Information about the changes to prerequisite units

We anticipate these materials will be available by the end of October.

The MEM IRC also considered feedback that appears to indicate that, in the case of products associated with the Technical qualifications and units, some of the changes are worthy of reconsideration, which the MEM IRC has committed itself to.

It is expected that the next round of MEM Release 3 drafts will be available for consultation late in September for submission to the AISC in November 2019.

The IRC welcomes and appreciates the effort that many stakeholders have applied to their engagement in this process and is keen to continue to work with them to ensure that the MEM Training Package continues to serve the industry well into the future.

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August 2019: Consultation

Consultation for Draft 1 training package components for the Manufacturing and Engineering Transition Project, Release 3.0, ended on Monday 5 August 2019. 

Thank you to those stakeholders who provided comment. Broad consultation was undertaken which involved draft components being made available via the website, along with face to face workshops and national webinars to gather feedback. 

All feedback was considered by the project Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and materials updated as required. 

MEM Release 2.0 

The AISC has approved the Case for Endorsement for Release 2.0 of the MEM Manufacturing and Engineering Training Package. 

This release includes 18 Qualifications and 449 Units from the MEM05 Training Package. 

Thanks to all members of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and Manufacturing and Engineering Industry Reference Committee (IRC) who have given so freely of their time to shape the changes. Thanks must also go to all stakeholders who provided comment throughout the project. 

Release 2.0 of the MEM Manufacturing and Engineering Training Package is now available on the national register, training.gov.au. 

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June 2019: MEM Release 3.0 Public consultation – Round 1 now open, seeking your feedback

First draft training package components for the MEM Release 3.0 transition project are currently available for review until Monday 5 August 2019. Click HERE to access the consultation paper and links to the documents.

Summary to Date
The MEM Release 3.0 transition project involves:

The qualifications and associated units have been reviewed and redeveloped with modified core unit requirements to meet the Standards for Training Packages 2012. Based on industry advice new units have been created, some units are proposed to be merged to better reflect workplace practice and there are units are proposed for deletion. The affected training package components lie in the following main segments:

• Boating Services
• Engineering Technical
• Locksmithing
• Jewellery Manufacture
• Pre-Employment
• Trades
• Cotton Ginning & Textile Mechanic
• Manufacturing Technology

The outcome of this work is that:

• core unit content has been strengthened to reflect industry requirements
• assessment requirements have been strengthened to meet industry needs
• units are easier to read and understand
• repetition and duplication have been reduced across the training package

Providing Feedback
We will be conducting forums and webinars to outline the key changes for the MEM Training Package. To register your attendance at one of these sessions, please click here.

Feedback should be emailed to [email protected] by Monday 5 August 2019.

When providing your feedback, please add the name of the discussion paper in the subject line of the email. Please provide both feedback regarding further suggested changes as well as your agreement with what has been proposed.

It is just as important for us to receive feedback telling us you agree with the proposed changes as it is to provide feedback with suggested changes.

For more information please call Fraser Nelson on M: 0410 912 693 or email [email protected]

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Consultation with State and Territory Training Authorities – Revised Case for Endorsement

The AISC have agreed to the proposed revisions to Release 2.0 of the Manufacturing and Engineering Training Package at their out of session meeting earlier this year and is scheduled to go live on Training.gov.au on Monday 1 July 2019.

The revised Case for Endorsement was sent to State and Territory Training Authorities on Monday 24 December 2018 for feedback until the end of January 2019.

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MEM Release 2.0

The release 2.0 of the MEM Training Package, which includes 18 Qualifications and 449 Units from the MEM05 Training Package, was completed and a Case for Endorsement submitted in October 2017.

Although the Case for Endorsement was considered at the December and February AISC meetings, the decision has been deferred to the Skills Senior Officials Network (SSON). The consultation on Release 3.0 of the MEM Training Package redevelopment will be delayed until a decision on Release 2.0 is received.

To view the Case for Endorsement click here.

To view the Companion Volume Implementation Guide click here.

The AISC requested additional revisions to the training package to ensure it complies with the Standards for Training Packages by removing content that mandates learner pathways. Read more