2 Feb 2022
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ITABs: What are they and what do they do?

With Australia’s widespread skills shortages, technology advancements and changing consumer demands, the linkages between industry and Government have never been more critical. Each month we will profile one of the state’s Industry Training Advisory Bodies (ITABs), starting, this month, with Western Australia’s, Food, Fibre and Timber Industries Training Council.

What is an ITAB?

ITABs are autonomous industry bodies recognised and funded by state governments as one of the key sources of advice from the industry on training matters. Typically, they are incorporated bodies employing their own staff, with membership representing employers and employees within the industry.

Each ITAB is structured in a way so that it is best able to represent and support its industries.

What do ITABs do?

ITABs have established industry networks, people in industry who donate their time to support ITABs to fulfil their contracted roles and responsibilities.

They are a crucial source of business intelligence and inform the State Government by:

  • Identifying industry skill needs, priorities and skills development issues.
  • Promoting training to industry to assist in the take-up of funded training, including, school-based apprenticeships and traineeships, in collaboration with Government.
  • Advising the State Government on apprenticeship and traineeship arrangements.

Advising the State Government on the development, review and implementation of Training Packages/Training Products.

For more information about Western Australia’s Industry Training Advisory Bodies.

 

Western Australia ITABs

The WA State Training Board currently recognises eight industry training advisory bodies from which it takes advice to draft the State Training Plan or make recommendations to the Minister on apprenticeships and traineeships. WA ITABs advise the Minister for Education and Training via the State Training Board. For more information, please click here

ITABs are expected to meet five deliverables, relating to, their occupational priorities, apprentices and traineeships, VET in Schools, training packages and strategic projects.

ITABs in WA cover all sectors as follows:

For more information and contact details for WA ITABs.

 

The Food, Fibre and Timber Industries Training Council (FFTITC)

The Western Australian based FFTITC, promotes training to industry, and supports innovation and workforce development.

Operating for more than 12 years under the leadership of CEO Kay Gerard, the FFTITC provides strategic information and advice to the WA Government on industry workforce development, training and skill shortages.

They are constantly engaging with organisations that have an interest in workforce and skills development to gather and report on current and emerging industry trends and developments. They obtain feedback on industry skill needs, priorities and skill development issues, concerns or suggestions for funded training in Western Australia.

A key mechanism is its networks and partnerships, including eight Industry Advisory Networks. They provide a forum for industry and RTO stakeholders to share information, provide guidance and raise issues to the Training Council on improving training and workforce development.

‘We believe good advice to government influences good decision making – so we try to provide quality information about what’s actually happening in our industries’, said Ms Gerard.

‘Our network is our greatest asset, and we believe that by us helping industry navigate the VET sector, we have engaged stakeholders who help us to gather information. We encourage anyone to contact us if they have a workforce/skills concern.

We are really committed to ensuring that our industries have access to a highly-skilled workforce that meets their current and future needs’. For more information about FFTITC

Image L-R Paul Etheredge, Kay Gerard, Janine Blake