New work experience initiatives for Western Metro Melbourne

The Western Metro Melbourne Work Experience School and Industry Roundtable, held at Moonee Valley Racecourse on Friday 20 October, was a great opportunity for over 150 stakeholders from all levels of government, school, industry and careers and employment sector stakeholders to discuss the future of work experience.

The event was hosted by the Department of Education and Training.

MC Melinda Davies, Empowered Women in Trades

Following a warm welcome by MC Melinda Davies, Head of Programs - Empowered Women in Trades, the event kicked off with an update by Bronwyn Tanti on the work by the Secondary Pathways Reform Taskforce and a panel discussion and audience Q&A.

Skilled and talented panellist members shared their insights and experiences.

The panel discussed what currently works well, the barriers to work experience and how we can improve the quality of the overall work experience process.

This provided the foundation for further discussions across over twenty roundtables, which resulted in the development of draft initiatives. The ideas table battles and subsequent scoring of these initiatives by all attendees had the room buzzing with energy.

Visual notes from panel discussion and Q&A

The top scoring ideas included digitalisation of the administrative forms and overall user experience, development of skills, interest matching and profiling systems, and planning and implementation assistance for employers. These will be evaluated and developed further by working groups.

Businesses from all sectors are invited to familiarise themselves with the Department’s School to Work Portal. The portal contains an overview of the different types of workplace learning that employers can facilitate as well as guides for employers and links to points of contact such as your Local Learning and Employment Network.

To date the portal has already facilitated over 26,000 learning and career development opportunities for young people.

Businesses can support local young people with a potential future in their industry and build their organisation’s reputation as a desirable workplace by registering work experience opportunities on the platform.

You can also visit the event page to follow the event organiser and be notified of future events.