As part of National Career Development Week, a Mini - Careers' Forum for Year 8 students was held @ Mildura Senior College on Wednesday, May 27th.

Students attended from Chaffey Secondary College, Red Cliffs Secondary College and Trinity Lutheran College.

The forum was organised by Lavina Hamilton (Sunraysia Careers Association), Pat Hamdorf (Regional Industry Career Adviser) and Derek Bowman (Mildura Local Community Partnership).

Skills' shortage areas were identified and relevant speakers from the education and Industry sectors met with the students.

These were Business / Retail (Jeremy and Rebecca - La Trobe University), Community and Health Services (Jenney, Ivan and Ashleigh - Sunraysia Residential Services), Engineering (Lee - Mildura Rural City Council), Hospitality (Tamara - Dom's Restaurant), I & CT (Craig - Sunraysia Institute of TAFE) and Transport & Logistics (Brendan - Mildura Transport Cluster).

The forum's purpose encouraged students to consider likely career options from Year 8 rather than leaving these until Year 10.

Students were advised to seek careers' advice from a variety of sources: careers' counsellors, friends, industry skills' councils, parents, websites, work experience, etc.

Information about National Career Development Week can be read @ www.ncdw.com.au

A Mini - Careers' Forum for Year 8 students from other schools is likely for Semester II.

DB:27.5.09.

Australia's Transport & Logistics Industry provides 14.5% of the nation's GDP and its annual freight movement will probably double by 2020.

Unfortunately, the Industry has a low number of employees aged from 15yo to 24yo and the average age of its employees is currently over 45yo.

In short, the Transport & Logistics Industry requires an intake of skilled workers; failing this, services will be greatly reduced over the long - term, affecting Australians' quality - of - life.

Aware of this, the Mildura Transport Cluster has initiated several Australian School - based Apprenticeships (ASbA) in Transport & Logistics (T & L) during 2008 and 2009.

Brendan Moritz, Project Officer of the Mildura Transport Cluster has indicated that an ageing workforce and retention of skilled staff are other long - term matters confronting the T & L Industry.

"To offset these negative issues and potential long - term problems for Sunraysia, in conjunction with Sunraysia Institute of TAFE (SIOT) and SMGT, four ASbA (T & L) students recently began their training program," he said.

Charles (Mildura Senior College), Daniel (Red Cliffs Secondary College), Greg (Chaffey Secondary College) and James (Red Cliffs Secondary College) currently attend SIOT each Monday to gain theoretical knowledge of the T & L Industry.

The four will shortly rotate around four Industry sites (GTS Freight Management, Johnson's Truck & Coach Service, Lindemans and Piscioneri Transport Services), gaining practical knowledge from Workplace training.

SIOT Trainer, Adam Curtis remarked, "To prepare for Workplace training, students have been exposed to forklift driving, Literacy, Numeracy, OH & S issues and team building. This is additional to their regular school study."

The four will join two students who have been undertaking their ASbA (T & L) program for twelve months, Jake and Sandor, both of Red Cliffs Secondary College.

On successful completion, all students will have their VCE and Certificate II in Transport & Logistics qualifications.

"There are many career pathways and qualifications within the Transport & Logistics Industry. The six ASbAs are maximising their employment opportunities and gaining skills to assist continuance of this vital national and Sunraysia service sector," Brendan Moritz concluded.

Information about ASbA (Transport & Logistics) programs can be gained from either Sharon Kindred (50 187 213) or Brendan Moritz (50 223 666).

DB:4.5.09.