Apprenticeships in these areas are in the highest priority band due to skills shortages, yet are currently only offered by two Registered Tertiary Organisations (RTOs) in the state.
Both Designworks College of Design and Southbank Institute of Technology may have to discontinue training if funds are cut.
Under a new pricing model, the Queensland government is proposing to significantly reduce User Choice funding for training delivery and teacher costs.
The new formulas would see apprenticeship training funding for a Certificate III in Printing, Graphic Arts and Print Finishing reduced from $18,062 per apprentice to $8,900.
Sam Nicolosi, general manager of Queensland regulatory skills training body Creative Skills Council, fears the worst for the two training providers if cuts go ahead.
“Training organisations have already cut their training costs down to the bare bones, and if these cuts are made there is a very strong risk that these RTOs won’t be able to deliver this training,” he said.
“It is going to have a very negative effect. The reason we need to keep the funding available is there is skill shortage and these jobs are high priority. If there is no training, there will be no more apprentices.”
Geoff Favell, assistant director general for government body Tertiary and Non-State Education, said more contributions from employers may be required to cover training costs.
“Some qualifications, such as ICP30505 Certificate III in Printing and Graphic Arts (Printing), are ‘restricted qualifications’, which the department applies special pricing factors to in order to manage markets where either a low number of students or low number of providers exists,” he added.
“These special pricing arrangements reflect the nature of training and the size of the market to be trained.”
The two RTOs are contesting the price cuts in conjunction with the Creative Skills Council, the Printing Industries Association and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.
A spokesperson from the Designworks College of Design insisted that if the cuts go ahead they will no longer be able to train more apprentices.
“Because of the struggling nature of the print industry, no businesses will be able afford to put apprentices through training, and all of the incentives employers currently receive for having an apprentice will become void as the they will go back onto the training.”
The Queensland government is currently reviewing the changes and a decision is expected to be made by the end of April.
The future of print apprenticeships in Queensland is under threat as local government plans to slash funding in the areas of printing, pre-press and signwriting.
Apprenticeships in these areas are highest priority and are currently only offered by two Registered Tertiary Organisations (RTOs) in the state, Designworks College of Design and Southbank Institute of Technology.
Both colleges may have to discontinue their training if funds are cut.
Under a new pricing model the Queensland Government is proposing to significantly reduce amounts of User Choice funding, which takes into account training delivery and teacher costs.
The new formulas see apprenticeship training funding for a Certificate III in Printing, Graphic Arts and Print Finishing reduced from $18,062 per apprentice to $8,900.
Sam Nicolosi, general manager of Queensland regulatory skills training body Creative Skills Council, fears the worst for the two training providers if cuts go ahead.
“Training organisations have already cut their training costs down to the bare bones, and if these cuts are made there is a very strong risk that these RTOs won’t be able to deliver this training,” he said.
“It is going to have a very negative effect. The reason we need to keep the funding available is there is skill shortage and these jobs are high priority. If there is no training, there will be no more apprentices.”
Geoff Favell, assistant director general for government body Tertiary and Non-State Education, said more contributions from employers may be required to cover training costs.
“Some qualifications, such as ICP30505 Certificate III in Printing and Graphic Arts (Printing), are ‘restricted qualifications’, which the department applies special pricing factors to in order to manage markets where either a low number of students or low number of providers exists,” he added.
“These special pricing arrangements reflect the nature of training and the size of the market to be trained.”
The two RTOs are contesting the price cuts in conjunction with the Creative Skills Council, the Printing Industries Association and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.
A spokesperson from the Designworks College of Design insisted that if the cuts go ahead they will no longer be able to train more apprentices.
“Because of the struggling nature of the print industry, no businesses will be able afford to put apprentices through training, and all of the incentives employers currently receive for having an apprentice will become void as the they will go back onto the training.”
The Queensland government is currently reviewing the changes and a decision is expected to be made by the end of April.
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