The information below is taken from the Victorian’s Government’s Skills for Victoria (skills reform) publication titled Securing Jobs for your Future (2008).

The Victorian Training Guarantee is an entitlement to a government subsidised place at NMIT that can be accessed at any time and will continue to be available for training at successively higher levels. While a person keeps moving up the qualification scale, the Victorian Training Guarantee will continue to subsidise their training.

For every eligible person seeking to undertake accredited training at NMIT, and where industry can generate demand for training from eligible people, the Victorian Training Guarantee will provide funding to support that training.

The Victorian Training Guarantee will become available in stages over the next two years, and is expected to be fully operational for all courses in 2011.

Eligibility

Eligibility for access to government subsidised places will depend on certain factors such as age and prior educational history. There will also continue to be a citizenship/residency aspect to eligibility, as in the current system. This allows government funding to be focused on the Victorian workforce and the areas of greatest need.

For people aged up to 20

The Victorian Training Guarantee – Government subsidised places will be available for training at any NMIT qualification level.

This opportunity to undertake government subsidised training and further education is open to all young people, regardless of the level of training they are seeking.

For people aged 20 and over

The Victorian Training Guarantee – Government subsidised places will be available for training at the foundation skills level and for any qualification higher than the qualifications already held.

For people from the age of 20 years onwards, the eligibility criteria reflect workforce development priorities:

• All Victorians should have opportunities to acquire foundation qualifications as a key to workforce participation and economic opportunity.
• If an initial qualification has already been completed, government subsidised places will be available for accredited training at higher levels. For example, a person holding a Certificate III will be eligible for places at Certificate IV, Diploma and Advanced Diploma levels. This will encourage progression from lower to higher level qualifications and help increase the supply of skills at higher levels.

Exemptions

A limited number of government subsidised places will be available for people 20 or over who already have a vocational or higher education qualification but who need training at the same level as their existing qualification or lower.

These exemptions will be determined on a case by case basis, taking into account individual circumstances and will only be available to people who are:

• Seeking training in specified areas of critical skill shortage nominated by the Victorian Skills Commission.
• Significantly disadvantaged in the labour market, for example through redundancy.

Visit Skills Reform on the Skills Victoria website for more information