TAFE SA
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TAFE SA
I read the article about TAFE SA engineering training air safety scandal in the weekend Australia.
What a disaster!
How many people have been affected by this disaster
What a disaster!
How many people have been affected by this disaster
From the Advertiser:
THE Civil Aviation Safety Authority has revealed up to 80 students from a TAFE SA aircraft maintenance training course had their accreditation suspended after their skills were found lacking.
The TAFE SA aircraft maintenance course based at Parafield Airport came under scrutiny five months ago after CASA found worrying issues with the courses assessment procedure during a routine check.
A CASA spokesman told The Advertiser on Friday night the course has been suspended while CASA works with TAFE SA to lift training standards of their students. He said there were no safety concerns as all students were working as “part of professional maintenance organisations who would have supervised the recent graduates.”
The course has been suspended while CASA works with TAFE SA to lift the standards of the training.
However the finding threw into doubt the level of training and knowledge of previous students who had completed the course and gone to work for maintenance organisations across the state.
It is understood up to 80 former students were identified by CASA, some of whom have already been cleared and others, the majority, have had aspects of their licences of suspended.
“It was found that the course was not delivered in the way it was supposed to,” a CASA spokesman said on Friday night.
“Some former students may have to complete additional training, essentially redoing parts of the course.”
The students with suspended “privileges” are still at work but have to be supervised while doing certain tasks which they may not be legally qualified to perform alone.
“It doesn’t stop them working under someone elses supervision” the spokesman said.
“It is not like they have lost their jobs.”
The course is expected to be reinstated by the end of September following an investigation which lasted months.
End of article
THE Civil Aviation Safety Authority has revealed up to 80 students from a TAFE SA aircraft maintenance training course had their accreditation suspended after their skills were found lacking.
The TAFE SA aircraft maintenance course based at Parafield Airport came under scrutiny five months ago after CASA found worrying issues with the courses assessment procedure during a routine check.
A CASA spokesman told The Advertiser on Friday night the course has been suspended while CASA works with TAFE SA to lift training standards of their students. He said there were no safety concerns as all students were working as “part of professional maintenance organisations who would have supervised the recent graduates.”
The course has been suspended while CASA works with TAFE SA to lift the standards of the training.
However the finding threw into doubt the level of training and knowledge of previous students who had completed the course and gone to work for maintenance organisations across the state.
It is understood up to 80 former students were identified by CASA, some of whom have already been cleared and others, the majority, have had aspects of their licences of suspended.
“It was found that the course was not delivered in the way it was supposed to,” a CASA spokesman said on Friday night.
“Some former students may have to complete additional training, essentially redoing parts of the course.”
The students with suspended “privileges” are still at work but have to be supervised while doing certain tasks which they may not be legally qualified to perform alone.
“It doesn’t stop them working under someone elses supervision” the spokesman said.
“It is not like they have lost their jobs.”
The course is expected to be reinstated by the end of September following an investigation which lasted months.
End of article
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My favourite statement in the Weekend Australian article is from the TAFE SA executive director of engineering, "This is quite embarrassing, the training itself was where it needed to be but we couldn't demonstrate it."
Wow, that is a bit more than embarrassing when you consider most apprentices from the NT were being moved out from TAFE SA as the SRTO to a competitor over the last 3 or 4 years. This was because the industry wasn't happy with the product that TAFE SA was delivering.
The industry knew!
You would think that TAFE SA might have noticed that and done something about it before CASA did their audit!
Wow, that is a bit more than embarrassing when you consider most apprentices from the NT were being moved out from TAFE SA as the SRTO to a competitor over the last 3 or 4 years. This was because the industry wasn't happy with the product that TAFE SA was delivering.
The industry knew! You would think that TAFE SA might have noticed that and done something about it before CASA did their audit!
The Australian:
The opposition has called for South Australian Skills Minister Susan Close to “come clean” over why she kept quiet for months after a national air safety regulator audit exposed a serious training bungle at TAFE SA that could have endangered the lives of air travellers.
South Australian Liberal Opposition Deputy Leader Vickie Chapman today told reporters in Adelaide the revelations in The Weekend Australianexposed a “scandal”.
“We have a situation where TAFE are now under review in respect of an aviation maintenance and engineering course,” Ms Chapman said.
“This is not about greasing a bicycle chain. This is about keeping planes in the sky.”
As revealed by The Weekend Australian, around 90 aircraft maintenance engineers, whose jobs are to ensure planes and helicopters are safe to fly, have been caught up in the scandal at the Parafield Airport campus of TAFE SA.
Those affected include a small number of Qantas engineers.
An investigation by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and TAFE SA is ongoing with some training activities and licence conditions suspended “until further notice”.
Ms Chapman called on Skills Minister Susan Close, who was informed of the bungle in April, to “come clean”.
“It is absolutely critical now that Minister Close come clean as to why she has kept this review a secret now for four months,” she said.
“It is totally unacceptable that such a serious allegation, resulting in a secret review should have continued to be concealed from the public.
“Minister Close had every opportunity to report to the parliament what had happened, what she was doing about it, and provide reassurance to the public.
“Instead she has been absolutely silent on this for four months.
“This government just continue in scandal after scandal and concealment of these events, which is not only unacceptable but leaves in this instance a situation of serious concern by the community.”
A small number of Qantas engineers have been caught up int he scandal. Picture: Jenny Evans
A small number of Qantas engineers have been caught up int he scandal. Picture: Jenny Evans
A spokeswoman for Dr Close said the minister was advised of the matter in late April and sought her own reassurance.
“The Minister was notified in late April and as a result sought immediate and comprehensive advice on the matter and how it was to be resolved,” the spokeswoman said.
Ms Chapman said the bungle had left scores of students in limbo and “who now have a certificate which isn’t worth the paper it’s written on”.
“Clearly they will need to be re-skilled if they want to pursue this type of occupation. They are the first lot of victims,” she said,
“But the people of South Australia are victims when this type of scandal is continued to be concealed. We want to know what has happened and obviously some reassurance that this hasn’t permeated other aspects of TAFE.”
TAFE SA executive director of education Brian Rungie told The Weekend Australian that the issues, mainly around administration, identified by CASA were “critical in this (aviation) environment”.
“This is quite embarrassing,” he said.
“The training itself was where it needed to be, but we couldn’t demonstrate it.”
Mr Rungie said retraining and compensation for those affected would be considered on a “one-on-one basis”.
“From our internal perspective, this has been a situation that clearly is not satisfactory and we will be addressing internally,” he said. “We’ve let ourselves down.”
A CASA spokesman said, “issues were found with training assessments and outcomes”.
“These issues related to procedures that must be followed under their approved maintenance training manual,” the spokesman said.
“CASA will ensure all issues are fully rectified before normal training activities resume.”
Some affected aircraft maintenance engineers have told The Weekend Australian that the failure to teach to acceptable standards potentially had endangered lives.
But the CASA spokesman said: “Aviation safety has been protected through the checks and balances built into the aircraft maintenance system.”
There are only three other centres in the country offering the training; at TAFE NSW, Aviation Australia and Federation Training in Gippsland, Victoria.
An ongoing investigation into the TAFE SA course, which involves a “student-by-student review of all material”, is expected to be completed within weeks, Mr Rungie said.
The opposition has called for South Australian Skills Minister Susan Close to “come clean” over why she kept quiet for months after a national air safety regulator audit exposed a serious training bungle at TAFE SA that could have endangered the lives of air travellers.
South Australian Liberal Opposition Deputy Leader Vickie Chapman today told reporters in Adelaide the revelations in The Weekend Australianexposed a “scandal”.
“We have a situation where TAFE are now under review in respect of an aviation maintenance and engineering course,” Ms Chapman said.
“This is not about greasing a bicycle chain. This is about keeping planes in the sky.”
As revealed by The Weekend Australian, around 90 aircraft maintenance engineers, whose jobs are to ensure planes and helicopters are safe to fly, have been caught up in the scandal at the Parafield Airport campus of TAFE SA.
Those affected include a small number of Qantas engineers.
An investigation by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and TAFE SA is ongoing with some training activities and licence conditions suspended “until further notice”.
Ms Chapman called on Skills Minister Susan Close, who was informed of the bungle in April, to “come clean”.
“It is absolutely critical now that Minister Close come clean as to why she has kept this review a secret now for four months,” she said.
“It is totally unacceptable that such a serious allegation, resulting in a secret review should have continued to be concealed from the public.
“Minister Close had every opportunity to report to the parliament what had happened, what she was doing about it, and provide reassurance to the public.
“Instead she has been absolutely silent on this for four months.
“This government just continue in scandal after scandal and concealment of these events, which is not only unacceptable but leaves in this instance a situation of serious concern by the community.”
A small number of Qantas engineers have been caught up int he scandal. Picture: Jenny Evans
A small number of Qantas engineers have been caught up int he scandal. Picture: Jenny Evans
A spokeswoman for Dr Close said the minister was advised of the matter in late April and sought her own reassurance.
“The Minister was notified in late April and as a result sought immediate and comprehensive advice on the matter and how it was to be resolved,” the spokeswoman said.
Ms Chapman said the bungle had left scores of students in limbo and “who now have a certificate which isn’t worth the paper it’s written on”.
“Clearly they will need to be re-skilled if they want to pursue this type of occupation. They are the first lot of victims,” she said,
“But the people of South Australia are victims when this type of scandal is continued to be concealed. We want to know what has happened and obviously some reassurance that this hasn’t permeated other aspects of TAFE.”
TAFE SA executive director of education Brian Rungie told The Weekend Australian that the issues, mainly around administration, identified by CASA were “critical in this (aviation) environment”.
“This is quite embarrassing,” he said.
“The training itself was where it needed to be, but we couldn’t demonstrate it.”
Mr Rungie said retraining and compensation for those affected would be considered on a “one-on-one basis”.
“From our internal perspective, this has been a situation that clearly is not satisfactory and we will be addressing internally,” he said. “We’ve let ourselves down.”
A CASA spokesman said, “issues were found with training assessments and outcomes”.
“These issues related to procedures that must be followed under their approved maintenance training manual,” the spokesman said.
“CASA will ensure all issues are fully rectified before normal training activities resume.”
Some affected aircraft maintenance engineers have told The Weekend Australian that the failure to teach to acceptable standards potentially had endangered lives.
But the CASA spokesman said: “Aviation safety has been protected through the checks and balances built into the aircraft maintenance system.”
There are only three other centres in the country offering the training; at TAFE NSW, Aviation Australia and Federation Training in Gippsland, Victoria.
An ongoing investigation into the TAFE SA course, which involves a “student-by-student review of all material”, is expected to be completed within weeks, Mr Rungie said.
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So now it is November and as far as I know, there seems to be no resolution to this debacle. If you believe the article in the Australian on or about 12 October, they were getting their CASR Part 147 approvals back. It also mentioned "some or a few" examinations would need to be resat. CASA doesn't seem to be communicative at all about this either.
I find it interesting that higher ups from CASA were conspicuously absent from the recent industry event on the Gold Coast and the two reps who were there were clueless as to what, if any outcome will be.
I have heard from some affected by this that TAFE SA has "lost" all records for people trained by them. I find it incredible that this has not been addressed to date because so many lives have been affected in such a critical industry.
Has anyone heard any reliable information about what is going on?
I find it interesting that higher ups from CASA were conspicuously absent from the recent industry event on the Gold Coast and the two reps who were there were clueless as to what, if any outcome will be.
I have heard from some affected by this that TAFE SA has "lost" all records for people trained by them. I find it incredible that this has not been addressed to date because so many lives have been affected in such a critical industry.
Has anyone heard any reliable information about what is going on?
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Tafe SA
I also heard from a mate that is affected by this that all of the training records have disappeared 
How could this possibly happen.....this isn't India
SA government have really stuffed up a a lot lately Tafe SA,No power for the people........geez
I think their needs to be a lot of royal commissions into whats going on.
Also where is CASA in this????????????????????
How could this possibly happen.....this isn't India
SA government have really stuffed up a a lot lately Tafe SA,No power for the people........geez
I think their needs to be a lot of royal commissions into whats going on.
Also where is CASA in this????????????????????
