Excellence in Diversity

The South Australian Excellence in Diversity Award recognises an organisation who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to supporting students and/or employees in overcoming significant barriers or disadvantage to effectively participate in vocational education and training (VET). This award is proudly sponsored by Mas.

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Eligibility criteria

You must:

  • be an organisation, enterprise, or Registered Training Provider (RTO) who delivers or has achieved excellence in the provision of nationally recognised training (accredited training) that leads to a formal VET qualification in the period from 1 January to 31 December 2022 and/ or
  • be an organisation, enterprise, or Registered Training Provider (RTO) who delivers training that does not lead to nationally recognised formal qualification (non-accredited) in the period from 1 January to 31 December 2022.
  • In the case of non-accredited training:
    • applicants must contribute to increased employability and must demonstrate real and tangible employee outcomes
    • please note professional development training initiatives will not be accepted
    • have your head office located in South Australia.

To nominate for this Award your organisation must have demonstrated success in supporting students or employees who have experienced significant barriers or disadvantage to effectively participating in VET. Your students and/or employees may have experienced the following barriers to participation:

  • low level of education and skill development
  • low literacy and numeracy skills
  • disability
  • culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, including refugees
  • long-term unemployment
  • health issues
  • returning to the workforce following caregiving, family
    responsibilities or a change of circumstance.

Preparing your application

Overview

Applicants to the South Australian Excellence in Diversity Award will be subject to quality assurance checks. The checks will inform the selection process of applicants to this State-based Awards category.

Section A: Overview

Provide a short overview covering why you are applying for this Award. Include a description of the training courses or qualifications you have offered, developed, or customised to support students or employees to overcome barriers to participating in VET.

Note: This overview will not be considered or used for judging purposes, be used as your summary throughout the Awards process.

Section B: Applicants will be judged against the following criteria

  • Criterion 1: Challenges and barriers faced by your students and/or employees to accessing and participating in vocational education and training (VET).
  • Criterion 2: How did you support and assist students and/or employees to overcome these barriers?
  • Criterion 3: How has VET benefited your students and employees?
  • Criterion 4: Goals for the future.

(limit: 400 words per criterion)

Addressing the criteria

In your application, you must present information in a way that clearly addresses each award criterion.

We encourage applicants to describe the pathway into vocational education and training, the participation challenges their students or employees encountered, how they motivated their students and/or employees to begin, how they helped them overcome barriers and the supports they put in place along the way.

Judges will look for evidence of how your organisation used high quality and leading practice in vocational education and training as well as innovation and design in the delivery of training to assist and support your students and/or employees to overcome barriers to participation to achieve their study and career plans, develop skills and benefits through accessing and participating in vocational education and training.

Consider and explain the circumstances that made accessing and participating in VET a challenge for your students and/or employees:

  • Personal or career barriers that prevented your students and/or employees from training and securing sustainable employment or a career pathway.
  • What motivated your students and/or employees to start their VET studies
  • What challenges did they face while completing their course/training
  • What strategies did your organisation develop and use to ensure students and/or employees were able to successfully participate in VET

(limit: 400 words)

Consider:

  • who or what motivated your students and/or employees (person or program)
  • how innovation and excellence in design and delivery of training supported overcoming these barriers
  • the role the training provider played and discuss how you used high quality and leading practice in VET to assist in overcoming participation barriers
  • did any of your students and/or employees think about leaving their studies before they were completed
  • what strategies did your organisation put in place to address this situation
  • what motivated your students and/or employees to keep going.

(limit: 400 words)

Tell us about:

  • What the organisation learnt and how did the organisation put learnings into practice
  • How the courses/training you developed assisted your students and/or employees
  • The quality of your training and the ‘training culture’ you have established within your organisation
  • The successes of your students and/or employees
  • How many have secured employment, gone onto further training or are being recognised in their community or workplace

(limit: 400 words)

Tell us about:

  • Where to next? What are your future plans to continue to grow your commitment to equity in training and continue to make a significant contribution and positive impact to students and/or employees who are from groups under-represented in employment, education and training.

(limit: 400 words)

Up to five (5) single sided A4 page attachments are permitted, with each attachment to be provided at a 100 per cent ratio, one document per page. Attachments must be referenced in your application. No multimedia items or discs will be accepted, and any material exceeding the maximum number of attachments (5) will not be considered.

Please note this is a South Australia-only award category. Winners of this category are not nominated for the Australian Training Awards.

Applications have now closed for the 2023 South Australian Training Awards

  • 17 April 2023 - Applications open
  • 11 June 2023 - Applications close 6pm
  • July 2023 - Judging
  • 21 September 2023 - South Australian Training Awards celebration event
  • 17 November 2023 - Australian Training Awards presentation event (Hobart)