PIAA slams RMIT's exit of print training as it launches $1.4m scheme

The industry's peak trade association has slammed RMIT's decision to sell its apprenticeship training assets to a private training provider.

RMIT University will help CLB Training & Development develop a training program in Victoria and Tasmania after announcing in April it will close its International Centre of Graphic Technology (ICGT).

The Printing Industries Association of Australia (PIAA), which has just launched its own training scheme, said it would seek "an urgent meeting" with the Victorian government so it could find "an acceptable solution to the industry training crisis".

"Victorian and Tasmanian companies are outraged at the decision by RMIT to exit printing apprenticeship training and sell its assets to a private training provider without first consulting the industry," said PIAA chief executive Bill Healey.

"We believe RMIT acted with undue haste... But our biggest concern is the question mark that now hangs over the future of quality training for apprentices in Victoria and Tasmania."

ICGT director Simon Cochaud told ProPrint that CLB was a "well-established" company with a "very experienced" senior management team.

"CLB has a very clearly articulated strategy to become a leading provider of print training in Australia, and has worked proactively with RMIT towards this objective," he said.

CLB will initially offer programs in pre-press, printing, print finishing, screen printing and digital production.

The PIAA started its own national apprenticeship scheme in mid-July after receiving a $1.4 million Federal grant.

The 12-month program aims to provide the industry with a workforce that can take advantage of new technologies and business models – a need identified in a two-year study the PIAA released in May.

The program is expected to involve 500 apprentices in their first year of training and another 500 existing apprentices in danger of not completing their apprenticeships.

Healey said the scheme would make printing more attractive to job seekers by correcting the "misconception" that it involved "old-fashioned technology".