The Transport Workers Union has welcomed the State Government’s proposed new funding arrangements for employment counselling and training under the Skills for Victoria program.

TWU Vic/Tas Branch Secretary Bill Noonan said today that the new program had the potential to improve training opportunities for transport workers.

"The transport industry is changing rapidly and workers in the industry will increasingly need to upgrade their skills to keep up", said Mr. Noonan.

"Access to better qualifications in such fields as dangerous goods carriage is dependent on literacy and numeracy skills.In the past, this was rarely a concern".

"As a consequence, transport workers who may not have had positive experiences at school saw no need to undertake further education and now find it hard to take that step in middle age."

Mr. Noonan said that the Union wanted to take an active role in helping members get the skills they needed to improve their employment opportunities.

"The Union is already a registered training organisation and has extensive experience in providing industrial relations and occupational health and safety training", he said. "We believe that our members would be more comfortable accepting skills training designed for them and delivered by their own Union."

"This is not a reflection on the current TAFE system and we already work extensively with Kangan Batman TAFE on our current programs."

"However, the increased opportunities promised by the new program present us with the ability to tailor courses more effectively for our members and we look forward to that prospect."