Training staff unpaid
STAFF from the defunct AGB Training are still waiting on money owed by the education provider as they scramble to find work, a former teacher says.
The provider, which had campuses in Belmont and South Geelong, closed abruptly in October last year before entering liquidation.
The former teacher, who did not wish to be named, said staff were still waiting to be compensated unpaid wages and were also owed superannuation payments.
The teacher said he knew of staff who had to relocate, or commute to Melbourne, for new work and students who had to move interstate to complete their studies.
The former teacher, who has unsuccessfully applied for more than 60 jobs, said there was a lack of full-time employment available for trainers.
“It’s absolutely been a difficult time . . . people are struggling,” he said.
The Federal AttorneyGeneral has received 24 claims from former AGB employees seeking financial assistance for unpaid entitlements, a department spokeswoman said.
Nine of those 24 had identified as former trainers.
“All claims are still being assessed to determine amounts payable under FEG,” she said.
Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said the private provision of training had been a “significant issue”.
But the current State Government had “tightened up” regulation, Ms Peace said.
She said that the State Government opened up funding for vocational education to a contestable model in 2008, meaning public and private providers had to compete for funding.
She said over following years there was a “huge amount of rorting” and students left inadequately prepared from private providers. A review under the current State Government saw a number of providers “driven out” of the industry because they were not meetings the standards, Ms Peace said.
“We’re still seeing issues like AGB,” she said.
Ms Peace said the union’s position was that governments should provide at least 70 per cent of funding to public providers.