Education Representatitve Liz Keogh Palmer gives an overview of exciting developments in Education and Training initiatives that the guild actively works to acheive and promote including awarding outstanding students with APDG membership, an update on the Costume Supervisor Pathway Program and on the training obligations required by the Location Offset rebate. 

Geoffrey Brown, APDG Business Manager,  and I recently connected with Queensland based Huxley School of Makeup. In addition to their current diploma course, Huxley will soon offer an Advanced Diploma course in Screen & Media (Specialist Make-up Services). I look forward to receiving our first nominations for the APDG Certificate Awards for make-up students.

Our ongoing conversations with Huxley have given me hope that more makeup institutions will engage with the APDG to offer certificate awards for their students, recognising their outstanding efforts throughout their respective courses. These student awards come with a twelve-month free membership valued at $90.00.

I am pleased to announce that one of our NSW recipients of the Costume Supervisor Pathway Program (CSPP) has been successfully placed on an offshore feature film being filmed in Sydney. This marks the second recipient to be trained under the CSPP. I am still waiting for a suitable production in Victoria to place our third and final recipient, which will complete the program. I will continue to work diligently to find placements for the other applicants of the CSPP, exploring both offshore and local productions through the Federal offshore Location Rebate training obligations and local state screen attachment incentives.

With the increase in the Location Offset rebate rate, new eligibility requirements have been established. One of these is to meet minimum training obligations. Productions must provide specific training across various levels, including entry-level, with a particular focus on upskilling mid-career practitioners in areas where Australia is facing skill shortages.

I have recently learned that senior Heads of Departments have had training placement requests declined on their productions, indicting producers appear confused about their training obligations under the Location Offset Rebate. It is understandable that there will be initial challenges in implementing the training, such as finding suitable candidates for both on-the-job mentorships and early entry attachments, as well as allocating the necessary funding within their production budgets. It is important to note that training positions should not replace any paid positions deemed essential in your department. As a result, wages for training placements and attachments should not be included in the art or costume departments budgets.

To better understand the training obligations related to the Offshore Location Rebate, Erika Addis, Bronwyn Cooksley from the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS), Geoffrey Brown, and I recently met with senior staff at the Office for the Arts (OftA). The meeting was both productive and positive, with all parties agreeing to maintain ongoing communication and share information. We informed OftA that the guilds seek greater involvement in assisting productions to secure mid-career recipients who are best suited for mentorship training on offshore productions.

All designers are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity and request training positions for their respective productions. Please feel free to reach out if you need more information regarding the training obligations associated with the Location Offset Rebate.

~ Liz Keogh Palmer APDG  –  Education Representative

Image: Rachel Nott, Senior Costume Supervisor and Barbara Pinn, CSPP Assisting Costume Supervisor working on ‘The Bluff’, 2024