APTC supports Fiji’s Hairdressers

05 Apr 2013

The Australia-Pacific Training College’s support for vocational activities in host countries throughout the Pacific goes beyond the classroom or the workshop. APTC staff often find themselves helping with specialist advice and practical assistance in all kinds of situations.

A case in point is in Fiji, where the APTC and its Hairdressing Trainer Kylie are supporting local hairdressers in their quest to obtain national recognition for their work. Fijian hairdressers have banded together to form the Fijian Hair Association (FHA) to protect and advance their interests as independent professionals. This fledgling association is in the process of registering with the Fiji Government’s Labour Department and Department of Commerce, the first steps to national accreditation. 

The APTC has long been involved with hairdressing businesses in Fiji through the practical work placement part of the curriculum, where students spend a day each week working at a hairdressing salon. Work placement enables students to gain practical real-job experience and exposure to potential employees.  Through this continuing relationship, Kylie has seen the need for the APTC to support the industry.

The FHA’s first formal board meeting was held in March and, as an initial gesture of support, was hosted by the APTC. “There was a great turn out,” said Kylie.”

As part of the APTC’s ongoing assistance to the FHA, Kylie is offering monthly training sessions at the APTC’s hairdressing salon in Suva for FHA members and potential new members who want to brush up on their skills. “This training will enable Fijian hairdressers to expand the technical knowledge required for safer and more successful use of chemicals in their work,” Kylie explained.

The FHA wants as many hairdressers as possible to take up the APTC’s training offer. “This year we plan to go out and explain the importance of the training being offered and invite interested members to attend,” says Vasiti Baledrokadroka, secretary and senior adviser to the FHA board. “We need to encourage more hairdressers to join. Working together and with the APTC we can help build up the professional standards of the industry.”  

The FHA is delighted at the APTC’s involvement. Said executive committee member Vika Vari of Inn Salon in Suva: “It is a great help that the APTC has offered to support the FHA. It gives hairdressers the opportunity for industry training of the kind they would not normally be able to find, or that would be offered only in Australia or New Zealand.”

Hairdressing in Fiji is an unregulated industry and, says Kylie, the FHA will give people working as hairdressers a national structure through which they can speak with one voice on issues that affect them. The APTC’s contribution, she said, “will assist small salon businesses to achieve professional recognition and establish consumer confidence.”

The APTC has placed its substantial range of small-business contacts at the disposal of the new association to help members get to know other independent operators, from many of whom they will be able to draw advice and technical tips for their own businesses.

The APTC, she added, was “proud to support these vital developments within the Fijian hairdressing industry.”

The APTC, funded by the Australian Government and with campuses and teaching centres in 14 countries in the Pacific region, is committed to helping vocational development wherever it can. This promising initiative in Fiji illustrates both the flexibility and the breadth of its commitment.