Melbourne’s Box Hill Institute has become the first TAFE institute in Australia to offer its beauty graduates the opportunity to gain international qualifications.
The Institute has joined forces with the International Therapy Examination Council (ITEC) so its graduating beauty, makeup, hairdressing and barbering students can be assessed by an ITEC examiner to gain recognition of their qualifications in 33 countries including Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK.
Box Hill’s head of hair and beauty, Ruth Browne, said the institute was extremely pleased to be the first TAFE in Australia to become an ITEC Centre.
“As the largest international examination board in Hairdressing and Beauty, ITEC’s diplomas are widely considered to be the highest professional standing that hairdresser or beauty therapist can hold,” she said.
“Having an ITEC qualification is impressive on a CV and, of course, opens opportunities for graduating students to work overseas.”
“An ITEC examiner will assess the graduates’ theoretical knowledge and practical skills to ensure that applicants meet the international standards of registered countries.”
The partnership with ITEC follows Box Hill’s revamp of its Diploma of Beauty Therapy earlier this year which split it into two specialisations ‒ (1) Permanent Hair Removal and Cosmeceuticals and (2) Spa and Wellness Therapies.
Head of beauty and aesthetics Hayley Whittle-Campbell said recent information from Skills IQ showed that beauty therapy training should be upgraded due to the “rapid advancement in technology… treatments and machinery that were once considered to be ‘advanced’ are now commonplace within the beauty industry”.
“We have been listening to industry needs, tailoring a specialisation that trains students to be workplace-ready to deliver increasingly sophisticated treatments in Permanent Hair Removal and Cosmeceuticals,” she said.
“The amount of training required in this area has meant that the relaxation and pampering side of beauty therapy, which requires markedly different workplace skills, can be bundled into a separation study stream.
“By allowing students to choose between two specialisations, they can now focus on their areas of preference.”