Arising from an examination in 1969 of the education and trammg opportumtles for paint industry technicians, it was recognized that the various courses available at that time did not fully serve their needs. While a few large companies had developed in-house training arrangements, the many medium and smaller fi.rms in the raw material supply, paint manufacturing or paint user industries, were unable to provide their own comprehensive training programs. With a view to improving this situation, an advisory committee comprising ofrepresentatives of the Australian Paint Manufacturers' Federation and the Oil and Colour Chemists' Association Australia was established to liaise directly with the New South Wales Department of Technical and Further Education. As a result plans were developed for the introduction of a Special Course in 'Surface Coatings Technology' in 1971, conducted by the Sydney Technical College. The scope of the course was designed to cover all aspects of surface coatings technology ranging from raw materials and formulations to the production, testing, evaluation, application and use of finished products. The course proved to be highly successful and in 1973 a similar syllabus was introduced by the Melboume School of Painting, Decorating and Signcrafts in Victoria. In 1980, New Zealand followed suit with a similar course conducted by the Auckland Technical Institute.