Yes yes there is one! Especially for VETiS (VET in Schools) students.
It is the WorldSkills Australia Regional, State and National Skills Competition!
Their website is....
http://www.worldskills.org.au/
I was a part of the competition in 2003, where I was lucky enough to win the Regional finals and the state finals and go on to represent NSW Vet IT students in the national finals in Brisbane in 2004 and won the silver medal (narrowly beaten by a guy from Western Australia by something like 0.8 marks ARGH!)
It would have had to have been one of the most memorable moments from school and will be something you take with you for the rest of your life If you do make it to either State or National finals where you will meet a stack of people from not only IT but from other trades around the country!
The competition is run by WorldSkills Australia, but seems to be promoted and facilitated by TAFE NSW. If you are at school, ask your teacher about it and hand them the information package or show them the website, because Im sure they would be very interested to see how WorldSkills Australia seems to push the boundaries of your knowledge of the course (Trust me, you thought you knew the course before you go to a National competition
).
FULLY recommend it guys! It will probably be too late for current Year 12 students to enter since the competition runs over a two year cycle for VET IT students, so im assuming the next 2 year cycle will start next year in 2007 (check the website for that info). So it will only really affect students in Year 10 right now going into Year 11 next year starting VET IT.
Hope this answers your question
Cheers,
Bryce