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VET & TAFE
Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Photo: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
VET overhaul
The sector reacts to the federal
government reforms.
By Dallas Bastian
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has
announced major reforms to
Australia’s “clunky and unresponsive”
vocational education and training system.
In a recent address at the National
Press Club, Morrison said there was a lack
of information about what future skills
were needed and added that the funding
system was “marred by inconsistencies and
incoherence, with little accountability back
to any results”.
Morrison also pointed to problems
with the system, like the “bewildering
and overwhelming” number of choices
prospective students face, the “lack of
visibility over the quality of training providers
and the employment outcomes for those
courses”, and the substantial variations
between states in fees for the same type
of course.
The prime minister added that the
current National Agreement for Skills
and Workforce Development between
the states and the Commonwealth was
fundamentally flawed.
“It’s time to make some changes,” he said.
Those changes will focus on better
linking funding to anticipated skills needs,
simplifying the system, increasing funding
and performance monitoring, and better
coordinating subsidies, loans and other
sources of funding.
The Independent Tertiary Education
Council Australia (ITECA) said reforming the
VET system was the right move.
The group’s chief executive Troy Williams
said Morrison was right to believe the
current funding arrangements were broken.
Williams added that students need
to know where the jobs will be when
considering their study options.
“Similarly, independent training providers
need to know what courses will be in
demand,” he said.
TAFE Directors Australia chief executive
Craig Robertson said reform would require
more baseline training for the digital era.
Robertson also welcomed the prime
minister’s plan to base changes on the
national hospital agreement, telling ABC
News: “The hospitals have proven over
these last two or three months that when
you have capacity, you can respond to all
sorts of circumstances, and what we need
to be able to make sure is that there is
sufficient base funding in the TAFE system.”
Industry also backs the move. Innes
Willox, chief executive of the national
employer association Ai Group, was a keen
supporter of the prime minister’s plan,
saying it needs to be both ambitious and
include additional funding.
“Current funding arrangements are
unacceptably inconsistent and incoherent,”
Willox said.
“A completely new funding agreement
between the Commonwealth and the
states must address efficient national
pricing, and better coordinate the
combination of subsidies, loans and other
funding, as well as addressing the decadelong
decline in overall VET funding.”
When Morrison was asked by a journalist
at the National Press Club whether the
government needs to commit more
funding to VET to bring about the changes
he seeks, the prime minister said money
isn’t the only problem at play.
“You’re not going to invest money in a
dud system,” he said. “That doesn’t fix it
either. And that’s why I’m saying that we
need to have this system more focused on
what it’s actually supposed to do, and that
is that someone who’s looking for training
can get trained with skills that an employer
might actually want.
“I’m very, very interested and very
committed to investing more in a better
system. And if we can achieve a better
system where we can have some
confidence that the investment that we
make turns out more people with more
skills that businesses need – great.”
Willox said revitalising apprenticeships
will also be a key requirement of such
reform, and added that Ai Group has long
been concerned about the decline in
apprenticeship numbers.
Dianne Dayhew, chief executive of the
National Apprentice Employment Network,
said: “Apprenticeships and traineeships will
be at the forefront of this change because
the types of skills that employers need
will evolve quickly and require fast-paced,
adaptable learning.
“Australia’s apprenticeship system is world
class, but we also need to look at how it fits
with the needs of young people starting
their careers, and employers who want the
most up-to-date skills.”
The challenge now will be getting
agreement between jurisdictions, Willox
told ABC News. “There are going to be a lot
of promises made. Now the issue is going
to be around the delivery, but there isn’t any
time to waste.” ■
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