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Troy Williams , ITECA CEO . Photo : David Geraghty , The Australian
ITECA CEO takes the gloss off new TAFE report .
By Wade Zaglas
A new report has highlighted TAFE ’ s role in Australia ’ s economic success and warned that not investing in the sector will destroy our economy ’ s engines for prosperity , growth and equity .
Authored by the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute , the report – An Investment in Productivity and Inclusion : The Economic and Social Benefits of the TAFE System – highlighted that “ despite years of significant funding pressure and policy failure ”, TAFE plays an instrumental role in the Australian economy , “ contributing at least $ 92.5 million each year ”.
The report also lists other benefits to the economy brought about by TAFE :
• It creates $ 84.9 billion in productivity benefits each year , including $ 25 billion in taxation revenue , which is more than four times its annual funding .
• It has a $ 6.1 billion economic footprint on the country , which comprises purchases of goods and services , “ supply chain inputs ” and 48,000 jobs .
• It is responsible for $ 1.5 billion “ in reduced social expenses annually , lowering unemployment and supporting a healthier workforce and society ”.
• It has created around 486,000 positions .
AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe said the report “ validated ” the key role TAFE plays in the Australian economy , “ as well as TAFE ’ s social purpose in providing high-quality vocational education for all students and in particular , those at-risk and from disadvantaged backgrounds ”.
“ TAFE has made a huge contribution to Australia ’ s economic prosperity , despite years of what can only be described as policy vandalism of the vocational education sector ,” Haythorpe said .
“ For too long , governments have focused on marketisation , contestability of funding , student loans , reductions in public VET funding , and the direction of public funding towards privatised VET providers . “ These are policies which have been detrimental to a vibrant TAFE system , and have had a devastating impact on staffing and students with courses and campuses closing across the nation .”
The AEU federal president made it clear that what workers needed in the post- COVID recovery is excellent vocational education from a trusted public provider .
Haythorpe also stated that students who live away from the city , as well as students from disadvantaged backgrounds , strongly benefit from TAFE as it “ provides benefits that are critically important in addressing systemic inequality in Australia ’ s economy and society ”.
“ TAFE has a strong social contract with our communities , and as such , must be supported by governments ,” she said .
“ It is TAFE teachers who deliver these annual economic and social benefits despite years of skyrocketing workloads and severe cuts to the TAFE workforce .
“ For governments to jeopardise this by failing to recognise and invest in TAFE ’ s proven economic and societal benefits would be a mistake of historic proportions .”
Critically , the report also showed that TAFE is no longer replacing “ previous generations of highly qualified graduates at the same rate , due to funding cuts over the last seven years ”.
Haythorpe is also calling for at least 70 per cent of all TAFE funding to be provided by the federal government , with that request to be addressed in the October federal budget .
But for Troy Williams , CEO of the Independent Tertiary Education Council of Australia ( ITECA ), the argument that TAFE is the superior provider of vocational education and training is incorrect .
“ What we do know is that when it comes to an investment in VET , there are better outcomes for students and taxpayers through an investment with independent providers ,” he said .
“ For some years , independent providers have achieved better completion rates and better post-study employment rates at a lower cost to the taxpayer .”
Williams does not support getting rid of TAFE ; he wants to see the public education provider “ augment ” the private providers of vocational education , which currently supports 4.1 million students nationally .
“ Presently , independent providers support the greatest number of students , including the greatest number of Indigenous Australians , the greatest number of those from disadvantaged backgrounds , as well as the most students from remote and regional Australia ,” he said .
“ It makes some policy sense for TAFE to augment this work given they do some really good work in some areas and fields of delivery ; however , they ’ ll first need to address their quality problems .
“ Regardless of how anyone tries to measure it , where they are given a genuine choice , students are voting with their feet and are moving towards the quality delivery at independent providers despite funding mechanisms still overwhelmingly preferencing TAFE .” ■
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