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VET & TAFE
SA Government ignores shemozzle Unfortunately , this transparent approach by the Victorian Labor Government was not being matched by its South Australian Labor colleagues , who have consistently trumpeted the virtues of Skills for All , SA ’ s flagship program for VET reform , since July 2012 , only to unexpectedly announce in late March 2015 that the scheme is to be axed soon , replaced by a new one called WorkReady .
The difference in approach to policymaking between these two Labor governments is stark . Victorian Labor campaigned openly on the flaws in VET reform through 2014 , which it is embarrassed to admit it started under the Brumby government . In contrast , for nearly three years since 2012 the SA Labor government generally refused to admit Skills for All had major flaws , largely ignored critiques of the program and released an independent evaluation of it only when it announced the program ’ s replacement . Public debate was stifled .
Over the last few years , some brave parties have publicly stated that Skills for All had flaws . The outgoing chief executive of TAFE SA , Jeff Gunningham , described skills reform in Australia as an “ absolute shemozzle ” that is jeopardising the entire VET system . But the SA government has given Gunningham and others scant attention , undertaking only minor surgery on the program since mid-2012 .
Another critique of Skills for All that the government largely ignored came in January 2013 , just seven months after the program was launched , from the SA branch of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training ( ACPET ).
Its paper provided a scathing critique of the elements of the program that have led to “ market distortions with significant negative impacts requiring careful corrective action ”.
ACPET summarised the concerns it had expressed “ repeatedly ” during the previous year “ most of which were not heeded but are now proving to be correct ”.
These concerns included the low prices the bureaucrats were willing to pay providers for many courses , the lack of quality control of the large number of non-SA providers that flooded into the market and the creation of an environment where unsuspecting students were propositioned by providers offering the lowest price , increasing the likelihood of students making “ indiscriminate ” choices about which course to choose .
The independent evaluation of Skills for All conducted by ACIL Allen Consulting in 2014 examined the first two years of the program and , whilst acknowledging the program had succeeded in its aim of increasing participation in education , politely noted that many of the qualifications gained were in excess of those needed in certain industries . It found that “ Skills for All-funded VET activity has not always targeted areas with the greatest industry need or employment opportunities ”. In other words , there was massive wastage of taxpayers ’ money .
The evaluators comforted the SA Government by noting that it was not the only one wasting money : “ The experiences of demand-driven systems , both Skills for All in South Australia and elsewhere in Australia , have shown that there are significant attendant fiscal risks , with levels of activity generated that can far exceed planned expenditure . It is important to note that the Skills for All findings in this regard outlined in this report are not unique to South Australia but are reflective of the broad experience with VET markets , both nationally and internationally .” Translated , this means VET reform policy , championed by Treasury officials , has consistently led to cost blow-outs everywhere .
The Liberal opposition leader in SA , the member for Dunstan , Steven Marshall , was not as polite in his interpretation of the data in the evaluation report . In a joint media release from his office on April 2 with David Pisoni , the shadow minister for employment , skills and training , Marshall noted that “ the ACIL Allen … report released yesterday contains shocking statistics that would have resulted in the axing of Skills for All much earlier if they had been publicly available ”.
Pisoni said , “ In short , the ACIL Allen report found that just 30.5 per cent of those enrolled in a Skills for All course completed it in 2013 and of those graduates only 70 per cent found a job-related benefit . This type of shocking performance would not be tolerated if the actual figures were publicly available .
“ For years , I sought precisely this type of information from various ministers responsible and was told it wasn ’ t available ! ACIL Allen found that of the 134,900 enrolments funded under the Skills for All program in 2013 , there were just 41,100 qualifications issued ( completions ). ACIL Allen also found the number of graduates reporting a job-related benefit from completing a qualification fell from 77 per cent to 70 per cent after the introduction of Skills for All .
“ The Weatherill Government must engage with industry in the design and operation of the replacement WorkReady program to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Skills for All program ,” Pisoni said . “ Given we have the same minister and the same bureaucrats running WorkReady , we will end up with the same result unless there is genuine consultation with industry .”
A wake-up call The ACIL Allen report demonstrates this article ’ s assertion that so-called VET reform was driven by bureaucrats who were convinced they could artificially design a well-functioning market . A careful reading of the report shows a government floundering with the task of setting prices , unable to establish an environment in which sufficient information was available for many students to make wise decisions and unable to clearly set out “ the multiple and key roles ” TAFE performs .
ACIL Allen was less forthcoming about the problem of rogue VET providers in SA , possibly because that was outside of its brief ; however an example of rogues fed by Skills for All rorting the system was provided recently by the Four Corners expose on the dubious practices of a training arm of an employment services agency in Elizabeth , SA .
Whilst the SA government avoided public debate on the ACIL Allen evaluation report by releasing the document the same time it announced it was axing Skills for All , public debate in SA will probably expand as people become aware of the dramatic changes to VET the Victorian Labor Government is pursuing . Recent events suggest that the public is likely to be drawn into the debate about VET not by government bureaucrats or politicians , but by media stories of whistleblower staff and disillusioned VET students who have been exploited .
Based on these documented policy failures , parties in the HE sector calling for a sensible , public debate about how to design a more deregulated system deserve commendations . n
Dr John Mitchell is a VET researcher and analyst . Go to jma . com . au
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