VET & TAFE
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A new report shows that in
some categories, Indigenous
VET students are doing
better than their non-
Indigenous counterparts.
Georgina Windley interviewed
by Loren Smith
Y
oung Indigenous Australians are becoming more educated
and are thereby helping to ‘close the gap’, according to
a new report from the National Centre for Vocational
Education Research (NCVER).
Increased Indigenous vocational completions are driving this
change, though they remain behind non-Indigenous completions.
Jodieann Dawe, the national manager of research and
engagement at NCVER, explained the correlation between
education and better life outcomes in a statement:
“We know from existing research that employment rates are
higher for those who gain a certificate III or higher, showing VET is
a key component to closing the gap in employment disparity.”
Not only are they closing the gap, in some instances Indigenous
youths are outclassing their non-Indigenous peers. The report
found that Indigenous trade apprentices, for example, were more
likely to be employed, post-training, than others.
However, not all Indigenous youths are excelling. Those in
remote regions fall behind those in regional and urban areas in
terms of VET enrolment, completion and employment.
Also, in general, Indigenous VET graduates are about 9 per cent less
likely to be employed compared to non-Indigenous VET graduates.
VET vastly outweighs other post-school education pathways
in regards to its Indigenous popularity. In 2015, Indigenous
enrolments in TAFE and private training providers made up 79 per
cent of Indigenous education. By contrast, universities made up just
2.7 per cent of enrolments.
The most popular courses among Indigenous men are
engineering and related technologies; mixed field programs
(those that teach literacy, numeracy and personal development);
architecture and building; and agriculture, environmental and
related studies.
For Indigenous women, the most popular courses are
management and commerce; society and culture; mixed field
programs; and food, hospitality and personal services.
While employment outcomes may be deficient, Indigenous VET
graduates experience higher rates of self-satisfaction, confidence
and communication skills.
22
Campus Review sits down with Georgina Windley, a research
officer at NCVER, to discuss the report and how the VET sector is
helping to close the gap.
CR: The report showed an increase in Indigenous people completing
VET qualifications from 2005 to 2015. How big was this increase?
GW : Well, we can see that while overall completion numbers
have increased, enrolment numbers have also increased, so it isn’t
necessarily a broad increase in qualifications. When we report on
qualifications, we look at completion rates rather than completion
numbers, and we can see that Indigenous people are less likely
to complete compared with their non-Indigenous counterparts.
I think that’s around 25 per cent of Indigenous VET students are
likely to complete their qualifications compared with around 38 or
39 per cent of non-Indigenous people.
You also found some positives in respect to Indigenous people in
the VET sector. Indigenous trade apprentices are more likely to gain
post-training employment than non-Indigenous apprentices. How
large is this gap and why do you think it exists?
Yes, that’s true, Indigenous trade apprentices – those not employed
before training, that is – are more likely to be employed after
training than their non-Indigenous counterparts. For Indigenous
trade apprentices, it’s around 89 or 90 per cent of people who are
employed after training, and for non-Indigenous trade apprentices
it is about 78 per cent. We didn’t look into why that was the case.
However, there are quite a few programs and policies aimed at
Indigenous apprentices, so that may have had some impact on it.
The report found that, overall, Indigenous VET graduates were less
likely to be employed compared to non-Indigenous graduates. Can
you speculate as to why?
Yes, that’s right. Around 67.5 per cent of Indigenous graduates
are employed after training compared with 75 per cent of non-
Indigenous graduates. We didn’t look at why. However … over
the time period we looked at, there was a bit of a slow in the
employment level as a result of the post-GFC workforce. So this
may have an impact on both Indigenous and non-Indigenous
opportunities for VET graduates.
But we’ve also found that for those who weren’t employed before
training, around about the same or similar proportions of Indigenous
and non-Indigenous graduates were employed after training. So a lot