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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 06 Hansard (Thursday, 24 June 2004) . . Page.. 2790 ..

(7) Why has the A.C.T. Government reduced funding levels for VET by 0.3% in real terms between 2002-2003 and 2003-2004;

(8) Where have these funds been redirected to.

Ms Gallagher: The answer to Mrs Burke’s question is:

(1) Evidence for satisfaction of the ANTA Agreement targets is collected as raw data by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research Ltd (NCVER) on a quarterly basis. NCVER process the data and derive estimates of training activities. These estimates are used by ANTA to assess jurisdictional compliance with the ANTA Agreement targets.

Brendan Nelson, Federal Minister for Education, Science & Training noted that the ACT had not met the target in only one of the three monitored areas at the relevant census date (30 June 2002). As a result of the ACT’s other achievements, and the additional training needs resulting from the January 2003 bushfires, the full amount of $1.71 million Australian Government growth funding was received by the ACT Government.

(2) There has been no refusal to increase VET funding by 1.5%.

(3) Yes.

(4) All states and territories agreed to the rejection of the draft 2004-2006 Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) Agreement.

It was inappropriate to drive the Howard Government’s unacceptable industrial relations agenda through a training agreement.

(5) There were several reasons cited for the rejection of the 2004-2006 Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) Agreement, including:

• an insufficient offer of growth funding by the Australian Government

• a failure by the Australian Government to accommodate a request from the states and territories that the Agreement provide for an annual review of funding that would identify where demand exceeds available resources, to be paid as increased Australian Government investment in the first quarter of the following year

• the impasse over the National Code of Practice for the Construction Industry 1997 and the associated Commonwealth Implementation Guidelines 1998.

(6) The ACT Government, with other jurisdictions, rejected the Australian Government’s offer for an Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) Agreement for 2004-2006.

The ANTA Agreement was extended for 2004 under the terms and conditions of the 2001-2003 Agreement.

The funding offered by the Australian Government has been put out to tender for eligible Registered Training Organisations to deliver accredited vocational training.

(7) Funding levels for VET in 2003-2004 increased by 4.9% to $69.475 million from $66.216 million in 2002-2003. In real terms, this represents an increase of 2.7%.

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