Page 3025 - Week 08 - Thursday, 15 August 2019
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At last week’s COAG meeting, first ministers agreed to a new vision for VET, a vision which aims to build on the strengths of the current system and position VET as an equal and integral part of our post-school tertiary education system. Ministers with responsibility for skills have now been asked to develop a road map for further reform by early 2020. I look forward to ongoing collaboration with the commonwealth and other states and territories to ensure that we leverage the strengths of the existing national architecture and address areas where our system can become more responsive to learners, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, employers and the economy.
It is worth noting in this context that I believe the ACT is the only jurisdiction where the first minister is also the treasurer and the skills minister, and all three COAG ministerial councils will be involved in delivering this work at a national level. I will be pleased to be there at every step of the way.
Earlier this year, the Australian government released a review of Australia’s VET system. The review was conducted by Mr Steven Joyce, a former minister for tertiary education, skills and employment in the New Zealand government. The review’s recommendations centred around the key principles of strengthening quality assurance, speeding up qualifications development, simpler funding and skills-matching mechanisms, better careers information, clearer secondary school pathways into VET, and greater access for disadvantaged Australians.
These principles reflect a sensible approach to continual improvement of a system that, whilst not broken, can be enhanced to better respond to current and future skills needs. The ACT government is cautious, however, about endorsing the 71 recommendations that provide a potential road map for reform without further consideration, consultation and analysis.
In going forward we need to ensure that TAFE, as the cornerstone of VET in the territory, and nationally, is supported to maintain and strengthen its critical community service and development functions and quality service delivery. We want to ensure that we avoid a narrow and instrumental view of vocational education and training based on what has worked in the past. We want to ensure that we provide learners with opportunities to develop transferable skills, essential capabilities and adaptive expertise to equip them for a changing world of work and lifelong learning. Things like teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking and communication skills, in addition to the all-important technical skills, are what employers want and what learners need.
The recommendations in the Joyce review go only part of the way in providing potential solutions to improving the system and ensuring that it is agile and future focused.
In response to the Joyce review, the Australian government announced a $525 million “delivering skills for today and tomorrow” package in its last budget. This package includes a range of new subsidies, industry training hubs and scholarships. It also contains funding for the establishment of three new agencies, a national skills commission, pilot skills organisations and a national careers institute.
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