The study will examine the different policies and processes that have been used by governments and industries in Australia and a range of overseas countries to encourage greater investment by employers in skills development both with entry-level and existing workers. The study will evaluate the practical outcomes achieved by the different measures that have been adopted and develop a working classification and robust conceptualisation of possible measures that will aid decision making in the Australian VET policy community.
1. What are the policies and processes that have been adopted by Australian State, Territory and federal governments and industry bodies to promote employer investment in skills development in recent years and what has been the impact?
2. What have been the policies and processes adopted in successful overseas nations by governments and industry bodies to promote employer investment in skills development in recent years and what has been the impact? To what extent are those policies and processes culturally bound and to what extent are they transferable to Australia?
3. What are the factors that encourage and discourage employers both in Australia and overseas to invest in skills development and what are the possible policies and processes that might be adopted to address these factors?
4. What is the role of industry bodies and provider-employer partnerships in encouraging greater employer investment in skills development?
There will be two elements to this research project
* A review of existing research and information on policies and processes to encourage employer investment in skills development in Australia and overseas
* An empirical investigation of the successes and failures of these approaches
This desktop element of the project will involve a review of all existing information on policies and processes to encourage employer investment in skills development. In Australia these sources will include (but not be limited to):
* Evaluations of the Training Guarantee Scheme (e.g Frazer, 1996; Teicher, 1995)
* Evaluations of the Construction Industry Scheme from Construction Training Australia and other state construction ITABs
* Evaluations of other industry body schemes such as the waterfront arrangements
* Evaluations of state based tax and other incentives for employer training
A number of interviews will be conducted with key informants (within Australia and internationally) to investigate the issues surrounding policies to encourage employer investment in skills development, particularly views on the effectiveness of such policies. Telephone interviews will be conducted with a range of informants.
This project is being undertaken by the Associate Professor Andy Smith, Group for Research in Employment and Training , Charles Sturt University and Associate Professor Stephen Billet, through the Centre for Learning and Work Research, Griffith University.
The Group for Research in Employment and Training is a university-supported research centre. It has successfully completed many large VET competitive research projects, and national and state consultancies. It contains academic staff from the Faculties of Commerce and Education, providing a strong multi-disciplinary focus, and is complemented by CSUs successful VET teacher-training courses.
