New national vocational education and training research priorities announced

6 July 2007

The Ministerial Council for Vocational and Technical Education (MCVTE) has agreed to the national vocational education and training (VET) research priorities, which will govern VET research activity for the next three years.

Based on advice developed by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) Board after extensive consultation with national stakeholder organisations, the five research priority areas are:

1. Growing the labour supply: by examining how VET can support greater participation in the workforce, especially for equity groups whose participation is relatively low.
   
   
2. Motivating individuals to participate in VET: by understanding why people choose to, or not to, participate in VET, what drives demand for VET and what outcomes it offers participants in the medium to long term.
   
   
3. Sustaining a skills base through apprenticeships and traineeships: by identifying ways of maximising the number of people who complete their apprenticeship or traineeship.
   
   
4. Enhancing the productive capacity of enterprises: by ensuring that employers are well-placed to maintain the skills of their workers and to adapt to new work practices and technologies.
   
   
5. Enabling VET providers to compete effectively: by identifying the barriers VET providers face to operating effectively in a competitive environment.

Research undertaken in these areas will assist government and industry in meeting the challenges faced by national training system in meeting Australia's future skill needs.

The priorities will guide future research commissioned under NCVER's National VET Research and Evaluation Program and will inform developments in Australian VET statistical collections conducted on behalf of the Australian, state and territory governments. They will also serve as a guide to NCVER's own research activities.

NCVER will announce the next round of funding for research to be undertaken under these priorities later in 2007. For more information email renee.lukeman@ncver.edu.au.

ENDS

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