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There are wide variations in participation and take-up of vocational education and training (VET) across regions in Australia. Investigating the reasons for these differences was one of the tasks undertaken by a consortium of researchers from the National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University, and the Centre for Post-compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning, University of Melbourne, in work commissioned by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research.
Walstab and Lamb set out to identify the main drivers of and barriers to participation in regional Australia. Having mapped regional participation rates, they went on to identify ‘exceptional’ regions, those with unusually high or low rates of participation, and to draw conclusions about what drives regional differences in VET participation.
Key messages
- Economic factors have a strong influence on participation in VET. The composition of industry structure plays a major part. So too do labour market conditions. As unemployment rates rise, participation tends to fall.
- These explanations do not, however, suffice when it comes to participation in the exceptional regions identified in the study, pointing to the significant impact that local policies, community partnerships and other specific factors can have on training rates.
- The large variations across the regions of Australia in rates of VET participation exist at all qualification levels but more so for basic and diploma levels.
- VET participation is stronger in the rural areas of Australia, particularly for basic- and middle-level VET awards. The reverse is true for participation in diploma-level VET.
- Patterns of participation across regions vary by type of provider, funding and mode of delivery. Some regions with lower levels of participation in technical and further education- (TAFE)-based VET have high levels of participation in VET delivered by private providers.
- Demographic factors are also important. This is noticeable at higher award levels, where participation is influenced by the social, cultural and educational backgrounds of the population.
- This report has a companion piece written by Richard Teese and Anne Walstab, Social area differences in vocational education and training participation. For a synthesis of this consortium’s entire program of work, see A well-skilled future by Sue Richardson and Richard Teese.
Tom Karmel
Managing Director, NCVER
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