Australia's competitive success with innovation-based products and services is an influential factor to its long-term prosperity. This study examines the role of vocational education and training (VET) and occupations in innovative industries and firms. The authors find VET is vital to developing knowledge and practical skills across a broad range of occupations, and people in vocational occupations are among principal sources of ideas for technological innovation. Further, innovative firms reported a high level of satisfaction with public and private training, which the authors conclude is due to the high level of consultation between firms and TAFE. However, firms identified the need for employees to develop generic skills, such as working in teams and developing problem-solving and communication skills, as an opportunity for the VET sector to meet unmet demand.
Group training is an Australian initiative to encourage the employment of apprentices and trainees. This report examines the structure and function of group training organisations (GTOs) over time and identifies the factors that drive GTOs to change their structure and function. The authors find that group training is a critical component of Australia's skill formation system, and GTOs are highly responsive and adaptive to their policy and commercial environment. However, the authors warn that increasing commercialisation of group training has the potential to threaten the quality of training, and in particular the training opportunities for the more disadvantaged.