An overview of vocational education and training in Australia and its links to the labour market

Understanding Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) system can be daunting for observers. This paper, funded by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, was therefore prepared for the research team undertaking the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Learning for Jobs VET Policy Review that visited Australia in April 2008.

This report is intended to make the VET system and its inner workings more comprehensible to observers. The authors have also included some critical commentary on various aspects of the system—strengths, weaknesses and possible alternative approaches. This draws on the extensive body of research and statistical information on VET that the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) has published, along with information from other agencies, particularly the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Since this report was prepared in early 2008 there have been a number of significant developments, including:

• the deterioration in Australia’s medium-term economic outlook in the wake of the world financial crisis. One would hazard that skills shortages will not feature so obviously among current issues over the next year or two

• the release of the Review of Australian Higher Education: Final Report. If its recommendations are implemented, then the structure of the tertiary education sector will change significantly

• the establishment of Skills Australia, a body to advise on Australia’s current, emerging and future workforce skills needs and workforce development needs

• an increasing emphasis on competition and contestability. Notable here is the initiative in Victoria to build a VET system based on individual entitlements, which can be exercised at whatever provider the student chooses

• a move from an ostensibly input-focused federal system to one focused on results, meaning that states and territories now have greater certainty of funding and flexibility in how they achieve their agreed service delivery outcomes

• through the Productivity and Participation COAG (Council of Australian Governments) Working Group, the establishment of long-term training targets

• increased investment in the VET system, including expansion of training places through the Productivity Places Program, the introduction of trade training centres in schools and targeted infrastructure to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the sector.

While this report has not incorporated these developments, and more recent statistics have become available, the information and the key messages it contains are still relevant.

Tom Karmel
Managing Director, NCVER