Serving client needs in regional and local communities

This report investigates how, and to what extent training packages are customised at local sites to meet the needs of stakeholders in regional and local communities. It also investigates who the stakeholders in regional communities are, and what they want from training. Whether customising of training packages preserves the portability of the training package is also considered.

These questions are becoming increasingly important for regional communities, as they are for all communities, since the need to maintain a competitive workforce requires a highly mobile, flexible and adaptable workforce, which at the same time, has a specialised and contextualised knowledge of work practices within a given enterprise.

Nearly 80 interviews were conducted with employers, registered training organisations, students and area consultative committees in regional areas across Australia to assist in finding answers to the issues identified above. In most cases, stakeholders familiar with the Agriculture, Aged Care and Tourism Training Packages were interviewed.

Interviews with stakeholders reveal that students are not spontaneously nominated as stakeholders in training. This has important implications for the manner in which their interests are accommodated within regional vocational education and training systems.

The research found that customisation of training packages involves complex collaboration and negotiation between the competing interests of stakeholder groups. However, while the research demonstrates that this can be achieved, it rarely happens. When it is successful, it is often expensive for all parties and is dependent on the commitment and skills of individual teachers. Moreover, when customisation of training packages takes place, there is concern that the portability of the package is diminished. A major challenge identified through this research is the need to maintain portability, while at the same time customising competencies to meet the specific needs of local contexts.

Generally, it was found that, while some communities consciously and actively 'manage' the tensions between stakeholder needs, between the need for generic and specific skills, between the demands of the local community and national and global interests, and between immediate and future needs, most do not consciously do so.

The report contains several suggestions for a range of stakeholders endeavouring to accommodate the requirements of a range of clients in regional and local communities.