The distinction between VET and higher education in Australia is blurring. The purpose of this paper is to examine – through the conduct of a case study of engineering qualifications (AQF6) delivered in Victoria – how education and training providers and students are likely to respond to different fees and funding arrangements under the student entitlement model.
In this 30 minute podcast, Steve Davis talks with Tom Karmel, Erica Smith and Damian Oliver on insights from research into apprenticeships.textInterested in the story behind the numbers, Tom discusses the findings from his work on individual completion rates that show occupation and employers' size matters, with the implication being that the relationship between employer and apprentice is critical. Erica talks about the all too often unspoken expectations of apprentices and employers—the psychological contract. She finds that writing down these expectations at the start of an apprenticeship does help all parties. Damian examines whether pre-apprenticeship programs deliver on their promise of improved retention rates and finds their impact varies by occupation and prior education level. Implications for policy-makers and training providers are drawn out throughout the podcast.
NCVER commissioned six leading thinkers to offer insights into what is meant by a training market, constraints upon that market and the areas for improvement in the system which would allow consumers greater choice.
The purpose of this paper looks at the fundamental issue of whether VET does improve the employment prospects of the groups in question. It exploits data from the Student Outcome Survey to construct samples that proxy three welfare groups and models the post-training employment outcomes.
Recent trends in the provision of vocational education and training (VET) diplomas and advanced diplomas are outlined in this paper. The paper also looks at how people with diplomas and advanced diplomas are faring in the labour market. The picture is rather mixed, suggesting that those with diplomas and advanced diplomas fare, on average, better than those with other VET qualifications or no post-school qualifications.
School-based apprentices and trainees have recently been given more prominence as an element of vocational education and training in school, partly as a response to skill shortages in a wide range of areas. The purpose of this paper is to provide data on school-based apprentices and trainees to enable a judgement to be made about how this policy push is unfolding. The number of school-based apprentices and trainees is small but growing rapidly, numbers are concentrated in retail and hospitality training packages. Completion rates are lowest in the trades.
Trade apprenticeships in Australia from 1967 to 2006 are modelled in this paper. These models are used to understand how apprentice numbers in the trades respond to changes in labour market conditions. The models also allow commentary on the impact of recent government policy initiatives on trade apprentices. The paper finds that some trade apprenticeships are particularly sensitive to labour market conditions; that historical relationships between apprenticeship numbers and the labour market in the majority of occupations have broken down in the last ten years; and that government initiatives have been unable to counteract completely this trend.
The ageing society has been attracting the attention of policy-makers in Australia and in many other countries. This paper considers the labour market for the traditional trades in Australia over the next 40 years and investigates whether the ageing society will pose a workforce problem. The broad conclusion is that the ageing society will significantly impact on the size of the potential trades workforce, but that this is unlikely to result in shortages. Rather, any shortage is more likely to occur if the trades lose their attractiveness relative to other occupations. Moreover, the age distribution of the trades workforce will remain largely unaltered.
Using wage data from the Student Outcomes Survey, this study examines whether there is a pay off to actually completing a vocational education and training (VET) qualification, noting that many VET students do not complete full qualifications.
Lifelong learning means different things to different people. This paper takes a pragmatic approach and examines adult engagement with various aspects of Australia's education and training system and the policy framework that underpins the system. It is argued that Australia's policy framework for lifelong learning is relatively weak because the educational framework is very open and does not discriminate on the basis of age. In a sense, Australia does not have a policy because it does not need one: its whole approach has encouraged lifelong learning.