Many elements combine to make up the apprenticeship system in Australia. In this report, we focus on five enduring issues in the apprenticeship system that have been discussed in research and literature over time.
This report analyses the qualifications people held in Australia using the ABS Survey of Qualifications and Work (2018-19).
This project explores if the international definitions of IVET and CVET are also suitable for the Australian VET system, including reviews of international literature and consultation with Australian VET experts.
The report presents an analysis of nationally recognised ‘training package’ skill sets, and shows how both skill sets numbers and reported enrolments have grown in recent years.
The main socio-demographic characteristics associated with being persistently not employed, in education or training (NEET) are early school leaving and having children.
Key types of ROI for individuals arising from TVET include employment and productivity (i.e. higher wages) as well as highly valued job-related returns.
This research summary provides evidence of the changing nature of apprenticeships over a 20-year period (1996–2016), with a focus on a comparison of trade and non-trade apprentices and trainees.
This paper examines the key trends in VET participation during the period 1996 to 2014. It also looks at key policy developments and the prevailing economic conditions during this period.
This research synthesis examines the general decline of the manufacturing industry, and the education and training needs of workers affected by impending car plant closures in Australia by comparing two case studies and using findings from other NCVER reports.
The quality and rigour of assessments in VET have been key concerns for VET policy-makers, which questions the credibility of VET qualifications.
Manufacturing and retail industries tend to dominate in more economically vulnerable regions while it's the reverse for mining and construction.
Assessing the impact of research in the social sciences is important in demonstrating that the research is useful and has been used. This good practice guide firstly provides indicators of how to best assess impact across four domains - producing knowledge, building the capacity of researchers and end users, influencing policy, and influencing practice. The guide secondly discusses ways to maximise the impact of research such as approaches to dissemination, using contacts and networks (including end users), knowledge translation, and developing programs of research.
This report investigates the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) for its coverage of wellbeing questions. It is an area of considerable interest to policy-makers, and having a valid set of wellbeing questions in LSAY will enhance the capacity to investigate the links between wellbeing and other domains of interest for young people. The analysis finds three robust factors, which can be termed social wellbeing, material wellbeing and career. The three factors do not cover all the dimensions of wellbeing discussed in the literature, particularly the psychological aspects. Suggestions are made for enhancing the current list of wellbeing questions in LSAY.
This paper discusses how a 'gap-taker' can be defined, noting that gap-taking is not the same as deferral.
In this report the authors examine how skills development in domestic plumbing occupations has responded to an increased emphasis on environmental sustainability and 'greening'. They find that rather than sustainability and greening requiring major changes in thinking, plumbing skills need to be responsive to changing technology and more generic skills such as dealing with customers are required. How and at what stage to best impart these skills is a challenge for plumbing and the vocational education and training sector.
Innovation is seen as a way of increasing productivity in firms and also increasing prosperity for the nation. This examines what is meant by innovation, the relationship between innovation and productivity, and the types of skills that are relevant to innovation. It also discusses the implications of innovation for the training system, government and enterprises.
The main impetus for the interest in innovation is that it is seen to improve productivity at the firm level and therefore improved economic prosperity and living standards. This edited volume was commissioned by the Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations. The authors contribute a variety of views on innovation from different perspectives. Some of the main themes running throughout the book are reasons for firms innovating, the skills required for innovation and how innovation and skills development is supported by the training system, the firm and government. Innovation is seen as moving beyond research and development, to include new products, services and operational/organisational processes.
This paper was originally developed to help the Training and Skills Commission in South Australia consider the pathways between elements of the vocational education and training (VET) system, how they are working and what improvements can be made. It has been revised to make it national in scope. The authors reveal that quite substantial numbers of VET graduates go on to university level study or further study within VET itself. Significant numbers of university graduates also go on to study in VET. However, not all VET graduates choose to study at a higher level; a substantial proportion of students going on to further study do so at the same or lower level. This suggests that entitlement models need to consider horizontal (skills broadening) as well as vertical (only qualifications at a higher level) in their funding mix.
Governments are interested in the relative efficiency of institutions, and in addition, information on efficiency can be used by individual institutions to benchmark themselves against their peers. The main factor that was found to affect efficiency, as defined in this paper, was degree of remoteness. Further, institute size is an important factor, with smaller institutes tending to be less efficient. This paper employs a mathematical technique known as Data Envelopment Analysis to examine the efficiency of TAFE institutes.
In mid-2010 NCVER undertook a review of its building researcher capacity initiative in order to inform its direction into the future. The review found that the initiative had achieved a high profile among vocational education and training (VET) practitioners. The scholarship programs had heightened awareness about the role research can play in fostering good practice and a culture of evaluation. The review found, however, that more work needs to be done to find the best ways to encourage new VET researchers within universities.