This report explains the planning processes and financial arrangements underpinning the vocational education and training (VET) sector. It looks at the structural capacity of the sector to respond rapidly and efficiently to a dynamic labour market and changes in pattern of skill demand. The report finds that the complexities of the labour market and the multiple demands on the VET system mean that the planning processes used by state and territory authorities are relatively different, dynamic and, in some instances, quite complex.
The aim of this research was to identify approaches used by a select number of overseas countries-the United Kingdom, China, Singapore, Norway and Germany-in their attempts to match the supply of skills with current and projected skill needs. The study focuses on the mechanisms used by, or on behalf of, governments to influence the formal and informal processes and outcomes of skills formation. This includes the management and direction of VET systems, financing and other levers that influence the type, amount and location of training and other skills-formation processes. The research found that countries use a mixture of three types of strategies to attempt to align the supply of skills with current and future needs: state regulated; regulated through agreements between the social partners, that is, industry, unions and government; and market regulation.
This report focusses on the implementation of vocational education and training (VET) in schools over the period 1996-1999. The report is comprehensive and provides an overview of school-based VET, historic and international aspects of vocationalism in secondary schooling, policy influences on the implementation of VET in secondary schools in Australia, a statistical description of VET provision in Australian secondary schools, a description of school-level implementation, discussion of cost and resourcing issues and then a suggested blueprint for school-based VET. Part 2 elaborates on the major findings and issues presented in part 1 and is available as a pdf file only.