VET outcomes may be improved if training providers take a more regional approach to course offerings and institutional learning support.
The main socio-demographic characteristics associated with being persistently not employed, in education or training (NEET) are early school leaving and having children.
This literature review looks at policy contexts and their measures of impact, with a particular focus on foundation skills policy in Australia, implemented as the National Foundation Skills Strategy for Adults, 2012—22.
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.
Increasing competition in the vocational education and training sector over the last two decades means it is timely to understand how the market structure has changed.
Using the framework developed by NCVER, this case study evaluation reveals the extent to which NCVER's publications are influencing policy and practice in the vocational education and training sector.
Imagine a new landscape for education. Reflecting on the past, through the Martin report of the binary education system and the Dawkins reforms which unified the tertiary education system, Francesca Beddie looks at contemporary policy and future possibilities for tertiary education.
This research report examines the underutilisation of the skills of migrants in regional areas, particularly women who are often the spouse of a primary applicant but are also skilled in their own right.
This research reports on the effects of Youth Allowance using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY).
This report aims to throw some light on the role that skills sets play in meeting the needs of clients compared with full qualifications, which are seen as the foundation of the vocational education and training (VET) system.
This report investigates the role that qualifications play in the labour mobility of foreign workers who come to Australia for permanent or temporary migration.
This discussion paper introduces the overarching concepts for the three-year research program, 'Vocations: the link between post compulsory education and the labour market'. The paper also outlines the key findings from the initial investigations of each of the related research strands in the program. Overall, initial research has found that, due to the fragmentation of pathways within education and within the labour market, the relationship of pathways between education and the labour market are also fragmented. In order to understand this more clearly, the authors explore the concepts of transition systems, skill ecosystems and capabilities. A number of dilemmas for further research are also put forward.
As part of the three-year research program, 'Vocations: the link between post compulsory education and the labour market', this working paper sets the policy context and direction of the entry to vocations research stream. After looking at the current ‘in-school’ element of VET in Schools programs and jurisdictional differences, the paper raises a set of questions for discussion. For example, are more advanced and intense programs of VET in Schools needed to deliver stronger labour market outcomes? Do VET in Schools programs need to be more directly connected with post-school VET programs?
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 recent decades Australian immigration policy has focused mostly on accepting high-skilled migrants. This report explores the question of whether participation in further training differs for these migrants compared with that of native-born workers in similar jobs. The research shows that foreign-born workers in Australia seem to receive the training they need, but this depends on whether or not they are native English speakers. Non-native English-speaking migrants demonstrate low training participation rates. They also have lower literacy skills and are less likely to be in employment.
This occasional paper traces the evolution of Australia's apprenticeship system from European settlement in 1788 to the present day. It complements an earlier NCVER paper by Ray (2001), which concentrated on the second half of the 20th century. The present paper develops a number of major themes.
Encouraging older workers to stay in the workforce has become a policy priority. At the same time, the life expectancy of Australians has increased dramatically over the past several decades, effectively inserting a new stage in the life course, often called the 'third age'. This report explores the possibility of using that third age to embark on an encore career, a concept originating in the United States. The author then focuses on the role the VET sector might play in developing encore careers in Australia.
One of the significant challenges facing Australia is the ageing of the population. This challenge has led policy-makers to consider how older workers can be kept in the workforce. To help generate discussion on older workers, NCVER commissioned six researchers to draft essays on various issues around keeping older Australians engaged with the workforce. These essays, and responses by six additional discussants, were presented at a roundtable held in Canberra in May 2011. Themes to arise from the roundtable included the need to consider the diversity of older workers, the challenges of low literacy and numeracy skills for some older workers, discrimination and stereotypes, and the recognition that not all older workers want to keep working.
One of the challenges policy-makers face is the lack of systemic analysis around the concept of labour mobility, especially in relation to how mobility is changing and what can be done to improve it. Case studies of the mining, meat processing and early childhood care occupations and analysis of data from the longitudinal survey Australia at work have been undertaken to explore key issues and implications for advancing the labour mobility research field.
The paper provides an overview of the implications and causes of labour mobility and job tenure using data from major statistical sources and the research literature.