Training Delivery - Australia

Australia is a federation consisting of Commonwealth, State and Territory governments. Geographically isolated, we are populated by persons from a diversity of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Although a significant number of Australians reside in the major capital cities, the remainder of the population is dispersed across Australia’s large landmass. These characteristicshave meant that educational strategies must be able to accommodate a multiplicity of learning requirements. Over the last fifteen years the nature of the economy has changed from reliance on primary resources and manufacturing to more dependence on service and knowledge based industries. These changes have created a need for the Australian labour force to be increasingly mobile, and new figures show that Australians change careers an average of three times in their working lives. This further exemplifies the need for life-long learning to be an integral part of the Australian approach to education and training.

The Australian system reflects a collaborative effort by governments and industry to address the needs of individual Australians and provide each of them with the skills and opportunities to enhance their own lives, and create a secure and stable Australia for their children. The Australian approach to VET, as with many other countries, also reflects the spirit of the Delors Report - that learning throughout life can become the means for each of us to establish an equilibrium between learning and working, continued adaptation for a number of occupations and for the exercise of actual citizenship.

Currently, industry (45%) and government (45%) provide equal amounts of funding, with the remainder coming from individuals (10%). Nearly half (49%) of all vocational education and training programs are delivered by publicly funded institutions. 23% are delivered by enterprises, 13% by suppliers and equipment manufacturers, 3% by industry skill centres and colleges, 6% by commercial training businesses and 6% by non-profit training organisations.

The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) is a nationally consistent framework that allows for credit transfer and articulation between qualifications. The comprehensive framework spans all education sectors - schools, VET, and higher education. It covers all qualifications recognized in post-compulsory education, and consists of guidelines that define each qualification along with principles and protocols covering articulation, issuing of qualifications and transition arrangements. The many pathways for learning promotes flexibility and provides individuals with options to pursue life-long learning in a manner suited to their needs and at the desired levels. Although each sector has a distinct identity and focus, credit transfer and articulation arrangements facilitate individuals’ ability to move through these sectors, a key feature of Australia’s approachto life-long learning.

The Australian Federation has a strong tradition of vocational education and training, but for many years vocational education and training was confined to a narrow range of qualifications offered by state-based government Technical and Further Education institutes. In 1974 a national review set in place the beginnings for a national vocational education and training system, which has grown significantly and now features a wide range of providers.

At the national level is the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA). Established in 1994, ANTA is a Commonwealth statutory authority headed by an industry led Board that advises Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers on how to best achieve a national focus for the VET system. The Ministers (collectively known as the ANTA Ministerial Council) are responsible for final decisions on strategic policy and planning, funding, and national objectives and priorities. The importance of the ANTA Board in the policy process recognizes the pivotal role industry now plays in the Australian system.

State and Territory interests are represented by bodies called State and Territory Training Authorities. These authorities address the industry and community training needs of their respective jurisdictions, whilst maintaining a national focus. Through their annual vocational education and training plans they contribute to a national profile of Australia’s training needs.Over the past six years there has been a substantial increase in the number of private providers offering vocational education and training, although Technical and Further Education Institutes remain the largest public provider in Australia. Today however, these Institutes compete with an array of private and other publicly funded providers. This enhanced system provides a range of options for individuals to pursue life-long learning.

A major reform in the Australian system has been the move towards competency-based training. The focus of this approach is to equip people with industry determined skills, the successful attainment and demonstration of which entitles the learner to the relevant qualification under the Australian Qualifications Framework. Under this regime, the content of training is determined by the needs of industry, and qualifications are issued when skills are attained, not according to predetermined time periods.

Initially, the Australian vocational education and training system was supply (that is, provider)focused and provided for limited industry involvement in the development of training courses that would meet the needs of the future work force. Industry regarded the skills that the vocational education and training system gave people as inadequately aligned with the skills needed by persons in the workplace.

With the introduction of national industry developed competency standards, the needs of industryreceived greater recognition. However, the government still regulated training by accrediting programs, and trade training was restricted to a relatively narrow range of industries. This approach covered a limited number of industries, and further work was required to ensure that the needs of Australia’s rapidly changing work force were met with ensuing improvements in growthand productivity.

The strategic initiatives which now guide Australia’s national vocational education and trainingsystem are set out in ‘A Bridge to the Future - Australia’s National Strategy for VocationalEducation and Training 1998 - 2003’. The strategy consolidates the recent reforms and detailscollective commitment by Australian governments, in partnership with Australian industry, to implementing further reforms to create a vocational education and training system which is responsive to client needs and a cornerstone to life-long skills training. The strategy details the key objectives of the sector and enunciates a vision for the Australian vocational education and training system. This vision is to ensure that the skills of the Australian labour force are sufficient tosupport internationally competitive commerce and industry and to provide individuals with opportunities to optimize their potential.

To assist in the achievement of these key objectives, Australia’s VET system is supported by the Australian Recognition Framework and Training Packages.

The objective of the Australian Recognition Framework and Training Packages is to improvethe quality of all-vocational education and training products and services, and to develop a more co-operative and united national approach. Together, the Australian Recognition Framework and Training Packages simplify the way training is regulated, define who is responsible for it, describe how quality can be guaranteed, and ensure that nationally consistent policies and procedures are in place.

The Australian Recognition Framework creates a national, quality oriented registration processfor training and assessment organisations. Within the framework, the new Training Packages approach complements the traditional approach of State and Territory accreditation of programs. The Australian Recognition Framework facilitates the mutual recognition of registered training organisations, services and products; creates a level playing field between private and public providers; and encourages diversification of recognised products and services.

Training Packages provide the basic building blocks for vocational education and training programs. Training Packages are sets of national training resources consisting of national competency standards, assessment guidelines and national qualifications, and they have laid the foundations for a national system, which is supported by key stakeholders. Developed by industry, Training Packages have also gone a long way to achieving the move away from centralised, limited course accreditation. They bring together, through processes managed by each industry sector, the previously disconnected approaches to standards, programs, qualifications and learning resources. This creates a comprehensive tool kit for learning and assessment leading to nationally recognised qualifications. Individual Training Packages are developed for specific industry areas by national Industry Training Advisory Bodies, with extensive involvement by industry to make sure they meet industry and enterprise needs. The Australian vocational education and training system is now increasingly characterised by registered providers using flexible, industry designed and nationally endorsed education and training products in ways that most benefit the learner.

Complementing these reforms are an array of specific initiatives which, collectively, address the major economic, technological and social trends which affect vocational education and training in Australia.

Australia’s political and business leaders have long been concerned with the declining numbers of apprentices and have responded with an initiative called "New Apprenticeships". Building on the existing apprenticeship and traineeship system, this initiative is aimed at modernizing traditional apprenticeships and traineeships, making them more attractive propositions for both employers and apprentices/trainees. Based on industry approved Training Packages, New Apprenticeships are recognised across Australia and are available across a wide range of industries,including both traditional areas and Australia’s new generation of industries such as media, entertainment, information technology and hospitality.

New Apprenticeships lead to nationally recognised qualifications, and can be commenced while an individual is still at school. For employers, the government provides incentives to take on an apprentice and each employer has greater autonomy over the content of training and the method and timing of its delivery.

Both learners and employers are calling for more choice in training. In developing a strategic response to this demand, ‘Flexible delivery’ methods are being embraced, encompassing a rangeof approaches that aim to provide the training that employers and learners want, when they want it, at a convenient location and using a variety of approaches and resources. Flexible delivery in Australia is largely made possible through recent advances in technology, which has enabled more convenient, cost effective and accessible education and training to be provided, especially to those Australians for whom distance is a barrier to traditional learning methods. Nowadays, even when the distance between the learner and the educator is immense, it is not necessarily problematic. Technological advances, coupled with flexible training delivery methods, means that rural Australians will enjoy one of the world’s best distance education systems.

In recent years, Australian governments have made significant advances in broadening senior schooling to include vocational education and training in an effort to equip young people with the skills employers need. This major initiative aimed at Australia’s youth population is called "VETin Schools". "VET in Schools" aims to make school more relevant by helping students preparefor life in the work force. Students are encouraged to stay at school longer and their chances of gaining employment are increasing because they actually have the skills that enterprises need. Continuing participation in vocational education and training after young people leave school is also increasing.

The "VET in Schools" program enables school students to undertake one of three models of practical work related activity:

Today, many Australian schools now offer comprehensive, relevant vocational education programs to their students in addition to the traditional secondary school senior certificate. To align with "VET in Schools", career and course information is being developed to ensure that Australian school students have the necessary information to make their secondary and post-secondary education choices.

Seamless pathways between sectors mean that people from a range of educational backgroundscan access different types of education. Many of our vocational education and training providers and higher education institutions have successfully cultivated relationships that facilitate articulation from one sector to the other. This applies to movement in both directions and a feature of recent Australian experience is that many university students, on completion of their degrees, are undertaking vocational education and training qualifications. In fact the magnitude of this "reverse articulation" is larger now than the number of students moving on from vocational education and training to university. Various arrangements allow for students with qualifications in one sector to be granted credit towards study or qualifications in another sector. ANTA and the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee - the peak Universities body in Australia - have reachedan agreement to develop credit transfer and articulation arrangements for qualifications in Training Packages in areas such as tourism, telecommunications, engineering, information technology,management and administration. Australia embarks upon this major project with a firm view that the distinctiveness of the vocational education and training sector remains a priority and that postcompulsory education pathways should lead to an heterogeneous not an homogenous range of offerings. The educational pursuits of young Australians should not be frustrated by constraints in moving between sectors and this is being achieved by arrangements where the university and vocational education and training sectors are moving towards recognising each others’ passportsat the borders rather than through uniformity between the sectors.

Seamless pathways linking the sectors of Australia’s post-secondary education and training system will allow greater choice and flexibility for clients of the system. It will enable learners to move freely in and between sectors while ensuring that outcomes from each are relevant and valued.

A seamless post-secondary system will be achieved by a national policy framework to guide credit transfer and articulation arrangements between vocational education and training and higher education; the expansion of employment based pathways; and comprehensive careers and course advice which enables clients to consider the full range of available options.

Participants in the Australian vocational education and training sector have recognised that learning occurs over a lifetime in many settings, including schools, vocational education and training providers, universities, workplaces, community organisations, the home and elsewhere.

The increasing utilisation of flexible delivery methods means greater flexibility for individuals in how they choose to learn, and enhances the responsiveness of the vocational education and training sector to the growing demand by employers for on-line training solutions. Flexible delivery allows a significant focus on and improvement in distance education in Australia and effectively harnesses new technologies to play a key role in the provision of a diverse range of educational services, in a variety of modes of delivery and settings.

Australia has experienced a rapid increase in the availability and take-up of new technologies. This has opened up new delivery possibilities for the vocational education and training sector. In the near future, learning through these technological advances will become enmeshed in our lives, in the workplace, and in communities. The Australian vocational education and training system is currently working with the Information Technology and Telecommunications industry to find ways on how to best meet the skill requirements which are rapidly emerging.

EMP/SKILLS - Skills and Employability Department