Transcript Slide 1
Current and Emerging Policy Issues –
Implications for TAFE Institutes in Victoria
VTA HR Conference 2008
Policy Context
National
Election commitments
Productivity Places
Trade Centres in schools
Skills Australia
Industry Skills Councils
COAG Skills and Productivity agenda
Inquiry into Higher Education – a broad tertiary sector?
Victoria
Securing Jobs for Your Future – Skills for Victoria
New Commonwealth\State VET Agreement
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Policy Context
Return to cooperative federalism in national VET governance.
Productivity Agenda Working Group
Chaired by DPM
Early childhood schooling and skills and workforce development
Objectives, output measures, progress measures and future policy
directions
Skills and Workforce Development sub group chaired by Victoria
Outcomes agreed by COAG.
Consistency between State and National Reform Directions
Influence of Victoria on COAG reforms
Focus of Victorian Skills reforms
ICL for Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas in Victoria
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Objectives
Link between educational participation attainment and
productivity.
Targets for early childhood, schooling, post compulsory
education and older age groups.
Focus on attainment levels - not just participation.
Focus on increasing participation and improving outcomes
particularly for indigenous Australians
Reskilling the existing workforce:
Foundation skills
Higher level skills
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Objectives
Stronger focus on nature of skills required for 21 st century
economy and labour market and skills usage:
labour market participation, ongoing learning, productivity as well as
occupational competence
Skills supply more responsive to demand
Focus on workforce development not just formal VET
Victorian Skills Reforms:
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investment,
navigating the training system,
TAFE capital development,
capacity of the public VET workforce and
capacity of the ACFE sector
Strategies
Increased investment by government industry and
individuals:
Productivity places;
Extension of HEIF to Education Investment Fund
Training Guarantee -Demand based funding (Victoria);
First major VET funding reform since ANTA
Agreement;
172,000 additional places
$33 million for capacity building in TAFE and
community providers
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Strategies
RTO capability
More effective and outcomes focussed regulation
VET workforce development
NQC project
Governance reform
System level
Provider level
Commonwealth\State Agreement for Skills and Workforce
Development
Part of broader reforms to SPPs
Provide framework for reforms
Greater focus on outcomes
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Potential for differences between States\Territories
Strategies
Strengthening demand
Contestability for public funding;
Comprehensive and accurate information to support informed
choice;
Skills for growth program in Victoria
Efficient and consistent regulation
Reforming products (joint NQC\COAG project)
Ensuring VET programs and qualifications :
Provide competencies for 21st century workforce and economy
Meet needs of diverse learner groups and enterprises – school leavers,
pathways to higher education, enabling skills, existing workers
Enable RTOs to respond flexibly
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Strategies
Strengthened independent\industry labour market analysis and
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advice.
National
Skills Australia
Advice on productivity places;
Broader roles for Industry Skills Councils
Environment scans;
Advice to Skills Australia;
Victoria
Strengthening the role of the Victorian Skills Commission
Additional funding to State ITABs for consolidated industry
information service
Importance of Workforce Development
Focus
‘A major re-positioning where workforce development is a
move away from a focus upon the individual employee and a
“deficit” view where rectification of the skills problem is seen
to rest with the individual. Rather the workforce development
approach today argues that the employee operates within a
wider system, as well as in an organisational context that will
determine what specific policies and practices can be put in
place and what might work best in the short and longer term’.
Callan
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Review of Higher Education
Issues under consideration
Concept of a broader tertiary sector
The extent to which VET Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas
should be seen as part of higher education provision
Commonwealth funding for these qualifications and position of
other jurisdictions on extension of HECS
Level of higher education provision through VET providers and
eligibility for HE funding.
Scope for resource and facilities sharing and joint provision of
programs
Balance of provision and level of demand between the sectors
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The future school leaver population
HE Review Discussion Paper
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Numbers of domestic and overseas
students in higher education, 1997-2006
HE Review Discussion Paper
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Estimated unmet demand, 2001-2008 by
state
HE Review Discussion Paper
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Impact of Changes
Full impact of emerging national policy directions still
emerging:
Mechanisms for allocation of productivity places within
jurisdictions in terms of Commonwealth\State agreement and
state funded places;
Conditions for entry to market, price and eligibility for capital
funding (e.g. EIF);
Extent to which a national VET market for public funding is
created;
Extent of shift to national regulation and audit;
Extent of changes to National Training Packages and AQF
Level of differentiation between the States
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Issues for TAFE Institutes
Preparing for increased contestability – need for Councils to
undertake a full strategic and risk assessment.
Importance of understanding existing and potential markets
and strengths and weaknesses of current provision;
Access to and use of environment scans, Skills Australia data etc
Capacity for market analysis within institutes
Ensuring Councils, management and staff understand
changing environment;
Positioning institutes for capacity building initiatives:
Capital
Workforce development
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Issues for TAFE Institutes
Information management systems
Preparing for increased public access to performance
information
Quality assurance and compliance – need for Councils to be
confident of internal Institute QA and compliance
monitoring
(continued)
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Issues for TAFE Institutes
Understanding the shift from VET to workforce development
Focus is on organisational workforce needs not individual
learner needs
Importance of providing information and advice to
enterprises not just training
Role of brokers and intermediaries and potential for
partnerships
Importance of effective governance and areas for
improvement in governance framework and performance
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