Darwin, Thursday 20 November 2008
Today Education and Training Ministers gathered in Darwin to deliberate on the future of the national training system and meeting the nation’s skills needs.
As the current Commonwealth-State Agreement for Skilling Australia’s Workforce nears an end, Ministers recognised the unique opportunity to refresh their shared commitment for an industry-led training system.
Ministers discussed the work currently being undertaken through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) on reform for the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector.
Ministers agreed that the reform agenda needed to be progressed, understanding the implications of the global financial crisis, the looming recessions in many nations and the implications for Australia’s economy. Consequently, the Deputy Prime Minister advised Ministers that the National Partnership on VET Market Design will not be considered at the next COAG meeting and Ministers agreed further work would be undertaken on the national partnership on VET reform.
The Australian Government will continue to work with State and Territory Governments and vocational education and training stakeholders to develop reform options around market design for future consideration. Ministers will progress the timetable and process for further consultations regarding VET reforms out of session.
The Australian Government will continue to support all jurisdictions that engage in significant reform of the training system.
It is expected that the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development and the National Partnership on the Productivity Places Program will be considered at the 29 November COAG meeting.
The Chair of Skills Australia provided Ministers with an update on its establishment and its role in providing high quality advice to the Australian Government to better link education and training to Australia’s productivity needs.
Skills Australia has considered options for streamlined governance and administrative arrangements and made a valuable contribution to implementation of the Productivity Places Program.
Skills Australia reported it had made significant progress towards developing effective relationships with Industry Skills Councils and with State and Territory Skills Commissions and Industry Training Advisory Boards.
Ministers noted the Review of Australian Higher Education instigated to examine the future direction of the higher education sector, its fitness for purpose in meeting the needs of the Australian community and economy and the options for ongoing reform. Ministers noted the progress of the review and that its final report will be released in December.
Ministers recognised that barriers to effective educational pathways between universities and training providers remain despite the growth in cross-sectoral collaboration between the two tertiary sectors and government incentives designed to encourage it.
Ministers agreed to seek COAG agreement to re-align the responsibilities of the Council, with MCVTE taking on post-school education issues (including VET, higher, international and adult education and possibly the Australian Qualifications Framework) and employment. It was agreed that an expanded role for the Council would provide for better coordination and linkages for articulation between the VET and Higher Education sectors while continuing to address issues such as skills shortages.
Ministers also agreed to the establishment of a new single-layer equity advisory body, the National VET Equity Advisory Council. This is a significant streamlining of the equity advisory arrangements, and will raise the profile of equity issues to increase participation in VET and ultimately employment.
It was agreed by Ministers that as the national training system transitions to new governance and administrative arrangements, the continuity of the NQC as a key governance structure is important. For this reason, Ministers agreed that the NQC membership should remain as it currently stands until the end of 2009.
Ministers agreed that a reformed National Industry Skills Committee (NISC) would continue to provide national industry advice to the Ministerial Council and further options around NISC’s role, membership and relationships with State and Territory Governments and other stakeholders would be dealt with out of session.
Acknowledging the increasing importance of green skills, the Ministerial Council agreed at its April 2008 meeting to the development of A National Policy and Action Plan for Sustainability in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Sector. At this meeting, Ministers agreed that the 2009 Work Plan of the National Quality Council ensure as a matter of priority the integration of green skills within core competencies for all apprenticeship and traineeship qualifications and develop standards for Registered Training Organisations to be voluntarily certified as green skills providers.