Australia’s training system has a long and proud tradition but it will need to adapt to rapid changes to provide what the country and its workers need for the future. We can look back fondly and see an Australian apprenticeship ...

VET FEE-HELP rorts have tarnished private providers, but data from the National Centre for Vocational Education and Training has indicated that students from private VET are more likely to get jobs after graduation than those enrolled in a TAFE. The NCVER’s Total VET ...

A former political journalist who has spent 11 years advocating for TAFEs will now be completing a PhD on his favourite topic. Martin Riordan will step down as chief executive of TAFE Directors Australia by March next year. He told ...

Federal opposition leader Bill Shorten has written to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, urging him to personally intervene and fix supposed shortfalls in the VET student loans program. Shorten said that Turnbull policy’s approved course list is overly simplistic and “would have extreme ...

The changes to VET FEE-HELP will not prevent a repeat of history unless they adequately address some of the systemic issues of the past and prepare the sector for the future. In early 2015, a private-equity firm rang to ask ...

As the dust settles on the government’s proposed changes to Australia’s vocational loan scheme, VET-FEE HELP, we should be reminded of the need for proper consultation prior to broad reforms. By Jon Lang VET-FEE HELP, Australia’s vocational loans scheme, has ...

We can look back fondly and see an apprenticeship system with a long and proud tradition. It has been highly valued and has enjoyed a strong commitment from employers, unions, the training system, parents and apprentices themselves. Yet, if we ...

Learning a trade could help you become many things, including a TV star. That’s the message from the federal government in a YouTube video featuring Scott Cam, host of Channel Nine’s The Block program. Amid shaky footage and low-angle shots, ...

Earlier this year, Claire Rasmussen, director of VET practice at Federation University TAFE, completed a fellowship through the International Specialised Skills Institute (ISSI), which took her to Switzerland and the UK. Concerned by the lack of strategy within Australia’s national ...

Australian teenagers with poor reading skills are no worse off than those with medium reading proficiency when it comes to future employment, a new study from the University of Melbourne suggests. The research, from UniMelb economists, found poor readers at ...