Australia is about to experience an explosion in the number and type of skilled workforce members it will need to achieve its economic goals over the next decade. The face of Australia’s workforce is set to change dramatically in the ...

Do great practitioners in VET receive sufficient national recognition, asks John Mitchell. Which individuals and teams in VET are making an outstanding contribution to student learning? And is it worth recognising them nationally? Both these questions will draw a negative ...

The AQF could be the “catalyst” that binds disparate educational sectors into a seamless tertiary system. The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) should fund the development of professional development material to help staff at schools, universities and VET colleges create inter-sectoral ...

More than $300 million from the government’s controversial $2.1 billion PPP – most of which has gone to private training colleges – will now line the pockets of cash-strapped apprentices, under a Labor election pledge. Federal Labor will reallocate funding ...

Are small providers capable of productivity and high quality, asks John Mitchell. The award ceremonies for VET providers are fast approaching, with attention normally focused on the large providers. While this celebration of the large is important, it is a ...

VET groups have enlisted advertisers and researchers in their battle with federal politicians of all colours. And they’ve aimed a few sideswipes at each other. Six Victorian TAFE institutes have funded a series of large advertisements in The Australian, imploring ...

It’s goodbye TTCs, hello again ATCs if the Coalition wins the election. A Coalition government would spend $740 million to establish 30 new Australian Technical Colleges (ATCs), Opposition leader Tony Abbott and shadow training minister Mathias Cormann announced last week. ...

Is voluntary teacher registration better than a mandatory scheme, asks John Mitchell. Improvements are needed to assessment practices in the VET sector. Research conducted last year by the National Quality Council (NQC) as part of a project entitled Quality of ...

The federal government has the Opposition’s support on the national VET regulator. But getting the states to agree is always tricky. There’s bipartisan support in Canberra for a new national VET regulator, but that hasn’t stopped the federal election throwing ...

Most VET leaders are risk averse, but Larry Smith argues the skills that are encouraged in them are not the appropriate ones for the complex and challenging world they now inhabit. In an environment characterised by devolved business responsibility, increased ...