Mature age apprentices: are they an economic necessity, a societal need or both, asks Stephen Billett. As governments and industry struggle with the implications of skill shortages, an ageing workforce and the looming reduction of new workplace entrants, mature age ...

Do employers need to be forced to train their staff? Andy Smith says it’s happening, just in different ways. One of the ongoing criticisms of employers is their seeming unwillingness to invest in the skills of their workers by providing ...

The future of three of the 24 controversial Australian technical colleges (ATCs) was revealed early last week, with colleges in western Sydney, northern Adelaide and the NSW mid-north coast town of Port Macquarie to survive as vocationally focused non-government senior ...

There is a changing of the guard at the Australian Council for Private Education and Training which has replaced its chair of four years, Julie Moss. Larry Davies, CEO of Directions, a West Australian organisation which specialises in providing career ...

The Tasmanian Greens last week described as “surreal” a TAFE Tasmania letter issued to staff that informed them of “possible assignments” to the Tasmanian polytechnic which is due to commence in January. Legislation to establish the Tasmania Tomorrow plan, which ...

At the recent ACPET annual conference in Hobart, a respected keynote speaker from Tasmania declared his lack of passion for the TAFE brand and organisation. While TAFE is soon to be dissolved on the Apple Isle, across the Tasman there ...

The national apology, as a capstone event in indigenous relations and the history of the nation, has been translated into what is known as the ‘closing the gap’ agenda. Within the strategic dimension of this challenging endeavor, education is a ...