A federal parliamentary inquiry into the perceptions and status of vocational education and training (VET) and an NSW interim report on the TAFE system, both released this week, recommend major structural reform to combat a worsening national skills shortage.
According to a report by government agency BuildSkills Australia, meeting the National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million new homes by 2029 and the completion of key infrastructure projects like the Western Sydney Airport and Melbourne’s suburban rail loop depends on the government and industry delivering 90,000 more tradespeople.
Additionally, the parliamentary inquiry released on Monday estimates that over the next ten years, 44% of all new jobs will require a VET qualification.
The government’s Fee-Free TAFE policy has delivered 300,000 of the promised 465,000 places as of October last year. However, it takes years for those students to get into the workforce making the impact of current shortages low.
The parliamentary inquiry, chaired by Labor MP Lisa Chesters, made 34 recommendations to better equip the VET sector to combat critical skills shortages.
The recommendations included an overhaul of the current You Carrer website which streamlines information on courses, pathways, and qualifications, and making a more active attempt to market that portal to secondary students.
The report also highlighted the importance of developing a national strategy to better market and provide VET in the secondary school system through social media and television advertising with a focus on positive success stories in the sector alongside the expansion of VET subjects in schools.
An NSW government interim report on the TAFE sector, also released this week, argued the expansion of permanent teaching roles in schools and TAFEs was essential before any other reform took place.
The National Centre for Vocational Education said in 2021 that the “ageing of VET teachers, the high level of casualisation, the need to increase the capacity of trainers, and the maintenance of industry currency,” were causing pressure on the system.
Measures that seek to correct the systematic barriers faced by women in VET by implementing female specific apprenticeship pathways expanding gender pay equity and the piloting of industry led apprenticeship programs were also ideas suggested by the parliamentary inquiry.
Summarizing the report’s findings, Chesters said “unfortunately, many people do not fully understand the VET sector or the careers to which it leads, and many still consider VET a less valuable or rewarding pathway compared to university.”
One of the issues flagged in the state interim report was that a contestable funding model forces TAFE to compete for government funding with private providers. To keep funding more consistent, the report recommended a direct appropriation model where TAFE centres would be guaranteed a certain level of funding.
Chief Executive Troy Williams of the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA), the industry group representing private vocational colleges, pushed back against the change in a statement.
“NSW’s skills training system will be enhanced when government policies support a student’s decision to study with their preferred provider, be it a quality independent RTO or public TAFE colleges,” he said.
The NSW Teachers Federation called for the full implementation of the recommendations including an end to the contestable markets policy in favour of a direct funding boost.
Deputy President Amber Flohm said “our high school students who want to attend TAFE, particularly in Western Sydney, South-Western Sydney, and in regional areas, have been abandoned by the previous government’s destruction of our local TAFEs. In many parts of NSW there are simply no courses available. They have been let down.”
The state and federal governments are yet to release a formal response to the recommendations of either report.