Seminar on Impact of Government Policy on VET Wednesday 27 May 2015

Commonwealth Policy 1974 Kangan develops a new sector in tertiary education… TAFE 1986 NBEET: Industry led system 1990 National training Board: competency standards 1994 ANTA established User Choice, Training Packages 2007 Skills Australia act, Australian technical colleges

Commonwealth Policy 2012 National Training Entitlement “All working age Australians are entitled to a government subsidised place at an institution whether it be public or private” Supplementary initiatives: income contingent loans, importance of public providers, transparency for students, quality assurance

Victorian Government Policy Decisions 1982 – Established TAFE colleges 1990 – Abolished TAFE teaching service – All staff employed by Institute Councils 1994 – Adopted User Choice 1996 – Amalgamated colleges 2008 – Securing our jobs for your future

Victorian Government Policy Decisions “Anyone eligible could access a publicity funded training place at a registered RTO or private provider” Policy imperative vague

Number of students in training in Victoria A claim is made that enrolments have grown spectacularly 100,000 enrolments increase $400 million i.e. $4,000 per student place c/f 2007 $1,600 per student place c/f 2007 University increases 220,000 additional students 700, , , , , , , Government funding Only fee for service - domestic Only fee for service - international

Alignment between training enrolments and industry employment needs in selected occupations There is only a vague relationship between VET offered and employment needs Occupations Employment Average annual employment needs VET enrolments 2014 Sales Assistants (General)138,1009,5302,318 Retail Managers60,7002,11032 General Clerks48,4001,8055,826 Accountants47,9002,2491,132 Receptionists40,4002,6172,338 Truck Drivers40,3001,83813,033 Storepersons39,5001,72818,869 Commercial Cleaners39,0001,3561,461 Carpenters and Joiners36,4001,9497,706 Aged and Disabled Carers35,8002,41722,468

Observations Role of TAFE / VET in Victorian unclear No support or weak support for high needs/disadvantaged teachers Teacher qualification requirements unclear Governments and governance roles unclear

Observations TAFE in 2012 had 1/3 of their subsidy removed ($300 million) and given 6 months to “transition” – No industry in the world could! $144 mWages supplementation $6.5 mL.S.L. provisions $2.5 mStaff development $6.0 mRegional TAFEs $18.0 mEquipment $7.0 mMaintenance $105.0mTAFE subsidy differential $40.0mCapital works

8.0% TAFEs – annual change in revenue/expenses Change in revenue Change in total expenses Change in employment expenses 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% -2.0% -4.0% -6.0% -8.0% -10.0%

Staff FTE - TAFE Teaching Non-Teaching Teaching staff peaked at 4975 FTE in 2010; fell to 3753 in ,000 9,000 8,000 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 Source: NCVER

Reviews Processes Consultations Submissions Commissioned Projects What is a Community Service Obligation? Cost of legislated obligations on TAFE Provider classification model Interim report 2 nd June

Directions Clarity, is the market capped? Stabilise subsidies and contract administration Reduce the number of courses 72 Training Packages 1,682 Qualifications 150 Courses 17,907 Units of Competency Improve labour market information? Improve information for students?

Directions Set priorities and targets to be funded and which can be evaluated e.g. young people, disadvantaged learners, older works Develop processes that create a simplified, responsive and innovative VET sector in Victoria – 1,000 price points, 300 pages for eligibility clarify the role and responsibility of the TAFE sector Determine how under provision will be met – if at all in rural Victoria and South East of Melbourne

Directions Prioritise funding to high performing low-risk providers Define community service obligations and fund high priority institutions for the performance of student strategic services Link the strategic services to the student life cycle i.e.: attract, engage, retain, graduate, transition Make strategic student services funding available on a three-year basis with targets All RTO’s must provide minimum student services

Directions Establish a pricing structure for TAFE institutions which takes into account: the obligations that the government wants the Institute to perform (e.g. maintain community assets, provide a VET library accessible to all) legislated obligations that are imposed upon institutes such as the requirement to produce an annual report for Parliament, submit marketing plans to a central authority for approval etc.

Directions Register and license, for a fee, brokers and aggregators. Provide them with ethics training Set protocols for fully online and fully on- the-job training Clarify the use of third party arrangements

Next steps 1.Establish a funding model to determine cost of a course 2.Review the system to see of complexity can be reduced 3.Receive feedback on interim report suggestions 4.Produce final report with recommendations