1. Current and Emerging Policy Issues – Implications for TAFE Institutes in Victoria
VTA HR Conference 2008

2. Policy Context National Victoria New Commonwealth\State VET Agreement
Election commitments
Productivity Places
Trade Centres in schools
Skills Australia
Industry Skills Councils
COAG Skills and Productivity agenda
Inquiry into Higher Education – a broad tertiary sector?
Victoria
Securing Jobs for Your Future – Skills for Victoria
New Commonwealth\State VET Agreement 2

3. Policy Context
Return to cooperative federalism in national VET governance.
Productivity Agenda Working Group
Chaired by DPM
Early childhood schooling and skills and workforce development
Objectives, output measures, progress measures and future policy directions
Skills and Workforce Development sub group chaired by Victoria
Outcomes agreed by COAG.
Consistency between State and National Reform Directions
Influence of Victoria on COAG reforms
Focus of Victorian Skills reforms
ICL for Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas in Victoria 3

4. Objectives
Link between educational participation attainment and productivity.
Targets for early childhood, schooling, post compulsory education and older age groups.
Focus on attainment levels - not just participation.
Focus on increasing participation and improving outcomes particularly for indigenous Australians
Reskilling the existing workforce:
Foundation skills
Higher level skills 4

5. Objectives
Stronger focus on nature of skills required for 21 st century economy and labour market and skills usage:
labour market participation, ongoing learning, productivity as well as occupational competence
Skills supply more responsive to demand
Focus on workforce development not just formal VET
Victorian Skills Reforms:
investment,
navigating the training system,
TAFE capital development,
capacity of the public VET workforce and
capacity of the ACFE sector 5

6. Strategies
Increased investment by government industry and individuals:
Productivity places;
Extension of HEIF to Education Investment Fund
Training Guarantee -Demand based funding (Victoria);
First major VET funding reform since ANTA Agreement;
172,000 additional places
$33 million for capacity building in TAFE and community providers 6

7. Strategies RTO capability
More effective and outcomes focussed regulation
VET workforce development
NQC project
Governance reform
System level
Provider level
Commonwealth\State Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development
Part of broader reforms to SPPs
Provide framework for reforms
Greater focus on outcomes
Potential for differences between States\Territories 7

8. Strategies Strengthening demand
Contestability for public funding;
Comprehensive and accurate information to support informed choice;
Skills for growth program in Victoria
Efficient and consistent regulation
Reforming products (joint NQC\COAG project)
Ensuring VET programs and qualifications :
Provide competencies for 21st century workforce and economy
Meet needs of diverse learner groups and enterprises – school leavers, pathways to higher education, enabling skills, existing workers
Enable RTOs to respond flexibly 8

9. Strategies
Strengthened independent\industry labour market analysis and advice.
National
Skills Australia
Advice on productivity places;
Broader roles for Industry Skills Councils
Environment scans;
Advice to Skills Australia;
Victoria
Strengthening the role of the Victorian Skills Commission
Additional funding to State ITABs for consolidated industry information service 9

10. Importance of Workforce Development Focus
‘A major re-positioning where workforce development is a move away from a focus upon the individual employee and a “deficit” view where rectification of the skills problem is seen to rest with the individual. Rather the workforce development approach today argues that the employee operates within a wider system, as well as in an organisational context that will determine what specific policies and practices can be put in place and what might work best in the short and longer term’. Callan 10

11. Review of Higher Education
Issues under consideration
Concept of a broader tertiary sector
The extent to which VET Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas should be seen as part of higher education provision
Commonwealth funding for these qualifications and position of other jurisdictions on extension of HECS
Level of higher education provision through VET providers and eligibility for HE funding.
Scope for resource and facilities sharing and joint provision of programs
Balance of provision and level of demand between the sectors 11

12. The future school leaver population
HE Review Discussion Paper 12

13. 13

14. Numbers of domestic and overseas students in higher education, 1997-2006
HE Review Discussion Paper 14

15. Estimated unmet demand, 2001-2008 by state
HE Review Discussion Paper 15

16. Impact of Changes
Full impact of emerging national policy directions still emerging:
Mechanisms for allocation of productivity places within jurisdictions in terms of Commonwealth\State agreement and state funded places;
Conditions for entry to market, price and eligibility for capital funding (e.g. EIF);
Extent to which a national VET market for public funding is created;
Extent of shift to national regulation and audit;
Extent of changes to National Training Packages and AQF
Level of differentiation between the States 16

17. Issues for TAFE Institutes
Preparing for increased contestability – need for Councils to undertake a full strategic and risk assessment.
Importance of understanding existing and potential markets and strengths and weaknesses of current provision;
Access to and use of environment scans, Skills Australia data etc
Capacity for market analysis within institutes
Ensuring Councils, management and staff understand changing environment;
Positioning institutes for capacity building initiatives:
Capital
Workforce development 17

18. Issues for TAFE Institutes
Information management systems
Preparing for increased public access to performance information
Quality assurance and compliance – need for Councils to be confident of internal Institute QA and compliance monitoring
(continued) 18

19. Issues for TAFE Institutes
Understanding the shift from VET to workforce development
Focus is on organisational workforce needs not individual learner needs
Importance of providing information and advice to enterprises not just training
Role of brokers and intermediaries and potential for partnerships
Importance of effective governance and areas for improvement in governance framework and performance 19