From the Minister for Skills and Workforce Participation

REPORT CALLS FOR VICTORIAN STYLE SKILLS REFORMS: ALLAN

Friday, 28 November 2008
Skills and Workforce Participation Minister Jacinta Allan today welcomed an independent report calling for sweeping changes to the nation’s skills system consistent with the Brumby Government’s historic $316 million skills reform package.
Ms Allan said the Learning for Jobs: OECD Reviews of Vocational Education and Training (Australia) report strongly endorses the State Government’s actions to boost Victoria’s skills base.

“This landmark report calls for fairer fees and the introduction of university-style loans, greater choice of VET providers and easier access to information about training,” Ms Allan said.

“The Brumby Government’s skills reform package has already introduced much of what this report is calling for on a national level.

“Our Securing Jobs for Your Future skills reform package represents the single biggest ever investment in skills in Victoria’s history.

“The reforms will deliver an extra 172,000 government-funded training places, create a skills system that is responsive to the current and emerging needs Victorian of our industries, and strengthen our TAFE institutes.

“We have been leading the push – through the Council of Australian Governments – to have these changes adopted nationally,” Ms Allan said.

Learning for Jobs: OECD Reviews of Vocational Education and Training (Australia) calls for:

•    Greater national consistency on VET, including common principles for VET entitlement, funding and provision;
•    Student choice should be encouraged through open competition between VET providers, while guaranteeing access for disadvantaged groups and Government’s providing up-to-date information on the quality of VET providers;
•    The training system should be driven by student demand balanced by employer willingness to offer workplace training; and
•    Better information about the skills system should be developed to better inform student choice and improve policy decision making.

Ms Allan said the report also highlighted the changes needed to enable VET to play a leading role in driving economic growth.

“Skills reform is absolutely vital for meeting the big challenges facing Victoria and Australia, from our ageing population and climate change to ever-increasing competition and the impacts of the global economic slowdown,” she said.