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A communiqué released from COAG 13 April 2012 has detailed a set of five key reforms to the National Training System, with ‘implementation plans negotiated between
governments by 30 June 2012.’ COAG has stated that the reforms ‘will provide the skills that Australian businesses and individual’s needs to prosper in a rapidly changing economy.’
In a nutshell the reforms are:
- A national training entitlement for a government subsidised training place to at least Certificate III
- Wider access to income contingent loans for government subsidised Diploma and Advanced Diploma students
- Information about courses, costs and training provider quality via a new My Skills website
- Trialling models for independent validation of training provider assessments (I am curious to see how this one pans out)
- Supporting around 375,000 additional students over 5 years to complete their qualifications, particularly at higher levels and for disadvantaged
students.
The government’s justification for these reforms is based upon findings tabled in their report: Skills for all Australians - National Reforms (ref
milestones for implementation pg83).
It’s an interesting fact that 4.1 million Australians in the labour force currently do not have a post-school qualification, whilst forecasts indicate that in 2015 we will need an
additional 3.8 million skilled workers with post-school qualifications.
My personal opinion is that if the government can implement these reforms effectively then the outcome will provide many benefits to our workers, industry,
training providers and improve our reputation as a country that delivers excellence in education.
Not to forget International Education: In respect to International Education, COAG agreed ‘to expedite the implementation of the revised framework for low
immigration risk providers so that they are able to have access to streamlined student visa assessments in the second half of 2012,’ (ref pg 9 of communiqué).
Read COAG communiqué
The government has produced three reports titled: Skills for all Australians – National Reforms, Supporting Students and Small Business, these reports are available from DEEWR website or download individual reports here:
National Reforms PDF 2.14MB
Supporting Students PDF 914KB
Supporting Small Business PDF 1.01MB
For more details of COAG discussions got directly to the COAG
website. |
