- Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills
A report released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) highlights the importance of recent reforms to training package development.
The report titled Uptake and Utility of VET Qualifications confirmed enrolments in Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications in 2014 and 2015 were concentrated on few qualifications and that 57 per cent of training packages had only 10 per cent of enrolments.
Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, Karen Andrews, said the Turnbull Government had introduced important reforms which would better meet industry needs.
“In January the Government introduced new arrangements to place industry at the centre of training and put the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) and its network of Industry Reference Committees in charge of driving training package development and review,” Minister Andrews said.
Reporting on the positive progress that has been made at the COAG Industry and Skills Council, Minister Andrews said obsolete qualifications were now being actively removed from the system.
“In the first ten months of operation of the new arrangements, the number of training packages has been reduced from 85 to 69 and the number of qualifications from 1666 to 1488,” Minister Andrews said.
“The AISC is taking action to ensure that national qualifications are delivering the skills needed by Australian employers. Training packages are being updated to take account of increasing automation, digital disruption, demographic change and globalisation.”
Minister Andrews said the Australian Government was committed to building a high quality VET system and improving outcomes for students, industry and the Australian economy.
“The report provides some useful historical data and I thank the NCVER for this contribution,” Minister Andrews said.
The full NCVER report is available by clicking here (control + click)