Ensuring Vocational
is Not Second Best
Dr John Spierings
Senior Adviser on Skills & Higher Education,
DPMO & PMO 2008-13
Some Global Trends
• Everything is mobile, everything is tradeable…nothing in the air is solid
• Increasing marketization of education across all sectors – higher education , schools,
early childhood as well as VET – privileges private goods over public benefits
• Greater choice in education confers greater risks for individuals, without necessarily
greater rewards
• VET is at the pointy intersection of public, student & industry interests - it is the
education sector most entwined with changes in labour markets
• Labour markets are increasingly precarious in terms of hours, pay, duration &
pathways. Entry level work opportunities in manufacturing, public service, finance
sectors have evaporated across OECD
• Future mobility framed around achieving a senior school qualification, higher ed or
VET equivalent
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Australian Strengths
• National qualifications framework – provides certainty & clarity for students,
industry & training providers. Point of difference with universities & schools
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VET qualifications are integrated into the broader tertiary education landscape
Training packages establish the ‘units of competency’ in VET qualifications
Joint employer & union management of packages via Industry Skill Councils
Innovations such as group training schemes cover small employers &
disadvantaged students
• Apprenticeship participation withstood the Global Financial Crisis
• 500 Trade Skills Centres in Schools – potential base to strengthen voced options
for students
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Snapshot of Australian
Apprenticeship System
• Trend: Removal of govt incentives - non-trade commencements fell
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by 90K to 146K, 2012 to 2013 (37.5%) Trade commencements rose
by 2.3% over same period
Balance: 40% of commencements are in trades
Pay: 55% of Adult Award in 1st year (previously 35%); 80% for
those aged 21+
Returns: Labour market returns for apprentices are strong – above
average earners & lower unemployment
Quality: 80% of employers & 87% of students express satisfaction
with training quality
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Australian weaknesses
• Australian apprentices are employees as well as students – training experience is
strongly related to the quality of the enterprise
• Business still views training as a cost rather than an investment – poor data on
business training expenditure
• Low industry participation - only 100,000 businesses employ apprentices &
trainees. Leads to ‘free riding’, skills shortages, diminished opportunities
• Low completion rates – 50% attrition in trades; 60% in other qualifications.
Long tail in literacy & numeracy capabilities (1:8 & 1:5 in lowest literacy &
numeracy bands)
• No ‘master’ or ‘elevated’ trade qualifications
• Poor career guidance services for students
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What needs to be done
• Public support for high quality institutions of learning dedicated to
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vocational skills
Extend sector-based training levies to share the costs & reward
successful employers. Enhance group training schemes
Embrace problem solving, design skills & collaboration as core
VET competencies
Lift entry-level standards & qualifications of VET teachers
Conduct external validation of qualifications & providers
Attract powerful new friends to champion VET
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