Search results

The Focus on the Future project was born out of a recognition that longer-term policy development and planning in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) system has sometimes been hampered by the absence of a shared view of the future among stakeholders, State, Territory and Commonwealth VET policy makers, employer groups, unions and others. The approach that was regarded by the National Planning Working Group for this project as most appropriate to assist in developing a greater understanding of emerging longer term issues in VET was scenario planning. This approach was seen as providing a framework that would maximise learning opportunities and allow individuals and organisations to develop and test their plans against a range of possible futures. The scenarios developed from this process and the key issues they highlight, should be of direct value to planners and decision makers in their own right. Their greater value, however, will be as tools and 'provocations' at various levels to test and refine planning and policy settings. The specific objectives for the project were to: (1) develop an increasing understanding of emerging issues in VET; (2) encourage the use of scenario-based approaches to planning; (3) deliver two to four scenarios for the future of VET; (4) identify challenges and opportunities for strategic thinking about the future; and (5) establish a basis for ongoing consideration of strategic issues.