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The ‘Higher education report 2010’ is part of a suite of publications which report on the Australian higher education sector in 2010. The report provides: an overview of the higher education sector and its major achievements in 2010; details of funding allocations under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA); and an overview of program outcomes (including the allocation of places). This publication primarily relates to higher education matters and programs which fall within the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) but does include some information on research block grant programs which are administered by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR).

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Reverse marketing is funded under the Employment Pathway Fund (EPF) to encourage [Job Services Australia] JSA providers to actively market job seekers to potential employers where vacancies have not been advertised, and to refer and place job seekers into those jobs. Reverse marketing provides a mechanism to stimulate demand for labour by pre-empting employers' labour needs before they create a vacancy. Effective reverse marketing can play an important role in the wider employment services framework by providing job ready job seekers with access to vacancies that may not otherwise exist. The EPF was designed to give JSA providers flexibility to be innovative and creative when servicing their job seeker caseload, to improve the chances of job seekers finding sustainable employment. Consistent with this principle, the definition of reverse marketing has flexibility incorporated to allow providers to use it effectively within their local environment. However reverse marketing is a service similar to the general servicing which JSA providers are contractually obliged to deliver, with key differences that are sometimes difficult to distinguish and are open to interpretation and possible inappropriate application in practice. This paper assesses the use of reverse marketing under the EPF in terms of how it is being targeted, and how effective it is in achieving increased job referrals and job placements for job seekers. Length of employment was not used as an effectiveness indicator due to the difficulty in attributing differences in employment sustainability to how job seekers were recruited, rather than other factors operating before the job seekers became employed and after placement.

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Cross-border exchange in education, or the movement of students or institutions between economies, is part of the exchange of goods and services that brings diverse economies together. It is an important component of the economic cooperation that defines [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] APEC and APEC's endeavours to improve, through cooperation, economic outcomes for its member economies. The strong economic dimension of exchange in education services is complemented by the broader cultural and social benefits of educational exchange, which in turn provide the foundations to further enhance economic outcomes for member economies. Like the exchange of other goods and services, improving the efficiency and effectiveness with which educational services are exchanged between economies is an appropriate objective for the APEC forum, and one which is expected to result in improved economic outcomes and further regional cooperation and development. This paper considers the ways in which education contributes to economic outcomes and the ways in which APEC wide cooperation in education exchange can enhance both educational outcomes and economic and social outcomes for all member economies.

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Higher education will clearly be a major contributor to the development of a skilled Australian workforce but must address the rights of all citizens to share in its benefits. This review was established to address the question of whether this critical sector of education is structured, organised and financed to position Australia to compete effectively in the new globalised economy. The panel has concluded that, while the system has great strengths, it faces significant, emerging threats which require decisive action. To address these, major reforms are recommended to the financing and regulatory frameworks for higher education. Key reforms are to increase the number of university graduates by more than one-third and to determine university funding according to student demand using a voucher system. Recommendations affecting the vocational education and training (VET) sector include that: (1) VET and higher education providers should continue to enhance pathways for students through the development and implementation of common terminology and graded assessment in the upper levels of VET; (2) the Australian government negotiate with the states and territories to expand the national regulatory and quality assurance agency to cover the entire tertiary sector (including VET and higher education) and that the government assume full responsibility for the regulation of tertiary education and training in Australia by 2010; (3) the Australian government negotiate with the states and territories to introduce a tertiary entitlement funding model across higher education and VET commencing with the upper levels of VET (diplomas and advanced diplomas) and progressing to the other levels as soon as practicable; (4) the government negotiate with the states and territories to extend income contingent loans to students enrolled in VET diplomas and advanced diplomas; and (5) the Australian government and the governments of the states and territories agree to: establish a single ministerial council with responsibility for all tertiary education and training; improve the scope and coordination of labour market intelligence so that it covers the whole tertiary sector and supports a more responsive and dynamic role for both VET and higher education; and expand the purpose and role of the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) so that it covers the whole tertiary sector. Show less

Apprenticeship non-completions are a major concern for the Australian business community and are a significant drain on the national training effort. Increasing completion rates will lead to better return on investment in training for employers and governments and increase the skills level of the Australian workforce. The research reported here presents an evidence-based, logical, rigorous, systematic and thorough approach to retaining apprentices for all employers. This approach provides employers with recommended principles to follow and processes to implement as part of a holistic workplace management strategy through the recruitment and employment of an apprentice. The key findings of the research are structured around the following core concepts for retention as identified in the research: attracting the right person; recruiting and inducting good apprentices; making work and training meaningful; providing personal and professional support; providing effective training; and making full use of information and support services. It focuses on employer perspectives to determine views, actions and attitudes of employers that have a positive impact on completion rates of apprenticeships, and is aimed at ensuring that the Australian business community has access to a highly skilled and motivated workforce.

A companion document, ‘A systematic approach to retaining apprentices: findings from the 25 national interviews’ is indexed at TD/TNC 96.965. Show less

This report brings together a wide range of research on university student engagement and satisfaction with learning, along with a range of associated contextual information. Particular attention is given to the following issues raised in the Higher Education Review’s discussion paper: the quality and monitoring of the student experience in Australia’s universities; how the quality of learning outcomes in Australian higher education can be measured more effectively; how institutions can establish that they are nationally and internationally competitive; and higher education’s contribution to innovation and productivity and its ‘fitness for purpose’. The objectives of the report are to: clarify key terms and concepts; identify an overall framework within which to accommodate research on the above issues; provide a consolidated analysis of recent research and discussions of quality assurance for standards, outcomes and assessment in higher education; identify the extent to which a broader set of change forces are having an impact on student expectations; synthesise the available research on higher education student satisfaction and what engages them in productive learning and retains them at university; identify effective approaches to monitoring the quality of the learning experience; and from this analysis, identify some key implications for the Review and potential areas for national action and further research. The report highlights recurring research themes for each of the above areas and provides references to specific studies which give further detail on the key points made. Whenever possible, the focus is on empirical literature.

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The Review of Australian Higher Education report is indexed at TD/LMR 85.696. Show less

In the 2011-12 Budget, the Australian government released details of its Advancing Quality in Higher Education (AQHE) initiative designed to assure and strengthen the quality of teaching and learning in higher education. Three discussion papers were released on the proposed performance measurement instruments for student experience and quality of learning outcomes, and submissions from stakeholders were invited. This paper discusses key issues in the design of the performance measurement instruments, assesses their fitness for purpose and their ability to operate together in a coherent way to obtain a comprehensive view of the student’s undergraduate university experience and learning outcomes. The paper considers some principles to guide the development of new performance measurement instruments and proposes that a framework of the student life cycle be used to situate the development of new performance measurement instruments. It briefly discusses existing survey instruments and the development of new performance measurement instruments for use in performance reporting and for other purposes. Key issues that impact on the coherence and balance of performance measures are considered. The paper concludes by proposing an implementation strategy for the new performance measures.

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This annual report draws on the investigations undertaken for the Strategic ICT Advisory Service (SICTAS) that Education.au is providing to the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR). The SICTAS reports into collaborative learning, workforce capability, and national software infrastructure to provide evidence to support a role for Australian Government to ensure the best return on investments in [information and communications technology] ICT for education and training. The role recommended is one of cross-jurisdictional and cross-sectoral coordination, collaboration and cooperation between and amongst education and training stakeholders led by the Australian Government. Technology innovations will continue to occur. This report focuses on providing advice on creating an education and training sector that is a ‘change maker’, i.e. it has the people, policies and processes in place to normalise change and to take advantage of emerging ICT. This will enable the timely introduction of new and emerging ICT and enable the education and training sector to respond to the need for new skills, knowledge and abilities, to adjustments to assessment, pedagogy and curricula as research and practice, and our teachers, leaders and learners, show the way. This report provides recommendations where the Australian Government can provide a national focus and strategic direction for ICT in education while acknowledging and encouraging the contributions of jurisdictions and sectors.

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This study was undertaken for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) during May, June and July of 2010. It focuses on students who study at higher education institutions (HEIs) in regional parts of Australia, with particular attention paid to their characteristics, motivations, experiences and outcomes, both in terms of further study and of employment. The study catalogues a number of existing data sources which can be utilised for research into this population and identifies key gaps in the current collections which inhibit some areas of analysis into students at regional HEIs. Key findings include: (1) students at HEIs in regional parts of Australia are predominantly from surrounding regional areas; (2) students enrolled at regional HEIs are more likely to be female, tend to be older than their metropolitan counterparts, are more likely to care for dependents and are more likely to be Indigenous; (3) students from regional areas who wish to attend HEIs are often prevented from doing so by the costs associated with study, and are highly likely to defer the commencement of their courses for financial reasons; (4) students who complete their studies at regional HEIs tend to remain in regional areas for both further study and employment; and (5) students at regional HEIs in the fields of agriculture and environmental studies, and who undertake further study, are much less likely than metropolitan students to continue in the same field of education. Show less

Several significant current trends are providing strong imperatives for Australian policy makers to seriously consider Australia's national software infrastructure for education, including the 21st century learning agenda, issues of equity and social inclusion, Australia's innovation, collaboration and productivity agendas, and the constant emergence of new technologies. This investigation develops the case for acceleration of Australia's progress towards a 21st century education software infrastructure. The report presents analyses of the policy drivers outlined above and of the current state of Australia's national education software infrastructure. On the basis of those analyses, recommendations are made for actions that will accelerate the development of Australia's education software infrastructure towards a situation in which the policy drivers identified are addressed, and emerging issues and agendas can be more efficiently tackled in future. Australia's federation is a key consideration for policy makers in education, and recommendations from this investigation are appropriately framed to build on work already carried out in the states and territories. This report is part of the series of investigations commissioned by the Australian Government's Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) as part of the Strategic ICT Advisory Service (SICTAS) project.

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