Look how far we’ve come: 100 years of VET in Australia

This article, reproduced from one which appears in Campus review (v. 11, no. 36, 2001) outlines the major milestones in the development of Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) system. Discussion of the VET development is divided into the following five periods: Federation and pre-War; 1920-1940; 1940-1970; from the 1970s; and today. The article shows how Australia’s VET system has evolved from one which was comprised of an apprenticeship system developed for training convict labour, a collection of mechanics institutes, schools of arts and working men’s colleges, to a...  [+] Show more

This article, reproduced from one which appears in Campus review (v. 11, no. 36, 2001) outlines the major milestones in the development of Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) system. Discussion of the VET development is divided into the following five periods: Federation and pre-War; 1920-1940; 1940-1970; from the 1970s; and today. The article shows how Australia’s VET system has evolved from one which was comprised of an apprenticeship system developed for training convict labour, a collection of mechanics institutes, schools of arts and working men’s colleges, to a national system providing a diversity of pathways for people to gain skills for initial entry and re-entry into the workforce and also to retrain for a new job or to upgrade skills for an existing job. Also included is a timeline from the early 1800s to the present.