TAFE in Australia: report on needs in technical and further education, April 1974 [Kangan report]

On 26 April, 1973, the then Australian Minister for Education, the Hon. Kim E. Beazley, announced the appointment of the Australian Committee on Technical and Further Education (ACOTAFE) to ‘… advise the Australian government on the development of technical and further education in Australia and … make recommendations for financial assistance to State technical and further education institutions’. The terms of reference were that the information and advice will include: (a) priorities within needs and appropriate measures to be undertaken by the Australian government; (b) the amount and allocation of financial assistance; (c) the conditions upon which financial assistance should be granted; and in carrying out its task, the Committee will take into account: (a) the promotion of the vigorous and well balanced development of technical and further education throughout Australia; (b) overall manpower policy and national and local occupational requirements; (c) the emerging needs of industry, commerce and governments as they adjust to technological, economic and social change; (d) community attitudes and the needs and aspirations of individuals seeking to undertake courses in technical and further education; and (e) the optimum use of resources. This report, first published in April 1974 is commonly known as the ‘Kangan report’ after the chair of the Committee, Myer Kangan. It recognised the importance of technical and further education as an integral part of the nation’s education system, and recommended that ‘the emphasis in technical college type institutions should be primarily on the needs of the individual for vocationally oriented education and the manpower needs of industry should be seen as the context for courses’. In tabling this report in the Australian parliament on 10 April 1974, the Minister predicted that ‘The report … will revolutionise technical education in Australia’. Show less