No more excuses: an industry response to the language, literacy and numeracy challenge

Literally millions of Australians have insufficient language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) skills to benefit fully from training or to participate effectively at work. The situation looks as if it could be getting worse, not better: the LLN performance of Australian students has, over the past decade, worsened in comparison to other OECD countries. Access to LLN expertise at the right time in the right way remains limited. The Industry Skills Councils (ISCs) believe that responsibility for building the LLN skills of Australians should be shared by industry and all education sectors. It is recommended that, to achieve this, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) should establish an overarching blueprint for action on LLN in Australia 2012-2022 to identify and address long-term goals that will profoundly shift the capacity of learners and the workforce and significantly impact Australia’s future. More immediately, within the vocational education and training (VET) system, ISCs propose: better identification of the LLN skills of learners before training, and targeted funding to address identified LLN skill gaps; the inclusion of clear advice on LLN skill requirements in Training Packages and/or their companion volumes; the implementation of a strategy to develop greater national awareness of LLN issues, including the de-stigmatisation of LLN skill development; an increased capacity in the VET system, and all practitioners, to support the LLN skill development needs of learners and workers; and better-targeted solutions for building the LLN skills of workers/learners.

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