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This paper argues that now is the time to tackle the apprenticeship system's intractable problems head on. Since 1998, 4.8 million Australians have undertaken an apprenticeship or traineeship - the system is a national treasure and with the right policy focus it can be reinvigorated and revitalised for the next decade and beyond. The paper proposes 14 initiatives ideas which in combination will: maintain commencements, improve completions, smooth the user experience, update the qualifications' structure, improve the learner journey, optimise the uptake of new technologies that can support user of the system, and target support resources for optimal effect.

The initiatives outlined are: (1) National school engagement, promotion, and screening; (2) Evidenced based job matching; (3) First time apprentice employer - expanded initial support and registration; (4) Technology enabled and demand driven support for registered employer; (5) Predictive analytics inform pre-sign up advice; (6) Technology enabled and demand driven in-training support; (7) Mentoring places for all that require them; (8) Supervisor training; (9) Fast track higher level existing worker traineeships; (10) Resolve structural impediments to apprenticeship qualification reform; (11) Identify 'apprentice employer champions' with high completion rates; (12) Research how apprentice champions achieve higher completions; (13) Streamline support payments - 'Priority workforce' incentives; and (14) Research, pilot and evaluate support service innovations.

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This article introduces how Korean government has driven the innovation of IT [information technology] human resource education and development framework. The concept of ‘SCM (Supply Chain Management)’ has been applied to IT HRD [human resource development] policy in Korea. Korea is facing serious problems such as mismatches in supply and demand of IT workers, shortage of IT globally competitive professionals, and lack of industrial recall education. Among them, Korea is focusing on training of demand-driven IT workers as a major project by applying SCM model to real education field. The basic concept of SCM is a managerial technique to optimise the supply network by providing the standardized IT human resource (IT manpower reflected industry’s needs) with industry at right time. To adapt to technological changes and the industry demand, Korean government have reformed curriculum, reinforced cooperative relations between education institution and industry, and expanded ‘teach the teachers program’. Moreover, education and industry collaboration system was settled down as a matching system such as demand collaboration, design collaboration, supply collaboration, and capacity collaboration. This analysis is also expected to give valuable implications not only to Korean policy-makers but also to other countries making an effort to enhance demand-driven human resource development.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

Collections of papers presented under each theme are indexed from TD/TNC 81.453 to TD/TNC 81.457; selected papers from this theme are indexed from TD/TNC 81.480 to TD/TNC 81.493. Show less

The High Growth Job Training Initiative (HGJTI) is a strategic effort to improve the publicly funded workforce system's responsiveness to the needs of the labor market in order for the workforce system to become more demand-driven. HGJTI is specifically designed to build collaborations among employers, industry leaders, business associations, employees, educators, trainers, community- and technical college systems, and the public workforce system. The purpose of these partnerships is to support models that demonstrate how a demand-driven workforce system can more efficiently serve the workforce needs of business while also effectively helping workers find good jobs at good wages. In collaboration with private and public sector partners, the High Growth Job Training Initiative seeks to leverage the publicly funded workforce system more effectively to prepare new and incumbent workers with the general and industry-specific knowledge and skills required by employers. HGJTI focuses on high growth industries where specialized skills curricula need to be developed, or upgraded, to ensure that workers have the right skills for the right jobs at the right time. The identification of high growth industries was accomplished through research and analysis of recognized workforce sources, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Twelve industries were selected for the initial project focus, based upon high growth industry projections, economic development needs, and micro-enterprise efforts. Health care is one of the industries of focus. This report represents an assessment of the health care initiative.

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The purpose of the paper is to explore the factors which may affect the successful delivery of the Certificate III in Aged Care under a new funding paradigm in the Eurobodalla shire, a regional area on the south coast of New South Wales (NSW). The new funding paradigm is the result of a state government initiative, 'Smart and Skilled', which sees a move from a supply-side funding model in the vocational education and training (VET) market to a student entitlement demand-driven funding model. The following research questions are explored: What are the characteristics of aged care students in the NSW south coast region? How and why do students choose the aged care vocation and their training provider? What should an effective marketing campaign for registered training organisations (RTOs) for the Certificate III in Aged Care include? What are the broad implications of the new student entitlement model 'Smart and Skilled' for the delivery of training in the south coast region of NSW? From the student and employer perspectives, in terms of the delivery of the Certificate III in Aged Care by RTOs: what works, what doesn’t work and how could things be done differently?

The research has been undertaken largely from the perspective of a community-based RTO (a community college), and as such its findings may be most relevant to similar community-based RTOs working in regional (coastal) areas. Nevertheless, it is hoped that many of the broader findings of the research will assist other RTOs delivering the Certificate III in Aged Care. From a policy and practice point of view, the findings of this research identify some of the critical needs in relation to delivering the Certificate III in Aged Care and consider some potential implications for the 'Smart and Skilled' funding model for NSW RTOs. Furthermore, the findings address many of the quality issues identified in the strategic review of RTOs offering aged and community care recently undertaken by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA; 2013). Recommendations based on the findings of the research have been compiled into a good practice guide for training organisations. The guide addresses the needs of students, employers and communities under the new student entitlement funding model. It covers industry consultation, program design, marketing and student engagement for the Certificate III in Aged Care. The good practice guide is located in the appendix.

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The impact of the first round of Victorian demand-driven reforms, referred to as the Victorian Training Guarantee (VTG), on enrolments and training outcomes is the focus of this report. The VTG reforms were introduced to create a more responsive training market and were implemented between July 2009 and January 2011. Subsequent reforms introduced in Victoria in 2012 are not part of this analysis. A particular focus of this report is on impacts for Indigenous students, those from a non-English speaking background and students with a disability. The impact of the VTG on enrolments and training outcomes for students from different age groups is also considered.

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Skilled migration is not a particularly new phenomenon, however it has become much relied upon by many nations both sending and hosting in an ever increasing global economy. This chapter explores the international trends in relation to the global mobility of workers and professionals before taking a case study approach which examines the opportunities, threats and dilemmas facing Australia and its use of skilled migration. First, [the authors] look at Australia's migration policies and recent changes in these which support a demand driven model before exploring Australia's skill shortages with particular reference to the Australian rail industry.

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Training packages are demand driven products responsive to the current and emerging skill needs of industry. As the rate of change within the economy increases, and that change impacts on individual sectors and job roles, training packages will continue to evolve. [Industry Skills Councils] ISCs believe that a healthy balance must be struck between updating training packages to maintain currency and what has been described as 'change overload'. This report presents an evidence-based analysis of the continuous improvement process for training packages. This analysis seeks to identify a range of change-based issues, factors and impacts.

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The new system of apprenticeships and traineeships is designed to be an industry led, demand driven system operating within a competitive marketplace. Equity concerns have been raised as to whether such a system can benefit the full range of Australians. To address these concerns the NSW Board of Vocational Education and Training (BVET) has produced a policy paper titled 'Achieving equity in apprenticeships and traineeships' (TD/NSW 50.33).

This article outlines the main issues raised in this paper including: the national policy context, the meaning of equity, the New South Wales approach to equity and a six point equity framework for action. Show less

Public funding of higher education in Australia as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) has followed a downward trend and is currently only two thirds that of the OECD average. Cuts to public funding have not been accompanied by increases in private funding. In addition, the international student market can no longer be relied upon to fill the gap in public funding. This book is designed to stimulate and contribute to a discussion of the substance of higher education and research. It has been prepared by academic staff associated with the Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) at the University of Melbourne. The chapters focus on the big policy issues facing tertiary education in Australia.

Excerpts from publication.

The contents are as follows: Introduction / Simon Marginson; Creating a demand-driven system / Conor King and Richard James; Monitoring and improving student engagement / Alexandra Radloff and Hamish Coates; Assessing higher education outcomes and performance / Hamish Coates; Assessing academic standards in Australian higher education / Scott Thompson-Whiteside; [Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency] TEQSA and the holy grail of outcomes-based quality assessment / Vin Massaro; Labor's failure to ground public funding / Simon Marginson; Degrees of debt: the Base Funding Review, Graduate Winners and undergraduate fees / Geoff Sharrock; Research training in Australia / Nigel Palmer; On the fragmentation and decline of academic work / Emmaline Bexley; Towards a model for professionalising [vocational education and training] VET teaching / Leesa Wheelahan; Internationalisation: where to from here? / Dennis Murray; English language standards and claims of soft marking / Sophie Arkoudis; Internationalising the student experience / Chi Baik; Australia and world university rankings / Simon Marginson. Show less

This article describes how competence-based learning (CBL) can be organised in vocational education by integrating elements from a holistic instructional design model with recent ideas on assessment. A curriculum based on this model is pre-eminently suitable for an assessment approach emphasising that proof of competence is gathered by having learners perform authentic tasks under changing assessment conditions at regular intervals. The results are stored in a so-called electronic assessment portfolio. The portfolio is constructed according to the Protocol Portfolio Scoring (PPS). The value of PPS for flexible, demand-driven vocational education is discussed.

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