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Intermediary organizations in apprenticeships are those which act on behalf of, link, or mediate between the main parties - apprentices and employers. An intermediary organization in apprenticeship systems is thus one that undertakes one or more of the following activities: employs apprentices as a third-party employer; trains apprentices as part of a specific arrangement with groups of employers; or undertakes other apprentice support activities on behalf of an employer or a specified group of employers. This discussion paper highlights different ways of classifying intermediary organizations, provides examples of different types of intermediary organisations and examines the different roles they can play to support the effective operation of apprenticeship systems. In particular, the report includes brief case studies of intermediary organisations in Australia, India, England.

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This chapter examines the important topic of the 'dual professionalism' of [vocational education and training] VET teachers in Australia. How, exactly, do they develop further and keep up to date in their industries and in pedagogy? Drawing sub-sets of material from a major national research project, the chapter provides survey evidence from over 900 VET teachers as well as detailed interview data from three case study training providers. The results show a high level of commitment to professional development, both formal and informal, particularly in teachers' industry areas, sometimes relating to licensing or regulatory requirements within those industries. Some teachers undertook multiple professional development activities each year and were willing to pay for their own development. There was, however, some resistance to development activities that were perceived to relate primarily to compliance with regulatory regimes. The chapter proposes a matrix to represent engagement in types of professional development and then problematise this model through discussion of the resistance and relating it to earlier debates around competency-based training.

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Drawing on twenty-five years of research and practice in competency-based training in Australia by the author, the paper shows how competency-based training (CBT) lays the VET system open to poor quality and unethical practice, even to corruption. There has been ongoing controversy about CBT in Australia since its widespread adoption in the early 1990s. While CBT has brought benefits, it has also brought problems. Many of the problems foreseen by commentators at the time of its introduction have been realised, but unforeseen problems have arisen. The research question for the paper is 'How does CBT as it is practised in Australia expose the VET sector to risk?' The paper analyses a number of key features in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia which are attributable to the adoption of competency-based training. These include: the nature of Training Packages; the lack of prescription of delivery mode or delivery hours; whether competency-based training is compatible with on-line learning; the nature of competency-based assessment and recognition of prior learning; and CBT's alignment with funding systems.

The paper argues that the lack of prescription once seen as a positive feature of CBT Australian-style has become a fundamental quality problem, which layer upon layer of additional regulation has not succeeded in addressing. The risk is compounded by ongoing marketisation of the VET system over the past 25 years and more. Some of the analysis for this paper was initially undertaken by the author in preparation for a court case in which [she] was called as an expert witness. While the court case itself cannot be discussed, the analysis process, which is developed further in this paper, led to a sobering realisation of the extent to which CBT has put the VET system at risk.

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This paper presents and analyses results from a research project on current trends in employer training in Australia. While the formal vocational education and training (VET) system is well-researched, the everyday training that happens in workplaces is relatively under-researched in Australia. Using some of the results of an employer survey undertaken in 2015, the paper describes and analyses employer-based training across a range of industry areas. The survey included groups of questions on a range of matters, including the reasons why employers train, and how these relate to employers' perceptions of their operating environment, and the structures they have in place to manage and organize training. Detailed data are provided about three specific forms of training: in-house training and learning; the use that employers make of external providers of training; and employers' use of nationally recognised training - training from the VET system. Finally the paper reports what managers said about the barriers to providing more training. The paper analyses the findings in relation to the literature and also identified changes over time in training practices in Australian companies. Implications for training policy and practice, as well as for future research, are identified.

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The effectiveness of vocational education and training (VET) systems depends upon their teachers. The teachers are regarded as 'dual professionals,' requiring expertise in both their background industry areas and in VET pedagogy itself. This chapter uses Australia as a case study of what happens when the accepted regime of qualifications for VET teachers alters. In Australia full-time VET teachers were, until recently, required to undertake degree level qualifications in VET pedagogy, taught at universities, either before or, more usually, after entering the occupation. The required level has now reduced to the regulatory minimum of a Certificate IV level qualification, taught by training providers not universities, and often provided to their own teachers. The qualification contains only 300 nominal hours of training. It has been recognized as a particularly poorly taught qualification, requiring the introduction of a high degree of regulation and most recently a special compliance framework for training providers wishing to deliver it. In this chapter, the historical path of the decline in VET teacher professionalism in Australia is charted, including research evidence from a national project managed by the author, about the effects of higher-level qualifications on VET teacher practices and quality and teachers' propensity to engage in professional development. A conceptual model of the attributes of professional VET teachers with regard to qualifications and professional development is presented. The chapter concludes with some recommendations for change and implications for other countries.

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The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 137.1084. Show less

This paper reports on and analyses the findings of a research project in 2018 involving six companies employing apprentices and/or trainees in the State of Victoria, Australia. The project was funded by the International Labour Organization as part of that organisation's 'Tools for Quality Apprenticeships' project. While the purpose of the project was to find out what tools and processes companies have for apprenticeship management, the case studies provided much richer data. The project showed how companies are not only dealing with the perennial 'big issues' in apprenticeship - such as improving productivity while also addressing inclusivity, and using apprenticeship as a way to attract good employees - but also addressing new developments such as Industry 4.0 and movement of labour globally.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 151.801. Show less

This paper reports on the first phase of a research project which investigated how young people in non-metropolitan areas in Australia imagine and navigate their pathways as they leave school and make choices about their future trajectories. The overall research question was: How do, and how could, young people imagine and navigate pathways related to post-school education, training and employment? There were three sub-questions: Who are the influencers and how do they affect the decisions? What could change to provide better post-school outcomes for a larger proportion of young people? What could change for communities and employers to better utilise young people's talents? The paper involved interviews with relevant organisations in the communities who had frequent contact with young people. This was the first phase of the project. Later phases involved interviews in schools and with young people, both those still at school and those who had left.

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In apprenticeship systems, intermediary organisations typically assist with recruitment and/or management of apprentices. This paper compares and contrasts the two major intermediary organisation types in apprenticeship systems in England and Australia. It focuses particularly on the way in which the organisations are funded, and the effects of funding on their operations. There has been very little research on intermediary organisations, and no prior international comparison. The encouragement of third party agencies has been a feature of governments wishing to expand apprenticeship systems; hence there is a need for evidence to inform governments' decision-making. The paper is drawn from data gathered for a recent research project funded by the International Labour Organization [report available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 138.649], undertaken by desk review of documents including government-commissioned evaluation reports, analysis of intermediary organisations' web sites, and conversations with government personnel, peak bodies and other experts in the two countries, some of whom also assisted with validation. The paper draws out and analyses data specifically on Australia and England: in Australia, Group Training Organisations and Australian Apprenticeship Service Network [AASN] providers; and in England, Group Training Associations and Apprenticeship Training Agencies.

It was clear that there were considerable differences in approach and ethos, both among and within the intermediary organisation types. Some had evolved organically, often in specific industry or geographical areas, but some had sprung into being to access financial opportunities, whether funded by government or, to a lesser extent, through fee-for-service opportunities afforded by government endorsement. Such evaluations as exist have highlighted some problems associated with profit-driven intermediaries, and the research has uncovered more such problems. The Australian 'AASN' providers, for example, are particularly profit-driven. The paper presents a framework for understanding intermediary organisations based on funding sources, and warns against 'contracting out' basic functions of apprenticeship to private providers.

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The paper evaluates the readiness of apprenticeship systems to cope with five major developments affecting the future of work. The institution of apprenticeship has evolved over time in all countries, gradually adapting to changes in industrial processes, the economy, the labour market and education systems. This paper suggests, however, that recent changes in the economy and the labour market, and their concomitant effects on the likely future of work, have the potential to disrupt apprenticeship systems quite radically worldwide, and/or to make them less relevant in the 21st century. The paper draws on data from recent Australian and international research projects undertaken by the author, as well as the author's engagement in Australian government exercises to discuss the future of apprenticeships.

The research found that adaptations of systems and processes were being undertaken at company level and by stakeholders such as trade union or employer peak bodies. They were less frequently apparent, however, in government policy. The paper analyses the data to produce a framework of readiness for 'future work', but also queries whether adaptation of apprenticeship systems is necessarily desirable in all instances. Although the presence of multiple stakeholders in the system has previously been viewed as a strength of the system, it can also make even minor changes difficult to implement. This could prove to be a major impediment to apprenticeship's future or could be a means of preserving its essential features.

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