Search Results

The title of this year’s conference, Balancing the Big Issues: TAFE 2011, challenged presenters and delegates to review the critical issues facing vocational education and training (VET) leadership in an uncertain environment: industry skills trends in a low carbon economy, a connected tertiary sector, internationalisation, the ‘patchwork economy’, contestable markets and the new regulatory framework.

Excerpt from publication.

Panel session, ‘A balancing act …’, contains the following papers: Strategic directors for VET: radical reform or business as usual? / Robin Shreeve; Who should drive the VET system: providers or industry? / Bob Paton; Contestable funding and uncapped higher education: clear skies or stormy weather? / David Williams; TAFE Australia: stitching together the patchwork economy / Sue A. Slavin. Panel session, ‘Wealth of resources – or patchwork economy?’, contains: The size of the [liquified natural gas] LNG industry / Miranda Taylor; Where must more be done to meet Australia’s skills needs? / John Coyle; Structural change or terminal decline? / Phillip Toner. Shadow Ministerial address / Sussan Ley, Federal Shadow Minister for Employment Participation; The session, ‘USA-Australia: sustainability, engagement and ‘green’ skills training’, contains: Establishing the business case for a USA-Australia ‘green’ skills learning exchange / Mindy Feldbaum; Developing the workforce for a sustainable and equitable future / Marcy Drummond; Technicians in the ‘Green’ economy / V. Celeste Carter. Stream 1, ‘Why should TAFE offer higher education?’, panel presenters: Linda Brown, Kevin Harris, Wayne Collyer, Nicholas Hunt. Stream 2, ‘Offshore TAFE’, panel presenters: Mark Howland, Marie Hill, Richard Clifford. Stream 3, ‘The new regulatory policy landscape’, topic speaker - Dianne Orr, panel presenter - Pat Forward. Other papers include: Community colleges’ baccalaureate degrees: trends in the United States of America and a practical model for change / Barbara J. Bryan; Session, ‘Higher education outside of universities’, contains: Teaching at the VET-HE interface: accounts from the US and UK / Leesa Wheelahan; International panel: Higher education in English further education colleges: ‘protect and grow’ / Martin Doel; College degrees in British Columbia: successes and challenges after twenty years / David G. Ross; Broadening the degree granting power of colleges to meet the needs of the new economy / Dan Patterson; Internationalisation and a Big Australia: debates on migration, education, population / Peter Mares; Session, ‘High performing institutions: competitors and collaborators’, contains: Surviving and thriving in a tough market - perspectives of a small private provider / Gary Cobbledick; How do we balance business imperatives with quality educational programs? / Helen Zimmerman; [University of Queensland] UQ College: an initiative at the right time / Rod Arthur; How do we balance business imperatives with quality educational programs? / Susan Hartigan. Ministerial address / Christopher Evans, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations. Stream 1, ‘What should VET qualifications look like?’, contains: Topic speaker: John Buchanan; Panel presenters: Suzy McKenna, Allan Ballagh, Rod Cooke. Stream 2, ‘Unpacking the green skills challenge’, contains: Topic speaker: Garry McDonald: Panel presenters: Elizabeth McGregor and Alicia Bales. Stream 3, ‘Australia’s support for international students’, contains; Topic speaker: Allan Asher; Panel presenters: Colin Walters, Diane Seath. Stream 4, ‘Symposium - 2011 Emerging Leaders’. Show less

TAFEs now deliver more than 140 degree and higher education courses, yet unlike university students, TAFE students are hit with extra fees, and do not receive Commonwealth Supported Place higher education course subsidies. TAFE degrees are part of Australia's TEQSA-accredited higher education qualifications and are in high industry demand. These are highly specialised degree courses, deliberately aligned with industry for higher technology-based skills. TAFE higher education providers (HEPs) bring diversity and choice to the higher education sector by opening new pathways to these higher qualifications for many students. Yet the distinctive role of TAFE HEPs as public non-university providers is not recognised in national higher education policy vis-a-vis universities under federal policy. Resulting in higher education students studying at TAFE not being on an equal footing with university students. Current policy discriminates against these students by denying many of them access to Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) funding which means most higher education students in TAFE pay full fees, and adding a 25 per cent fee for TAFE and other non-university provider students on loans provided under the FEE-HELP scheme. These fees are not applicable to university students; thus limiting access to TAFE HEPs to Commonwealth funding for applied research and scholarship.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

This occasional paper brings together the papers and summaries of discussion sessions from the 2010 National TAFE Directors conference. The key themes that emerged from the conference include: challenges and opportunities for Australia in the international education market; the shape of tertiary education and the implications for funding; leadership in tertiary education; quality and how it can be achieved and measured; and rural and regional priorities. The conference sessions were: TAFE in the Year of the Tiger topics: The ferocious tiger: what should quality mean for a 21st century TAFE institute? The toothless tiger: are competency-based qualifications relevant in a 21st century knowledge society?; Tiger or pussycat: what's in a name?: TAFE by any other name; Tiger stripes: what should performance benchmarks look like?; The government's priority drive; The hybrid tiger: one tertiary - a connected sector topics: Riding the tiger: education and skilled migration (The impact of changing migration scenarios on TAFE international student recruitment; International students and skilled migration: re-appraising the relationship); Riding the tiger: a Chinese perspective on education and skilled migration (New trends in VET reform and development in the People's Republic of China); World cafe: success and quality for a 21st century TAFE; The tertiary sector; Early prey (The technology tiger: 21st century technology for VET); Roar of the tiger: entrepreneurship and organisational growth (Newcastle College Group: delivering growth and excellence); Vocational education and training beyond 2010: next steps in VET reform; Year of the Tiger: leaders' perspectives (The drive to higher level skills and qualifications; 'TAFE should grab the higher skills agenda by its tail'); Prowling the jungle in a post-Bradley world (Competitive VET: a case study; Measuring success in the post-Bradley world; An industry view of innovative and high-performing TAFE institutes?); TDA beyond the election statement; Post-election analysis: education and training, a number one priority - stream one 'A tale of the domestic tiger' (Skills for the resources sector: a challenge for VET); stream two 'A tale of the global tiger' (A sustainable international education sector?). Show less

TAFE Directors Australia (TDA) welcomes the Australian Government's commitment to 'A Better Deal for Regional Australia'. The strategies envisioned by the Government call for place-based leadership to drive an integrated approach to regional renewal and development. TAFE's active engagement will be critical to the success of this multidimensional and complex program. This paper discusses the ways in which regional TAFE Institutes can lead and contribute to this program and proposes a number of principles as the basis for a TDA regional policy. These principles are based on the national priorities which TDA identified for Australian Government engagement with TAFE in its Election Manifesto of 2010. The six TDA policy priorities are: (1) a connected tertiary education sector; (2) funding to overcome skills shortages and a dedicated Structural Adjustment Fund for TAFE Institutes; (3) a simpler and more effective quality assurance regulatory system; (4) the engagement of young people in vocational skills; (5) a special focus on the resources sector; and (6) a revitalised international student market. These priorities have been contextualised, and in some cases broadened in scope, to address the specific education and skill needs of Australia's regions.

Published introduction. Show less

TAFE Directors Australia (TDA) is the national association of Institutes of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) and the TAFE division of multi-sector universities in Australia. TDA provides national leadership in advocating the role and contribution of public vocational education and training (VET) to national development. Educational services are currently among Australia’s major exports with the potential for significant future expansion. However, the TAFE sector has a relatively small share of the international education market in comparison with universities and private VET providers. This position paper puts forward TDA’s view that there is potential for enhancing the TAFE sector’s current international education activities and, in doing so, increasing its contribution to the nation’s economic development. The paper argues that for TAFE to be successful in this aim the government will need to address a number of impediments currently blocking the increase of the sector’s international education exports. It also advocates a collaborative effort between TAFE and the government to address current challenges and develop a strategy for future expansion. The paper outlines the scope of international education and the development of education as an export industry. It highlights the benefits of an international TAFE sector and describes the impediments to the development of international education in the TAFE system. Conclusions and a recommended plan of action complete the paper. Show less

This paper provides background to [TAFE Directors Australia's] TDA's policy position on the future role of public technical and further education providers in Australia's tertiary sector. Following the release of the Bradley Review in 2008 [available in VOCEDplus at TD/LMR 85.696], a range of significant structural, organisational and funding changes occurred. These were designed to create an interconnected tertiary sector, to promote the achievement of a range of government targets for education and to secure Australia's future in an increasingly challenging and volatile global market in Asia and beyond. The paper describes how public technical and further education providers have adapted to these changes and suggests ways in which they might further be enabled to contribute to the achievement of government policy objectives.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

Enterprise and national productivity GDP are tied to the capability of Australia's own workforce which requires ongoing development. TAFE has been fundamental in delivering training – not only for individuals to have employability skills in metropolitan, rural and regional areas in Australia, but companies and SMEs requiring special skill upgrades, competition issues, and as technology requires safety and better performance. More recently, TAFEs are foremost to 'close the gap' in indigenous training and employability skills, and for Manufacturing Industry Restructuring TAFE remains at the centre of many state and territory re-skilling programs. This paper suggests that success relies on collaborative partnerships between enterprises and TAFE where TAFE is a workforce development partner.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

TAFE plays a vital role in providing vocational education and training (VET) in Australia, and in August 2004, the CEOs of Australia’s TAFE institutes called upon the federal government to adopt new strategies to ensure that the future skill needs are met and to increase the nation’s investment in TAFE. The TDA recommended eight related strategies to overcome skill shortages, raise skill levels, increase labour productivity and improve job prospects for all its people. It also recommended a high level independent review of Australia’s future VET needs and how these should best be met. This document is the TDA position paper on TAFE funding. It calls for sustained investment in TAFE if Australia is to meet its future skill needs, stating that the public VET system currently receives much less funding than either the school sector or universities.

The policy statement and the four position papers are indexed from TD/TNC 79.230 to TD/TNC 79.233 and at TD/ERD 87.143. Show less

Australian e-TAFE is a dedicated policy package to engage TAFE to grow the nation’s workforce participation. Australian e-TAFE presents four recommendations which culminate in two years of policy review within [Council of Australian Governments] COAG by TAFE Directors Australia, to grow skills more effectively, and deliver a people-led knowledge economy lift to national productivity. The four proposals are: (1) widen technology infrastructure - converting TAFE to being recognized as ‘Australian e-TAFE’; (2) widen industry co-investment and innovation - introducing [European Union] EU-style skills institute motivation for industry to invest in higher level skilling, and [research and development] R&D and innovation; (3) widen incentives and investment toward Workforce People Development - including mature-age skills retraining; and (4) widen new Australian foreign aid spending to skills and education, with Australian [Australian Quality Training Framework] AQTF qualifications to be a maxim for mutual assistance in neighbouring government participation and better facilitating people movement prompted by eco-threats from global warming.

Excerpt from publication. Show less

As Australia seeks to return to pre-[Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID economic activity, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will need targeted and sustained support. Businesses emerging from COVID-19 are likely to pursue transformation, however, they face significant challenges in accessing services and the support needed to adapt. SMEs can be assisted during the extended economic recovery phase from COVID-19 through an applied research and practice-based innovation strategy in partnership with Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes. TAFEs are the natural partners to help SMEs with applied research. Funding from the Australian Government will allow for pilot projects in partnership with SMEs and family businesses.

Lessons learned from 15 years of applied research in Canadian colleges inform this submission. For example, in 2017-2018, research activity in Canadian colleges and institutes led to more than 4,400 new processes, products, prototypes and services. Approximately 87 per cent of these results were achieved in less than a year.

Excerpt from publication. Show less