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The overarching objective of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) reform agenda is to improve the wellbeing of Australians now and into the future. The agenda is structured within National Agreements and National Partnerships, which support the objectives of the Agreements. The National Partnership Agreement on Skills Reform aims to contribute to reform of the vocational education and training (VET) system to deliver a productive and highly skilled workforce which contributes to Australia’s economic future, and to enable all working age Australians to develop the skills and qualifications needed to participate effectively in the labour market. It outlines the structural reforms and other actions designed to achieve the reform directions agreed under the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development.

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The Joint Steering Committee [JSC] was charged with the responsibility of ensuring that nationally recognised training products within the vocational education and training (VET) sector are flexible and responsive to changing industry, business and individual needs and workplace practices. Improving outcomes for clients included work on improving the design of units of competency, Training Packages, VET qualifications, accredited courses, credit systems and recognition arrangements to support reforms for a more client and demand driven system. In particular, the JSC was to develop a policy framework to enable VET qualifications and products to: meet the needs of businesses and industry; and equip individuals with broadly based skills and knowledge. The project was completed through a two stage consultative process. In the first stage a draft consultation paper [indexed at TD/TNC 97.119] was developed and then refined through consultation with key peak body stakeholders. A paper was also commissioned from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) to support the consultation process, ‘Competence and competency based training: what the literature says’ [indexed at TD/TNC 96.06], and should be read in conjunction with this report. In the second stage, feedback on the issues and options presented in the refined consultation paper was sought from VET stakeholders more broadly through a second round of targeted consultations, public workshops in each State and Territory and a written submission process. Based on the outcomes of the national consultations, the Joint Steering Committee proposes the following policy framework to improve the flexibility and responsiveness of the VET system.

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