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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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This review of Australia's educational policy, undertaken in 1976, focused on the education and training needs of, and provision for, young people entering working life. It was carried out as part of the program of OECD's Education Committee. The review focused on the following nine issues: (1) possible divergences between the specific objectives of education as perceived by people within education and those perceived by society at large; (2) the possibility of organisational and administrative defects which might prevent the education system from fulfilling its desired social role; (3) the after effects of the massive expansion of tertiary education in the late 1960s and early 1970s; (4) the effects of the present economic recession and the associated high level of unemployment; (5) possible worsening structural imbalances in the labour market of a secular nature; (6) the effects of earlier high immigration which may have led employers to neglect problems of labour supply; (7) possible inadequacies and distortions in the flow of information about the employment situation to young people in educational institutions; (8) the possibility that special difficulties are experienced on leaving school by particular groups such as Aborigines, recent migrants and some groups of females; and (9) possible changes in cultural and social attitudes that may have resulted in a widening of any generation gap. The report is presented in two parts: the main report, which is presented in part one, and a record of the review meeting where questions relating to the issues covered in the report were put to an official Australian delegation.

This report is complemented by a background report, 'Educational policy and planning: transition from school to work or further study' (indexed at TD/TNC 86.220). Show less

This examination of labour and employment policy in Australia was undertaken by the OECD at the request of the Australian Government. It is part of a series of country reviews designed to provide an opportunity for all OECD countries to benefit from each other's experience in this field. The examiners visited Australia in 1973 to discuss policy formulation around aspects identified as important by the Australian Government. The report is structured around these major areas: country background; forces confronting Australia in a world of change; labour utilisation in the context of economic growth; and a selected approach to Australian problems related to labour and industrial relations policies. A background paper, prepared by the then Commonwealth Department of Labour, was prepared to inform this discussion. Show less