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In the 1987-88 Budget, the Australian Commonwealth Government announced that it would delay the start of the next funding triennium for higher education to 1989. This paper explains more fully the reasons for the decision in the context of the Government’s longer-term plans for development of the higher education system. The Government is determined that the education and training system play a central role in responding to major economic challenges facing the nation. The paper suggests that Australia can no longer rely on established practices and institutional arrangements to meet these needs. Australia’s universities and colleges of advanced education (CAEs) are the main source of highly educated people necessary to continued economic growth. Research activities within higher education are also vital. For these reasons, the Government is strongly committed to the further development of the national higher education system. The paper outlines the reasons why the Government believes that continuing with current funding arrangements for higher education would not be in the best long-term interests of either the system itself or of the nation in general. The government will therefore embark on a process of policy development and consultation leading to the establishment of a new set of arrangements for Commonwealth support of higher education from the beginning of 1989. In the meantime, the Government has decided to treat 1988 as a year outside the normal triennial funding process. The paper contains an overview of the higher education system and the Government’s plans. Show less

This paper highlights Australia’s position as part of the international community and the need for change in the education sector, in particular the higher education system, to enable the Australian community to respond to the dynamism of world events and thus prosper as a nation. This policy discussion paper aims to promote further growth in the higher education system in response to Australia’s economic, social and cultural needs. Part one, ‘Assessing the challenge’, contains the following chapters: The nature of the challenge; The size of the task; The implications for education; A fair chance for all. Part two, ‘A unified national system’, contains: Structure and organisation; Resource allocation; Management; Staffing; Research and postgraduate studies. Part three, ‘Funding the system’, contains: Future arrangement; Non-Commonwealth sources. Included as appendices are: Participation in higher education; Labour force status and educational attainment; Australia’s participation from an international perspective; Demographic projections; Recurrent grants and student load in each institution; Commonwealth funding of higher education. Show less

This paper outlines the Australian Commonwealth Government's intention to 'meet the employment, education and training demands of structural adjustment' and the ways in which this can be done. It is one of a series of documents issued by the Commonwealth in late 1987 and throughout 1988 and 1989 that connected the industrial relations and training agendas, and advocated the inclusion of TAFE in the economic reform process and the development of its responsiveness to the skill needs of employers. The paper advocates 'greater industry involvement in TAFE and more diversified arrangements for vocational education and training generally'. It also explains the implications of award restructuring for education and training, proposing that the number of job classifications and the demarcations between them be reduced to enable more broadly based training to meet Australia's changing skill needs. It also proposed the adoption of a 'competency based' approach to training and the expansion, improvement and diversification of Australia's training infrastructure by placing more emphasis on industry-based formal training provision. This was seen as a way of providing competition for TAFE and enhancing the efficiency, quality and relevance of formal training provision. Following on from the recommendations in the Australian Council of Trade Union's (ACTU's) 'Australia reconstructed' (indexed at TD/LMR 85.647), the need for direct industry investment in the education and training system is highlighted. Two possible mechanisms were identified for formalising the required increased contributions by industry to training costs: (a) acceptance by industry of responsibility to provide for the funding of increased training, particularly as part of award restructuring processes; and/or (b) the establishment, by legislation, of a framework for training funds to be financed by industry, which would also have the primary responsibility for the effective use of those funds. The paper also describes past achievement and future directions in assisting those people disadvantaged in the labour market to find employment. These areas include income support and assistance to young people, women, Indigenous people, immigrants. The Government aimed to improve the forms of assistance provided to the long-term unemployed and sole parents, and to address the education and training needs of rural Australia. The paper concludes by outlining the improved administrative arrangements that will underpin these reforms. Show less

The need for reforms of the Australian vocational education and training (VET) system to build the skills of the workforce and to facilitate the processes of economic development and structural change had been well documented in previous Ministerial statements ('Skills for Australia' (indexed at TD/LMR 85.648); 'A changing workforce' (indexed at TD/LMR 85.675); and 'Industry training in Australia: the need for change' (indexed at TD/LMR 85.664)). This policy statement announces reforms that would underpin the award restructuring process already in process, with an extended and improved training infrastructure. The initiatives outlined in this statement aimed to enhance the quality, consistency and equity of the national training system. They included: organising a meeting of relevant Federal and State Ministers to seek agreement on establishing a National Training Board to determine national standards and skill competencies across a full range of industries and occupations; establishing a National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (NOOSR) to enable the development of national standards for competency-based skills recognition; allocating funding for skills audits, development of skills and competency-based training, curriculum development and an expansion of Training Services Australia and Group Training Schemes; funding to improve equity in apprenticeship arrangements to encourage more disadvantaged groups to enter the job market; and more flexible and broadly-based training arrangements. Show less