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The purpose of this statement is to provide an overview of the Australian government’s science and technology strategy. It sets out the major issues essential to developing the nation’s scientific and technological capacity and enhancing its contribution to meeting national needs. The strategy is presented under four broad headings: (1) the central role of science and technology in achieving national objectives; (2) management strategy (including an increase in overall funding of research and development); (3) human resources strategy (including research training); and (4) science and technology and the wider community. The government intends to increase the resources available for allocation to higher education institutions and researchers on the advice of the Australian Research Council (ARC) in consultation with the Higher Education Council (HEC). Additional funding will be provided to support research training and to open research scholarships, linking directly with industry. The health and medical research workforce will be strengthened through the provision of funding to assist young scientists transition into full independence.

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All jurisdictions in Australia have signed a Heads of Agreement for Skills Reform. The Agreement sets out immediate reforms to improve the vocational education and training (VET) sector and an approach and priorities for developing a new National Skills Agreement to replace the National Agreement on Skills and Workforce Development [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 104.531]. The priorities in the Agreement are aimed at ensuring the VET system is delivering for students and employers and equipping Australians with the skills they need for emerging jobs.

The Commonwealth is also partnering with the states and territories to deliver the JobTrainer Fund, which will provide more access to free, or low cost, training places in areas of identified skills need.

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On 28 August 2020, the Council on Federal Financial Relations (CFFR) established the new Federation Funding Agreements (FFAs) framework. Accordingly, under the Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations, payments to the States are now facilitated through schedules to the FFAs. This Agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia and the states and territories (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory) contribute to the delivery of specified initiatives in the Education and Skills sector. It consolidates and rationalises National Partnership Agreements, Project Agreements and Schedules under the National Partnership for Streamlined Agreements in the Education and Skills sector, into Schedules under this agreement. It also provides a framework for facilitating future funding initiatives in the Education and Skills sector.

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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

In 1988, the then Minister for Employment, Education and Training, the Hon J. S. Dawkins, released a discussion paper, 'Industry training and Australia: the need for change' (indexed at TD/LMR 85.664). The aim of this paper was to provoke debate on measures both to improve the quality of training and to increase the amount of training being undertaken. The Employment and Skills Formation Council (ESFC) of the National Board of Employment, Education and Training (NBEET) was charged with providing an interim report by 5 May 1989 on the outcomes of the consultations to date.

This interim report aims to both summarise the views expressed during the consultation process and highlight the reforms which ESFC believes are required in the training system. The structure of the report is as follows. Chapter two provides a summary of the discussion paper and establishes the context in which the report was written. This includes a discussion of the pressures necessitating reform of the training system. Chapter three summarises the main issues as expressed in the written submissions and discussions, and assesses recent developments in industry training. Chapter four presents ESFC's advice on the direction of future reforms. Issues discussed include measures to improve the quality and responsiveness of the education and training system, measures to improve access to training for women and disadvantaged groups and the funding of an expanded and improved training system. Conclusions are presented in the final chapter.

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This review aims to provide the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Education Council with advice and recommendations on how senior secondary students can better understand and be enabled to choose the most appropriate pathway to support their transition into work, further education and/or training. In undertaking the review the expert panel will give consideration to the different contexts faced by disadvantaged students, including students with disability, those in regional, rural and remote areas, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Responsibility for senior secondary pathways into work, further education and training fall across levels of government, from the schooling system to vocational and higher education sectors as well as employers and industry. While the review reports to the COAG Education Council, which has responsibility for schooling, the recommendations may have broader systemic implications and will need to be considered in this policy context.

Specifically, the expert panel: (1) explored the efficacy of senior secondary education in preparing young people for diverse pathways to further learning and work, including: (a) identifying from existing curriculum frameworks and relevant research, the essential knowledge, skills and values needed for diverse pathways to life long learning, work and effective participation in civic life; (b) identifying the skills and knowledge students, employers, vocational education and training (VET) providers, and higher education institutions perceive are essential for successful post school transitions; and (c) clarifying the roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders, such as schools, students, parents, VET providers, higher education institutions, and employers, in supporting inclusion and preparing school leavers for life beyond school, whatever pathway they choose; (2) investigated whether current certification and university entry requirements, including other credentials such as the International Baccalaureate, assist in allowing students to make the study choices that are right for them to develop the skills and knowledge they need to access the most appropriate pathway into work, further education and/or training; (3) investigated barriers to students being able to equitably access all pathways, particularly for students in rural, regional and remote areas, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students with disability, those who struggle to make transitions to work, further education and training, and potential early school leavers; (4) identified best practice in flexible delivery options, transition and engagement support arrangements for students transitioning from Year 10 to Year 11, as well as from Year 12 to post-school destinations including: (a) career education and awareness that supports inclusion and includes information linked to labour market outcomes for all pathways, to support students to make informed decisions about their study, training and career options, as well as develop career management skills; (b) the role and impact of teachers, school leaders, and different models of schooling, such as alternate education settings for disengaged students, distance education and/or home education, in successful transitions; (c) VET delivered to secondary students that leads to strong transitions; (d) work-based learning and industry partnerships; (e) higher education; and (f) the role of student wellbeing on their ability to engage in different types of learning, including VET, academic and work-based learning, to facilitate completion of year 12 and transition to successful pathways; and (5) investigated what, when and how data should be collected to capture experiences, identify pathways and measure the impact of delivery options, subject choice (including academic and VET) on student outcomes and destinations, to ensure continuous improvement.

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The National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development (NASWD) [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 108.1569] - which commenced in 2009 and was updated in 2012 - defines the framework for intergovernmental collaboration in vocational education and training (VET). It sets out governments' roles, policy aspirations, performance measures, and reform directions for the formal VET system. The Australian Government has asked the Commission to review progress against the targets, outcomes and performance indicators in the NASWD and to assess whether it is still an effective long-term framework for intergovernmental cooperation on VET policy. Intertwined with that assessment, the Commission has also been asked to consider options: (1) to coordinate and streamline government support; (2) for national consistency in VET funding and pricing that maximise efficiency, transparency and the supply of trained workers; (3) to promote consistency in funding and loan arrangements between the VET and higher education sectors; and (4) to ensure government investment in VET encourages increased participation in training that is commensurate with the benefits. During this review there have been major skills policy developments. In November 2019, the COAG Skills Council released a Draft VET Reform Roadmap [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 139.175] which set out three priority areas for improvement - the relevance, quality and accessibility of the VET system. In response to the 2019 Joyce Review [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 136.59], the Australian Government established a National Skills Commission (NSC) and a National Careers Institute (NCI). And in August 2020, all governments signed a Heads of Agreement for Skills Reform [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 141.854] setting out high-level directions for a new National Skills Agreement to replace the NASWD. The Commission has taken this evolving policy landscape into account in its assessment and recommendations. The review has also coincided with the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond the immediate disruption for students, employers and VET providers, the pandemic may lead to substantial structural changes in the VET sector. VET policy announcements have been at the centre of government responses to the pandemic and, where possible, the Commission has incorporated these announcements in its assessments. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of VET and why 'getting the system right' is critical to meeting Australia's changing skills needs.

This report was sent to Government on 15 December 2020 and publicly released on 21 January 2021. Its key messages are that the NASWD should be replaced with a new principles based agreement, and there is manifest capacity for governments to get a better return from their investment in VET. The key points are: (1) This review has not found evidence of a VET system in crisis. Our recommendations address some of the system's acknowledged weaknesses and should build on its strengths to lift participation and improve the quality of training; (2) The NASWD is overdue for replacement: governments have stepped back from some of its policy aspirations. Targets have not been met and the performance framework has not held governments to account; (3) A new intergovernmental agreement should be principles-based, modular (to retain flexibility and currency) and reviewed every five years: Australian Government funding should remain largely untied for base funding but subject to much greater accountability and transparency; (4) Governments should continue to support the development of a more efficient and competitive VET market through informed user choice and a focus on quality: students need better curated information on career opportunities, the performance of training providers, course quality and prices; and efforts to improve quality should be ramped up through faster changes to training packages, developing an evidence-based VET workforce strategy, and a phased introduction of independent assessment; (5) There is a manifest capacity for governments to achieve a better return on the $6.4 billion spent on VET by: using the efficient costs and loadings currently being estimated by the NSC as a common basis for setting and simplifying course subsidies; introducing modest minimum student fees for Certificate III and above courses with exemptions for disadvantaged students; applying more contestability and transparency to public funding of TAFEs and enhancing the operational autonomy of public providers; and enabling State and Territory funding to follow students enrolled with an interstate provider; (6) To scale up workforce skills, governments should expand VET Student Loans (VSL) to more Diploma and above courses and to most Certificate IV courses: loan caps should better reflect course costs, and loan fees should be paid by all students; (7) Reforms to the trade apprenticeship system are best focused on: improving completion rates by better screening and matching of prospective apprentices; making pathways more flexible and providing the same subsidy for non-apprenticeship pathways as for traditional pathways; and adjusting the timing of employer incentives to provide more support when the risk of cancellation is greatest; (8) There should be a coordinated national strategy to improve school education, 'second-chance' learning in the VET sector and other adult education services to reduce the large number of Australians with low language, literacy, numeracy and digital literacy skills; and (9) To address some of the key obstacles to lifelong learning, this report proposes improvements in foundation skills, better credit pathways, an expansion of VSL and a trial of a new financing instrument for mature-age Australians reskilling and upskilling.

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