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On 17 March 2005, the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry was asked by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Hon Warren Truss MP, to inquire into rural skills training and research. The terms of reference for this inquiry were to inquire into: the availability and adequacy of education and research services in the agriculture sector, including access to vocational training and pathways from vocational education and training to tertiary education and work; the skills needs of agricultural industries in Australia, including the expertise and capacity of industries to specify the skills-sets required for training, and the extent to which vocational training meets the needs of rural industries; the provision of extension and advisory services to agricultural industries, including links and coordination between education, research and extension; and the role of the Australian government in supporting education, research and advisory programs to support the viability and sustainability of Australian agriculture. In February 2007, the Committee presented its results from the review and found that severe skills shortages exist in rural industries and there are significant gaps in the capacity to respond to those shortages. The Committee made 29 recommendations for the government to consider and they included: the development of a national strategy on rural skills training, encompassing the school, vocational education and training (VET), and higher education sectors; making the regulatory framework surrounding VET more flexible and responsive to industry needs; rationalising training providers and reinvigorating vocational education and higher education in agriculture and forestry; revitalising agricultural colleges across Australia; providing agriculture and forestry courses at Australian Technical Colleges; developing a national extension framework to revitalise extension services; linking research funding to the provision of extension services; providing a greater security of funding for rural industry related Cooperative Research Centres; and developing a ‘skills passport’ to encourage the transfer of skills within and between rural industries. Show less

The inquiry into Indigenous education and training was referred by the Senate to Employment, Workplace Relations, Small Business and Education Committee in March 1998. The Committee reviewed parliamentary, government and commission reports on Indigenous education and training of the previous 10 years. It assessed the recommendations made in these reports and investigated the extent to which action had been taken to address them. The Committee received submissions from all states and territories, made site visits, and conducted formal and informal hearings with Indigenous education stakeholders in four states and the territories. A key part of the inquiry was the identification of recent initiatives that had proven successful in improving educational achievement for Indigenous Australians. The Committee also compared the level of state, territory and Commonwealth resources devoted to education and training programs for Indigenous Australians over the previous decade. Most of the inquiry focused on the compulsory years of schooling because of the relatively low numbers of Indigenous students who complete secondary education. However, vocational education and training, adult education and higher education are assuming greater importance and were addressed in the inquiry as was the impact of health on education. Rural and remote areas were also a focus of the inquiry as Indigenous people living in these areas face great difficulty in accessing education. The educational needs of those living in urban locations were also examined. The inquiry found that equity for Indigenous people in most educational sectors had not been achieved. However, substantial progress had been made in a range of areas, with some major improvements in Indigenous educational participation. The result has been continuing failure in some areas and partial success in others. Show less