Timelines

• Australian VET policy initiatives: 1998-2022
• From MINCO to CISC - COAG ministerial councils, committees and advisory bodies: 1992-2020
• Landmark documents: 1954-2010
• Milestones in the history of VET: 1952-2021
• Prime ministers, federal ministers and the Commonwealth departments responsible for skills and training: 1992-2022
• VET legislation: 1946-2022

Publications on the history of VET in Australia

Development of TAFE in Australia

This book by Gillian Goozee provides a history of TAFE policy and administrative arrangements, focusing on the developments that have occurred within TAFE. The key themes are the impact of the increasing level of Commonwealth Government intervention in TAFE policies and programmes, the interrelationship between the Commonwealth and States from the 1970s to the 1990s and the change in focus of these policies and interrelationships from a humanistic approach to an economic and industrial relations approach. Earlier editions: 1993, 1995.
 

Development of Australia's national training system: a dynamic tension between consistency and flexibility

This paper by Kaye Bowman and Suzy McKenna reflects on the history of VET in Australia, from 1992, when all nine Australian governments made the landmark decision to create a nationally coordinated vocational education and training system, up to mid-2015. It identifies the rationale, objectives and key elements of the training system, outlines the main reforms, and explores the dynamic tension between consistency and flexibility that exists in the system, including in the implementation of the student training entitlement funding model.
 

Differentiated model for tertiary education: past ideas, contemporary policy and future possibilities

This report by Francesca Beddie looks back at the binary system, as well as its demise with the Dawkins reforms of the late 1980s, to uncover the lessons learned. Four main issues are identified as enduring problems for tertiary education: the diversity and parity of esteem between the various elements of the tertiary education sector; the pathways within education and to the labour market; the place of research in mass tertiary education; and governance and autonomy. The report was published in 2014, on the 50th anniversary of the binary system.
 

Evolution of apprenticeships and traineeships in Australia: an unfinished history

This paper by Brian Knight traces the evolution of Australia’s apprenticeship system from European settlement in 1788 up to 2012, including the various policies, social changes, and skill needs that have influenced how the system developed into what is in place today. A major theme is that the community, employers and employees have mostly had a conservative approach to apprenticeships. Most change has occurred since the introduction of traineeships in 1985 and the payment of government incentives to employers from the mid-1990s.
 

History of technical education in Australia: with special reference to the period before 1914

This thesis by Stephen Murray-Smith traces the history of techncial education in Australia from the colonial times up to 1914, from the hey-day of technical education in Australia between 1880 and 1900 to 1914, when the great era of technical education in Australia was over. The thesis also briefly looks at the period from 1914 to the mid-1960s and states that the organisation of technical education at all levels were those that had evolved before 1914 without any significant changes.
 

History of VET research: 1974-2018

This paper by Phil Loveder and Hugh Guthrie describes the genesis and development of research in VET in Australia over the 40 years from the mid-1970s through to the present, a period of significant and dynamic change in the VET landscape. It traces the origins of research from the watershed Kangan Committee report of 1974 through to the present national program of research. It also discusses the future of VET research in Australia and identifies some challenges facing research in the system going forward.
 

How VET responds: a historical policy perspective

This essay by Robyn Ryan provides an analysis of the interaction of policy with VET in Australia. It considers the evolution of the VET system since European settlement but focuses mainly on changes that have occurred from the 1980s to 2010. It discusses the underlying influences of key reforms, including the training reform agenda, which had as its main aim the establishment of a national system. Also discussed are the programs and policy milestones that have shaped the VET landscape.
 

Kangan: 20 years on: a commemoration: TAFE 1974-1994

This book, edited by Peter Kearns and William Hall, contains a series of essays that were presented at the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the landmark Kangan Committee report of 1994, TAFE in Australia: report on needs in technical and further education. The Kangan report was a defining moment in the history of VET: Myer Kangan saw VET as an integral part of the education system, with a responsibility for the development of individual capacities similar to that of schools and universities. The essays look back at its achievements.
 

Keywords and key phrases in vocational education policy in Australia: a lexical semantic analysis of knowledge and skills

This thesis by Chris Corbel interrogates the claim that the influence of knowledge has become weakened in vocational education policy, as the meanings of skills have expanded. It provides insights into the problem by undertaking a detailed and systematic examination of knowledge and skills as lexical items in Australian vocational education policy from an applied linguistic perspective. Data for the study consisted of vocational education policies in Australia over the course of a 40 year period, from 1969 to 2013.
 

National co-ordination of technical and further education

This thesis by Trevor Batrouney analyses national coordinating agencies in TAFE in terms of their relationships with the Commonwealth government and groups at state and institutional levels during the period 1973-1981. A complex system existed with coordinating agencies being established by governments at both state and federal levels and covering universities, colleges of advanced education, and technical and further education (TAFE). 
                                    

Additional publications

• 1958-2008: how access to VET qualifications has changed in Australia by Erica Smith [article]
• 40 years of NCVER by NCVER [report]
• Agricultural and related education in the Victorian colleges and the University of Melbourne by Lindsey Falvey and Barrie Bardsley [book]
• Apprenticeship in transition: an historical perspective of apprenticeship legislation in Victoria and the development of modules by Allan Day Pead [report]
• Apprenticeship system: Australian style: a brief history of the apprenticeship system by James D. Rorrison [book]
• Building the institutions of a national vocational education and training system by Robyn Ryan [thesis]
• By chance or choice: the regulation of the apprenticeship system in Australia, 1900-1930 by Thorsten Stromback [paper]
• Changing face of apprenticeship and entry level training in Australia by Paul Hager [conference paper]
• Competency-based training in Australia by Josie Misko and Chris Robinson [book chapter]
• Competency-based vocational education and training: key factors in the establishment of the National system by Gary Collins [conference paper]
• Development and reform of apprenticeship training in Victoria between 1884 and 1987 by Paul Scofield [thesis]
• Development of tertiary education in Australia, 1939-1979 by Jim Hyde [thesis]
• Dustman, milliner and watchcase maker: skilling Australia by Francesca Beddie [paper]
• From training reform to training packages by Erica Smith and Jack keating [book]
• Group training apprenticeships and traineeships in Australia by NCVER [report]
• Kangan and developments in TAFE teacher education by Clive Chappell, Andrew Gonczi and Paul Hager [article]
• Look how far we’ve come: 100 years of VET in Australia [article]
• Missing link: a research base to underpin VET policy formulation by Des Fooks [paper]
• Origins of competency-based training by Steven Hodge [article]
• Origins of the Victorian Apprenticeship Commission: a history of apprenticeship regulation in Victoria 1896-1927 by P. D. Brereton [thesis]
• Overview of the Australian apprenticeship and traineeship system by NCVER [report]
• Straws in the wind: the construction of technical and further education in Victoria 1945-1985 by Peter Rushbrook [thesis]
• The expansion and contraction of the apprenticeship system in Australia, 1985-2020 by Erica Smith [article]
• Trends in VET: policy and participation by Georgina Atkinson and John Stanwick [paper]
• VET provider market structures: history, growth and change by Patrick Korbel and Josie Misko [report]
• VET research in Australia: does the past constrain our future? by Geof Hawke [article]
• Vocational education and training: the Northern Territory's history of public philanthropy by Don Zoellner [book]
• Vocational education and training in Australia and three-dimensional federalism by Malgorzata Klatt and John Polesel [article]
• We got a fair go: a history of the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme 1945-1952 [book]

A more extensive set of publications on the history of VET in Australia is available in VOCEDplus (Tip: use the filters on the left of the VOCEDplus search results page to focus the results to specific aspects of VET).