National industry skills standards: taking training packages beyond training

Training is just one context in which training packages are used. The national industry skills standards in training packages also underpin workforce development and planning, intra- and inter-occupational mobility, skilled migration and regulation and licensing. They allow governments to initiate strategic reform quickly, effectively and across the whole economy. They provide a comprehensive framework for integrating skills and workforce development at the national, enterprise and personal level, across 85 per cent of Australian occupations. In this report, the author argues that this diversity of application, and the positive social, economic and environmental impacts that follow, is why national industry skills standards will be the enduring feature of Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system. Show less