by Matthew Dale | Jul 18, 2018 | ACPET, Audit Express, Community Colleges Australia, Doug Cameron, Industry Skills Fund, Karen Andrews, Karen Andrews MP, Learn Local, Learn Local Training Providers, Registered Training Organisation, Senator Doug Cameron, TAFE, TAFE Directors Australia, VET Conference, VET Policy, VET Reform
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Federal VET Policy Forum
Assistant Minister Karen Andrews MP at the at the Federal VET Policy Forum.
Key stakeholders from the vocational education and training (VET) sector, including decisions makers and thought leaders from TAFE Organisations, Private Registered Training Organisations and Community Education Providers met in Melbourne on 16/07/2018 at the Federal VET Policy Forum to discuss the future of the Australian VET Sector, which has been plagued by scandal and poor government policy.
Shadow Minister Senator Doug Cameron at the Federal VET Policy Forum
The forum was held at the VET Development Centre, and was organised and hosted by Audit Express, an assurance and advisory firm that specialises in education policy.
Kevin Ekendahl, CEO of Audit Express said that his team had organised the forum to promote cohesion and harmony within the vocational education and training sector, and to encourage all providers to work together to build a stronger sector. “For too long our sector has been used as a political football, we organised this forum to promote good policy in VET as we’ve seen the detrimental effects bad policy has on our sector, students and the economy” said Mr Ekendahl.
The forum was attended by more than 100 guests, representing some of Australia’s largest and highly regarded TAFE’s, RTO’s and Community Education Providers. The forum kicked off with presentations from Mary Faraone, Chair of TAFE Directors Australia (TDA), Rod Camm, CEO of the Australian Council of Private Education & Training (ACPET) and Don Perlgut, CEO of Community Colleges Australia (CCA), who each presented the challenges, concerns and needs of their parts of the VET sector.
Mary Faraone, Chair of Tafe Directors Australia, called for the removal of the 20% tax of students who take on a VET Student Loan. Ms Faraone said that VET is currently a “hard sell”, as evidenced by the decline in government-funded training, and the impact of issues such as demand driven university admissions and the VET student loan scandal. Ms Faraone also shared her concerns about the prospect of a looming skills mismatch – “people without jobs and jobs without people”, and that this is worsened by funding being uneven across states and territories, and student choices distorted by differing taxation and support arrangements between university and VET.
Don Perlgut, CEO of Community Colleges described the VET Sector as being the “Middle Child” of the greater education sector, and gave a plea for our government to demonstrate National Leadership, “calling for our national politicians to provide real vision and leadership in Australia’s VET space, developing bi-partisan approaches to national challenges”. Mr Perlgut noted that “it’s time for proper funding: don’t tell me that we don’t have the money, because we surely do, when we are considering tax cuts across the board”.
Rod Camm, CEO of the Australian Council of Private Education and Training (ACPET) said that “we need a vision, we need a national policy framework and we need to take ideology out of VET”. He also said that “the current construct of our system has to have a fundamental rethink”.
The forum attendees also heard from Assistant Minister Karen Andrews, who delivered her vision for VET, which was focussed on building on the past, securing our future. The Assistant Minister spoke about her support of innovation in the VET Sector, in particular of her support for micro-credentials, skill sets and innovative training programs that lead to employment for students. Assistant Minster Andrews also outlined the review of the AQF that is currently taking place. You can read more about the Assistant Minister’s announcements here.
Finally, the forum heard from the Shadow Minister Senator Doug Cameron, who spoke of his commitment to ensuring that a full inquiry of the VET Sector will take place should Labor win the upcoming Federal election. Senator Cameron also spoke of his unwavering support for TAFE’s, re-iterating that 2/3 of funding of VET will go directly to TAFE under a Labor led government. You can read Senator Cameron’s speech here.
Both Minister Andrews and Shadow Minister Cameron agreed on a number of key points, including the reality that training packages are currently outdated, in many cases not responsive to the needs of industry or current job roles, and that structure of both training packages the overall Australian qualifications framework is in desperate need of a rethink. Senator Cameron said that qualifications were narrow and not fit for purpose. He then raised the question “are Training Packages operating for public good?”.
One thing was clear from all presenters and the agreeable audience, that is the current Training Packages and the framework in which they operate are not working and are in desperate need of a re-think and new direction.
Sector representatives from TDA, ACPET and CCA all described a perceived “lack of a VET Policy vision at a federal level, on all sides of government”. There was also an overwhelming support from both the guests attending the forum and also from the panel of industry representatives for both sides of government to put good policy before ideology moving forward.
Attendees at the forum took to twitter throughout and after the forum with mixed views of support and frustration.
Call to action
1. In the lead up to this Federal Election the team from Audit Express encourage you to participate in the policy discussion, especially when it comes to Vocational Education and Training. You can do this by following the three key industry representatives and member organisations, which can be followed here:
2. Keep in close contact with your relevant member organisation or industry representative organisation. If you see or hear something happening in the VET Sector that you disagree with or are unhappy with, or if you are passionate about a particular topic or issue, always remember that “the pen is mightier than the sword”. Never underestimate the power of writing to the minister, or your local senator or member of parliament. For more information on contacting your local senator or MP, click here.
3. Be active and vocal on social media about the issues that you care about!
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by Matthew Dale | Apr 15, 2018 | ACPET, Audit Express, Community Colleges Australia, Doug Cameron, Karen Andrews, Karen Andrews MP, Learn Local, Learn Local Training Providers, Melbourne, Professional Development, Senator Doug Cameron, TAFE, TAFE Directors Australia, VET Conference, VET Development Centre, VET Policy, VET Reform
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UPDATE – This event is fully booked. All ticket allocations were exhausted in less than 10 hours. We are however hoping to live-stream this event, so please watch this space.
The Australian VET Sector has experienced significant change and transformation over recent years.
If you have solutions and want to make a difference, we want your input! |
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This event will put the issues and needs of the VET Sector in the spotlight, and back onto the federal policy agenda.
The Federal VET Forum & Panel Discussion will set the scene and put the issue of VET front and centre in the lead up to the Federal Election. This event brings together thought-leaders and key stakeholders from the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Sector, and will provide a platform for discussion, debate and also for concerns about landscape and policy of the VET sector to be voiced.
- Hear from the Federal Assistant Minister Karen Andrews, as she delivers her position and vision for the Australian VET Sector beyond 2018.
- Hear from the Shadow Minister, Senator Doug Cameron about his plans to review the National Vocational Education and Training sector if his party wins the next the Federal election.
- Learn about the various issues and challenges faced by the three key types of training providers in the sector (Private/TAFE/Community) with the VET Sector Stakeholder Panel discussion, which includes:
- Rod Camm, CEO of ACPET
- Craig Robertson, CEO of Tafe Directors Australia
- Don Perlgut, CEO of Community Colleges Australia
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#VETPolicy
#2018FederalVETPolicyForum
#AusPol
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![Community Colleges Conference a success]()
by Matthew Dale | Aug 2, 2017 | ASQA, Audit Express, Community Colleges Australia, Gayle Tierney MP, Karen Andrews, Karen Andrews MP, Registered Training Organisation, Student Satisfaction, VET Conference, VET Policy, VET Reform, VRQA
We are pleased to announce that the annual Community Colleges Australia (CCA) Conference held in Melbourne was a great success.
The team at Audit Express tilt their hat to their colleagues at CCA for delivering their best conference yet, which comprised an impressive list of speakers that travelled from across the globe to present their thoughts, ideas and concepts to the conference delegates. There was a noteworthy attendance at the conference by the Federal Assistant Minister Karen Andrews, Shadow Minister Doug Cameron and Victorian Minister Gail Tierney – it is understood that our Victorian Shadow Minister Stephanie Ryan sent her apologies and was unable to attend due to being on her HONEYMOON <3 Congratulations Stephanie!
Other outstanding speakers included ASQA, the VRQA and our very own CEO at Audit Express Kevin Ekendahl!
We highly recommend attending this conference in 2018 to show your support for the community education sector, which we understand will be held in Sydney.
by Matthew Dale | Jun 8, 2017 | ASQA, Audit Express, Best Practice, Community Colleges Australia, Funding Contract, Gayle Tierney MP, Karen Andrews, Karen Andrews MP, Melbourne, Minister, NCVER, Registered Training Organisation, Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015, Student Satisfaction, VET Conference, VET Fee Help, VET Policy, VET Reform, Victorian Training Guarantee, VRQA
CCA 2017 Conference Community Education: Investing in our Future
Audit Express are proud to be sponsoring the 2017 Community Colleges Australia (CCA) Annual Conference, which is to be held in Melbourne on 25-27 July.
This years conference theme is ‘Community Education: Investing in our Future’ which recognises the importance that education plays in people’s lives. The CCA Annual Conference is the premier event for Australian adult and community education providers, and is always hosted at an impressive venue with a great line up of speakers. The 2017 conference will be held at the award-winning conference venue ‘Citadines on Bourke‘ and the Conference Opening function and Annual Awards Dinner with both be held at the ‘Hotel Windsor‘, one finest 5 star venues in Melbourne, “the world’s most liveable city”.
The Hon Karen Andrews MP, Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills will open this years conference, which has an impressive line-up of keynote speakers and presenters including: (just to name a few)
- The Hon Gayle Tierney MP, Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Corrections
- Susan Pascoe AM, Commissioner, Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission
- The Hon Michael Lavarch AO, Commissioner – Risk, Intelligence and Regulatory Support, Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA)
- Professor Rodney Maddock, Monash Business School, and President, Economic Society of Australia, Victorian Branch
- Peter Noonan, Professor of Tertiary Education Policy, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University, Melbourne
- Lynn Glover, CEO (Director) Victorian Registration and Qualification Authority
- Kira Clarke, Lecturer in Education Policy, Centre for Vocational & Education Policy, Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne
- Dr Laurie Chesley, Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, Grand Rapids Community College, Michigan USA
- Dr Roberta Teahen, Associate Provost & Director of the Doctorate in Community College Leadership, Ferris State University, Michigan USA
- Toni Cavallaro, Manager, National Collections Branch, National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER)
- Dr Robbie Lloyd, Community Relationships Manager, Port Macquarie Community College
- Wendy Perry, Managing Director, Workforce BluePrint
- Kevin Ekendahl, our very own CEO of Audit Express, who is presenting on the Importance of Student Satisfaction in the Australian VET Sector
For more information read the 14 reasons why this year’s conference is a “must-attend” event.
Register for this years CCA conference before the 12th of June to receive an early bird discount, click here >>> http://cca.edu.au/what-we-do/2017-annual-conference/#registration
Community Colleges Australia
Audit Express
by Matthew Dale | Jul 23, 2016 | Audit Express, Karen Andrews, Minister, Senator Simon Birmingham, Shadow Minister Kate Ellis, VET Fee Help, VET Policy, VET Reform
Labor have announced a reshuffle of their frontbench and in a bizarre move have split their Shadow Ministry by naming Kate Ellis as the Shadow Minister TAFE and Vocational Education and Training, and Senator Doug Cameron as the Shadow Minister for Skills and Apprenticeships.
Kate Ellis MP
Our new Shadow Minister for VET, (Kate) has come from a family of educators and small business owners, and her website overview would suggest that she is passionate about Education.
Senator Doug Cameron
Our new Shadow Minister for Skills and Apprenticeships (Doug) was born in Scotland, is married with two daughters and two grandchildren. [emaillocker id=”6291″] Doug was elected to the Senate in 2007 and has served as Shadow Minister for Human Services since 2013 (until this frontbench reshuffle). Prior to being preselected to run for the Senate, Doug previously served as the national secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.
Kate entered parliament in 2004 as the youngest woman ever elected to the House of Representatives, and became the Minister for Employment Participation and Early Childhood in 2010. In opposition, up until this reshuffle Kate has been the Shadow Minister for Education and the Shadow Minister for Early Childhood. Both Kate and Doug have historically supported and voted for both marriage equality and safe schools coalition which sounds promising.
Kate Ellis seems to be an active local MP and apparently mad fan of the Adelaide Crows… but we won’t hold that against her. Interestingly her husband David Penberthy, is news limited journalist and was former editor of both Sydney’s Daily Telegraph and Adelaide’s Sunday Mail. He is now a breakfast show host on Adelaide’s Nova FM.
The VET sector is in need of change, in particular with regard to VET Fee Help. Rather than playing political games we are calling on both Shadow Ministers Kate and Doug to work with our Education Minister, Senator Birmingham and his Assistant Minister, Karen Andrews to deliver some much needed VET reform and policy changes to improve the quality of the overall VET sector.
The team at Audit Express look forward to engaging with the new Shadow Minister for VET and the new Shadow Minister for Skills and Apprenticeships on both policy and reform. We wish you both well in your new positions. We would also like to thank the outgoing Shadow Minister Sharon Bird for her passion of VET and her dedication to the overall sector – Sharon you have left big shoes for Kate and Doug to fill!
To download the full Shadow Cabinet Overview click here. [/emaillocker]
