The last decade has been turbulent for the VET sector. Funding arrangements and the regulatory environment have changed constantly, with little time to assess and refine the latest innovation or find out whether it was of benefit to citizens, business ...

The devil is always in the details, including those in sweeping reforms like federal education minister Simon Birmingham’s VET Student Loans scheme. A spokesperson for Birmingham has admitted that MPs and senators voted on the VET Student Loans scheme without ...

The Mitchell Institute’s Peter Noonan has warned that VET needs to stop being conflated with apprenticeships as it could cause overinvestment in declining industries. Noonan said that falling apprenticeship numbers aren’t the main problem in VET, as this is partly ...

A new report from Victoria University’s Mitchell Institute has shown that public VET spending has declined to its lowest level in 10 years. Expenditure on education and training in Australia showed that total taxpayer spending is now at $5.7 billion, ...

As the dust settles on the government’s proposed changes to VET-FEE HELP, we should be reminded of the need for proper consultation prior to broad reforms. VET-FEE HELP, Australia’s vocational loans scheme, has always typified my idea of the Aussie ...

Australia’s training system has a long and proud tradition but it will need to adapt to rapid changes to provide what the country and its workers need for the future. We can look back fondly and see an Australian apprenticeship ...

VET FEE-HELP rorts have tarnished private providers, but data from the National Centre for Vocational Education and Training has indicated that students from private VET are more likely to get jobs after graduation than those enrolled in a TAFE. The NCVER’s Total VET ...

A former political journalist who has spent 11 years advocating for TAFEs will now be completing a PhD on his favourite topic. Martin Riordan will step down as chief executive of TAFE Directors Australia by March next year. He told ...

Federal opposition leader Bill Shorten has written to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, urging him to personally intervene and fix supposed shortfalls in the VET student loans program. Shorten said that Turnbull policy’s approved course list is overly simplistic and “would have extreme ...

The changes to VET FEE-HELP will not prevent a repeat of history unless they adequately address some of the systemic issues of the past and prepare the sector for the future. In early 2015, a private-equity firm rang to ask ...