VET Reform - Have your say

In this episode, I discuss the impact of the VET Reform and how you can have your say in it, including the standards, quality issues and future workforce requirements. Also, how exactly is VET Reform going to affect you?

VET Reform is the biggest thing to happen to the industry since we moved from state regulation to national regulation. Nowadays the government and the regulator have more teeth because it’s moved from a framework to legislation. If you don’t want to leave yourself exposed to non-compliance and you want to have a say in how you are judged in future, listen to the show!

In this episode you will learn:

• What changes we need to be ready for
• Why August 21 is an important deadline
• The viability of the VET market
• Why we need a benchmarking guide
• The implications of micro-credentialing
• How to improve the quality of VET in schools
• How we can raise the standard of training
• Why younger people are put off apprenticeships
• The inconsistency of ASQA auditing and how we can change this
• How to have your say in the future of compliance
• Why VET Reform is necessary and what opportunities it presents

Extra Resources: 

The VET Reform is going to have a huge impact on the VET Sector, have you voiced your opinion yet and provided feedback in the latest Skills Reform Surveys?

For more information about the Skills Reform and how you can get involved, go to: https://www.dese.gov.au/skills-reform-consultation

Transcript

Unknown: 0:02

In this podcast, I'll be going through the vet reform and how it's going to impact your RTO. So that that report is the biggest thing that is happened to the training industry, since we moved over from a state regulatory body to a national regulatory body. So, back before 2011, we were regulated individually at each state level. And then we moved to a national regulatory body, which is where ASCO came in. The other big change that happened there is we had a framework of the standards, and then we moved to legislation. So now their standards are legislation for our industry, which means that the government and the regulator has more teeth when it comes to compliance with those requirements of the legislation. So what is the skills reform? So the Australian state and territory governments have a commitment to work collaboratively on long term improvements to the VET sector through the National skills agreement, and they've stated that this is to be done by August 2021. So that's this year? What was going, what is going to happen? So we, a few things that are happening, they're looking at the new arrangements are looking at no different ways of funding. They're looking the national skills Commission has really identified what are the skill shortages that we currently have right now, and going into the future? Because the way we work right now, is going to change forever. So we really need to look at how are we providing training? What are we providing training in? Does it meet industry needs? And how are we ensuring it's going to meet industry needs? So the national skills commission was brought into place to be able to identify, you know, what are the skill shortages, what are the gaps, and also where the government funding should be provided. So it's also looking at achieving greater consistency of fees and subsidies based on efficient prices and analysis of public and private benefits of vet courses, to simplify the system and process to improve, there's inconsistency. And it's really looking at the viable viability and the robustness of the debt market, that it's meeting the student choice requirements, but it's also meeting the industry needs. Its increasing the government are really focused on increasing debt investment, and supporting a viable and robust market, enhancing and enhancing transparency and accountability through clear roles of the government. So the regulator is currently asked for is currently being audited. And they're being audited against the regulator act. So they're really looking at, well, how are we being regulated? And what needs to be improved with the regulator act to ensure that we have more successful VET sector? Because, as we know, it's not just the private artios? Who are non compliance, we're also seen with the public type sector as well. So what can they do to improve the practices and one of the things that was identified by co ag is that as well, we're not informing the industry on what is compliant and what is not compliant. They weren't providing any training, or any guidance. And that's when the user guide came out was when that was brought up. And we now have a user guide with a guide to compliance. But I think we need to take it a step further, I think we really need a benchmarking guide, make it so much easier to be able to identify compliance with the legislation. At the moment, one of the things that we experience is, and we've worked with over 300 artios, around Australia, is that when you go to an order, you really are up to the will and the decision making of your ask order. And it's their perception of what is compliant and what is non compliant. And the reason why I know that is because we've seen this time and time again, where we'll go to an initial registration order with very similar RTO applications. One can be 100% compliant, and the other one could be critically non compliant. And we shouldn't have that when things are the same. Right? We have the same trainer, we have the same training room. We have the same materials, but same material provider, but it was two different qualifications. And we had a same location. So same policies and procedures, same documents, one 100% the other non compliance so we can't have that we really need to look at how are they improving our sector, and in particular, the way we're being audited. The other area they're looking at is increasing access to foundation skills to promote lifelong learning throughout Australia and looking at how we're taking on skills that will or delivering skills that is going to get them into employment. The big area is embedding micro credentialing into the training system. So it's really looking at how can we contextualize the training that we have, and they're going to be taking away their certificate ones are difficult to use the W three, so on and so forth. At to level one, level two, level three, level four, level five, level six, level seven. So we're going to have levels which is very similar to other countries and what they do. In particular, when you think about the UK, they have levels over there as well. So it's really looking at how are we going to make sure that we have a mix of short courses and full qualifications to meet the industry sector needs, and employment outcomes and getting those good employment outcomes. It's really looking at harmonizing and modernizing the apprenticeships that we currently offer. To improve the industry sector. There's been a very low take up of apprenticeships, in particular when they changed the government funding model. So there's a lot less people doing it. The other area, the other reason why apprenticeships is really low, is students these days don't want to be stuck in one position, one job for four years to complete an apprenticeship. They like to move around. So it's really identifying what what can we do to make it easier, and make it better for the employee as well as the apprenticeship and having training that is fit for purpose. So improving the quality of vet in schools, including the development of implementation of national vet in schools strategy, so how are we going to be able to provide more training in schools because there's still no even though I know, in New South Wales, it's a requirement that all students need to go to year 12. And that just causes a whole heap of issues where we have students who are staying in school to year 12, but they're still not getting the outcomes or the desired outcomes, or they don't want to be there. They just want to get out, and they want to get a job. So it's looking at how can we provide training whilst they're still in school? That is going to be relevant for them when they go into the workforce. So it's a really exciting time for the training industry with all of these changes. And it's really looking at know how can we improve our practices. So this was all signed by all states of government in the national skills agreement, which is due to be finalized in August 2021, with a transition period commencing from the first of January next year. So not only is it no looking at the skills reform, or looking at or that that we've all just had a look at. It's all of the standards, it's how can we improve our practices. So the Department of Education skills and employment have been doing consultation, so if you haven't seen it, they sent out an invitation for people to participate in the skills reform consultation. Now, if you didn't register for that, unfortunately, you've missed out because they were fully booked out quite quickly. We went along to two workshops that were so out my team and I went along to two workshops, which was all around the quality of training and assessment. And then we're doing another one, which is on the standards. So reviewing the standards. Now, if you did miss out on those workshops, you can still provide feedback through their surveys. So they're doing some surveys on the different areas. So it's really looking at the VET sector and how it supports and develops diverse skills around across a broad range of industries. And really importantly, is a strong tech sector will ensure Australia has highly skilled workforce ready for the job market, not just for now, but into the future. And the government has really recognized the importance of high quality that system that meets the needs of industry, also the Australian Government, and also workforce requirements. And they have agreed to immediately progress reforms in the following areas. So stunning, strengthening the role of industry and employers. So how are we engaging with them? How are we able to improve our training products to meet their needs, improving the vet qualification? So the qualifications that we're offering, how are they actually meeting industry needs, and it's looking at that micro credentialing and what we can do to provide training for the future. And the thirdly is raising the quality of training. And this is one of our mottos at vivacity is we want to raise the standard of quality education around the world. So I'm really glad to see this within their reform requirements is raising the quality. Because this is what we need to do we need a better quality, that sector, providing training that is not rigid with a training package, it actually can be more flexible to meet industry needs. And so this is where we can now have a voice to be able to state what we think about this. So these reforms are the next step to improving Australia's vet system, building on previous consultations that they've undertaken with artios. And industry and students. You may remember a couple of years ago, there was Andrew Lambie spoke up in government and said, You know, this is ridiculous how artios are being treated, the way that they're being audited, we ended up at vivacity, we had minister Stevens come and speak at our conference, who really genuinely wanted to get some feedback from industry from the artios, about how to improve the vet system. And so now we've got so he held a variety of focus groups, as well as mckaela, cash got involved with that as well. And it was really looking at from the artios perspective, what we could do to improve the training sector and in particular, how we're being audited, now is the opportunity for you to be able to provide feedback through a survey. So there'll be multiple ways you can do it. So it's through the workshops that they had as well, but also through the surveys. And they're also going to have discussion papers that will be distributed as well. So if you go on to the department of education, education skills, and employment, so d s e.gov.au, backslash skills, dash reform dash consultation, you will find more information about the skills reform, and how that's going to have an impact on you. And you can also register for the range of surveys. So the surveys are around, and there's lots of different areas that you can cover. They are around the skills reform, quality education, trainers and assessors. So what are the skills, requirements of trainers and assessors, and also looking at how we can improve industry engagement and qualifications? So there's a number of areas that they're really focused on in recognizing industry engagement and the quality and capacity to deliver qualifications that aligns to jobs. And if no, yeah, we've seen a lot of artios, we've audited a lot. We've attended Ascot audits with them. And through that we've seen the frustration of artios trying to deliver training to meet industry needs, but one of the issues is the training package doesn't actually align with what industry needs. And if you do not collect sufficient evidence against the performance criteria of each element with the in each unit, you're going to be non compliant, whether you agree with the elements or not, you're still going to be non compliant. So you got to collect sufficient evidence, I think this is an area also that needs more flexibility around it, on how we're delivering the training, and how are we going to meet industry needs. So I highly recommend getting on and doing that survey as well. Another area is raising the quality of training. So it's a key priority, not only for the government, but also for us in the VET sector. And it's ensuring that we have a strong and well supported training system that will enable us as artios, to strive for excellence, and enhance the quality of our training and delivery for the benefit of industry, the students, the community, and Australia. So the government is seeking views from all of those who engage with the VET sector, so that students, employers artigos parents, who's sending their kids through VET sector, so there's lots of different stakeholders that are involved in this raising the quality of training and be able to give feedback. So they really want to identify how can we create a shared understanding of RTO quality and support RTO? Excellent. So how can we do that? And what works and what doesn't work with the current standards for artios? And how can we ensure a high quality that workforce? So these are the key questions that they're asking in the survey, and they're also getting you to rank different areas as well. And they really want you to have your say and this now is the time when we need to stand up and put our voice out there and know tell them what we want. Now these surveys close on the 12th of March, so you don't have very long, you need to get these out as soon as possible, get in there and do the surveys. Because it's, it's now when we can have our say, and really say, you know, how we've been affected by the regulatory body? What is it with the standards that needs improving, and like and some examples, I can give you a standard 1.8, which is all around the training assessment tools. And it's really identifying how we're delivering your your training and assessment, and how you're meeting the rules of evidence and principles assessment. I think the big area there is volume of learning and amount of training. And what I've identified is really you can't, you know, when you're comparing qualifications of a same level, so aq f three, so certificate three in hairdressing compared to a certificate three in business, it's apples and oranges. And I don't mean just the content, looking at the units and the amount of units that are in there, you can't have the same timeframe for the two of them, because it's totally different. And there's so much more involved in the hairdressing one, then there is in the business. So one of the recommendations that I've put forward is that we really need to be putting the hours within the training package. So the requirements of those hours in in the training package against the units and competencies, bring back, you know, the nominal hours, yay, that would be great if we had nominal hours that were matched to a unit or competency or embedded into the training product, which I think is a really good idea for improving because this has been a big issue in the training sector. And once again, it's up to the ASCO auditor and their perception of what is compliant and what is not compliant. So that's just one example of how you can provide feedback on standards that are affecting you and how you could see these could be improved, so are keenly encourage you to get your voice out there. And do this right now go and do these surveys, because it's just going to be a massive impact by every voice that gets on there and fills in these surveys, and provides feedback is going to be a game changer for industry and do you want other people making decisions for you, you really need to have a voice stand up and get out there and voice what you believe we should have within the VET sector. So I'll have the link in this podcast. And I highly recommend that you get onto the Desi website and have your say about what is happening without industry. Thank you very much for listening. I'll catch you again soon.