Inquiry to be held into the perception and status of VET in Australia

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training has launched an inquiry into the perceptions and status of vocational education and training (VET) in Australia.

The inquiry will examine the choices of Australian students, employers and educators, and investigate ways to improve the perceptions of the VET sector and its role in providing opportunities for Australians from all walks of life, Committee Chair Lisa Chesters explained.

With a focus on the Commonwealth Skills and Training portfolio, the Committee will look into the:

• information available to students about VET qualifications and related career pathways along a student’s journey through secondary schools, vocational education, higher education, and work transitions, with a focus on how this combines with other sources of advice, including informal advice, to influence student choices, and how Commonwealth funded information for students about VET may be improved;

• perceptions and status of the VET sector and how this may be impacting student enrolment choices, employer engagement, and recruitment and retention of the VET educator workforce, and how perceptions and status of the VET sector can be improved. International best practices in relation to VET perception and qualifications status should be examined;

• successful partnerships between VET providers and employers that have demonstrably created career pathways and secure employment opportunities for students, considering the best practice elements of these successful partnerships, and how more partnering may be encouraged among VET providers and employers; and,

• Commonwealth programs which could influence the above, and intersections with state and territory, industry, and philanthropic efforts, including any structural barriers to improvement.

Submissions to the inquiry are now open, and will remain so until 1 March 2023.