We hear loud and clear the message from business – that our Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector is not meeting your workforce needs – Prime Minister Scott Morrison

Strong comments regarding the Australian VET system were made by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in his speech to the Business Council of Australia (BCA).

“We hear loud and clear the message from the business – that our Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector is not meeting your workforce needs.

I’m not going to throw more money into a system that is not working, we are going to fix the system so we can invest better in it.

Informed by the outstanding report delivered by Steven Joyce, Commonwealth and state and territory governments are working constructively, they are working together to develop and implement our reform road-map. And Minister Cash will be meeting with her state and territory counterparts this Friday to advance that agenda.”

We would also like to share the comments of our VET industry leaders on this report: 

“Nothing will change if the money is thrown at the same groups who caused, and continue to cause, the problems that the VET system experiences today.

I am certain that, had they known how to create and maintain a world-leading VET system, the groups with the most sway over our system would have done so by now. The evidence before us shows, however, that either there was no desire to do so, or there was no idea how to.

It is beyond comprehension that anybody, armed with the skills and desire to do so, would deliberately ignore the massive opportunities we have had in the past to once more be at the forefront of global VET. But that our system is amongst the worst suggests that it was not the strength to do so that was – and remains – missing, but the ability. It is incomprehensible, therefore, that they would receive any more taxpayers money to keep us near the bottom.

Sadly, I feel that this is exactly what will happen.”

“ASQA is responsible for the failure of the VET system in Australia”

“How on earth can a small business take on apprentices and trainees with all the complexity involved these days?

Navigating through entitlements, superannuation, the different types of leave, insurance, pay rates, compliance etc could take hours and hours of research and when you are under the pump trying to keep your business afloat, I can imagine it would be a nightmare – and that’s even before you manage your own business affairs – such as BAS, your own records and requirements and getting work in the door.

It’s not a case now of just paying someone a wage and that’s it. All employers have to be HR experts, Superannuation experts, Payroll experts, Insurance experts, Compliance experts. For many people, it’s all just too hard.”

We as an industry representative and stakeholders are seeking answers to the following questions: 

1. If our VET system is not meeting the needs of the learners or industry then who is it serving? A few Government bureaucrats who keep creating chaos and complete disorder in the industry.

2. Are there deliberate efforts by these bureaucrats to derail the VET system? What is the background of these bureaucrats working in the vocational education and training sector?

3. What initiatives are the Government implementing to change the unpredictable, inconsistent and highly toxic culture of our current vocational education and training regulator?

4. Why has a regulator been allowed to destroy hundreds of Australian businesses by using unqualified and inexperienced auditors?