The Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET) welcomes Labor’s commitment to invest in
providing Australians with the skills to support a growing economy.
Providing the existing workforce and those entering the workforce with the skills that allow Australians to be meaningfully employed in the jobs of the future is a noble objective.
“If Labor is elected, ACPET looks forward to supporting them to create a tertiary education sector that delivers the outcomes that students and employers are looking for. It is the independent tertiary education sector that will help a Labor Government achieve this at a lower cost than the public TAFE colleges” said Troy Williams.
“The data here is clear, it is independent providers and not the public sector that have a track record of achieving higher completion rates, higher starting salaries and higher post-training employment rates” Mr Williams said.
Independent providers play the most significant role in the delivery of VET in Australia, with some 4.2 million students choosing to study with an independent VET provider, representing 60 per cent of all Vocational Education and Training (VET) students nationally, whereas TAFEs deliver to 16 per cent of all VET students.
In 2017, just 27.7 per cent of the $2.1 billion of government funding invested into VET was awarded to non- TAFEs. In a training system where 60 per cent of students choose to study with an independent provider, there is clearly a mismatch in funding support to students.
“It is important that student choice be preserved. The priority for the next Australian Government should be on allowing students to access public funds with high quality providers, by harnessing market forces to achieve the best possible outcomes in the most effective and efficient way,” Mr Williams said.
ACPET represents the nation’s independent tertiary education system that encompasses higher education, vocational education and training sectors.
