News that the Prime Minister is to announce a major review of Au stralia ‘s skills and training funding
arrangements ha s been welcomed b y the Inde pendent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA), the
peak b ody repres enting independent provi ders in the hi gher education, vocational education, training
and skills sectors.
“Fund ing for apprentices, trainees and others undertak ing vocation al education an d training really does
require reform. Current arrangements serve neither students nor taxpayers well, ” said Troy William s.
ITECA Chief Executi ve.
Independent providers in the vocational education and training sector support more than 80% of the
students undertaking a vocat ional education and training program according to the National Centre for
Vocational Educa tion and Training (NCVER), that ‘s around more than four times more than public TAFE
colleges. ITECA sa ys these i ndependent providers face a bewildering arra y of funding programs as they
try to support students.
“In the true tradition of the Australian Common wealth, we have eight states and territor ies all funding
vocational education and training in different ways. Rarely doe s a jurisdiction develop a funding
arrangement that properly supports students and their employers,” Mr Williams said.
ITECA has been working with the Australian Gove rnment to progress reform of the vocational education
and training system to ensure it can boost the re skilling of job see kers as they enter the workforce.
“As Australia emerges from the Covid -19 crisis, a maj or inv estment i n skills w ill be required. We need a
better funding arrangement tha t supports apprentices, trainees and others in training more effectively
than the current confusing funding arrangements. Independ ent vo cational education and t raining
provi ders stand re ady to do this, ” Mr Williams said.
Ends. Media C ontact.
