Thomason, Rob - VETASSESS

Response:

A key purpose of Australia’s VET system is to address skills shortages in the labour market. These skills are dynamically shifting in an environment of innovation and online delivery expedited by COVID-19. The technological disruption and transformation across sectors provide many opportunities for the Australian VET system. They can be carefully understood and addressed through industry engagement.  

Role of Industry Skills Councils  

The Industry Skills Councils and peak bodies have important administrative and advisory roles to play in ensuring skills are current and market-driven. They provide a necessary and high-level understanding of industry intelligence, theoretical insights, and advice for workforce development. However, employers, staff, and management who undertake daily operations and practical work should be the key focus in the process of developing training systems for apprentices and trainees. 

Independent Assessment (IA) 
The quality of the VET system is as good as the skills of new VET graduates. The single most important indicator of competency and capability, one that reflects the quality of the entire VET system, is assessment. Not an internal assessment by institutes and RTOs at which students are enrolled to study, but specialised independent assessment at the conclusion of their studies, driven and supported by feedback and approval. We operate from the perspective that when the provider that delivers the training also provides the assessment function, there is a risk of bias and a lack of objectivity.  Increasing the use of external testing would promote rigour in the quality of workplace training delivery outcomes.

An experienced and quality assessor requires theoretical insight, practical training, and specialised knowledge of assessments. Theoretical insight is often shouldered by training providers and RTOs, and practical training is ideally developed through industry experts, but the combination of all three elements: specialist knowledge, practical training, and theoretical insight, is the work of specialist assessment providers. Our assessors have extensive industry experience together with educational knowledge to uphold best assessment practices, as required by the Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2015, Clauses 1.13 to 1.16.

Such a model of independent assessment, or end-point assessment, should be adopted across the VET system for Certificate III (AQF level 3) and above. Independently validated assessment with industry input has been recommended by:
•	The Joyce Review (2019) Strengthening Skills: Expert Review of Australia's Vocational Education and Training System,  
•	The Productivity Commission Study Report (2021), National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development Review, and the state-specific,   
•	Macklin review (2021), Future Skills for Victoria: Driving collaboration and innovation in post-secondary education and training  

Response:

Yes

Response:

Industry's role in Independent Assessment (IA) 

VETASSESS is currently delivering a pilot program for the Victorian Government’s Department of Education and TRaining -  Skills First initiative, a multi-year project of independent assessments of apprentices and trainees with deep industry engagement.  Leading the project in conjunction with VETASSESS is our industry reference group, which determines the key capabilities required on the job. The group consists of employers, unions, and employees from big and small companies across several key sectors, who advise on assessment tools, practices, and the best ways to meet industry needs. They ensure that VET graduates, the future employees, can be effective and efficient in the workplace, and they provide relevant and current information emphasising the practical skills necessary in real-life employment scenarios. Take, for example, a Certificate III qualification in Commercial Cookery. Candidates undertaking IA are required to prepare and present three dishes, including baking cakes as part of the unit of competency. However, in any given hospitality business, cakes may be purchased and not baked on premises, thus rendering the assessment at the skill level obsolete. In such an example, industry input can save learners and training providers time and money.  

In its key assessment programs, VETASSESS validates assessors’ judgements through a second independent assessment. Any independent assessment should incorporate this element and include industry reference groups with employers, employees, and unions. This increases confidence in the quality of training for students, employers, and Government.  

Response:

No response provided.

Response:

No response provided.

Response:

Industry Recommendation: Independent Assessment (IA) 

A healthy industry-focused VET system reflects quality and consistency in assessment. Currently, registered training organisations (RTOs) conduct their own assessments, but according to the Productivity Commission review (2021), there is little consistency across RTOs. There may also be a conflict of interest when the training provider conducts its own assessments without independent industry-based validation.  
In contrast, Independent Assessment provides external validation to an objective set of standards and principles, signalling:  

•	Confidence in the assessment system 
•	Quality of VET training, and,  
•	Job-readiness to employers and industry at large.   

Both the Joyce Review (2019) and the Productivity Commission Review (2021) highlight that unbundling assessment from teaching could boost confidence in the value of VET qualifications and the quality of VET graduates. This mirrors the recommendation of the 2021 Macklin Review of Victoria’s VET system. Both reports name VETASSESS as not only the industry leader in assessment but also an example of IA in action.  The Productivity Commission review further states that decoupling assessment from training ‘could remove impediments to innovation in the VET sector, further highlighting the need for an assessor to be independent of the training provider’.   

VETASSESS successfully provides Independent Assessment under the Victorian Government Department of Education and Training’s pilot program in conjunction with industry and unions, including undertaking a practical assessment for trade occupations. It has been measured as the ‘gold standard’ in assessment practice according to the Macklin Review 2021.   

VETASSESS’ Independent Assessment is:  
•	Independent and rigorous  
•	Fair and transparent   
•	Valid and reliable  
•	Conducted by assessors who are qualified in the trade they are assessing and who have additional qualifications to conduct assessments  
•	Able to be conducted at the training institute’s premises, or elsewhere, and,  
•	Developed in conjunction with industry reference groups, employers, and unions for each occupation.  
There may be two options for independent assessment that can be viable in Australia and that will lift confidence in VET skills:  
•	One, it could be optional, with students using the IA to signal the quality of their qualification to boost their labour market prospects. This would be an additional recognition of excellence to give the assessed a comparative advantage in the 
labour market  
 
•	Two, the independent assessment could be set as mandatory requirement for students to graduate. This would ensure that all students whose competency is at the required level proceed to graduation. Where competency is not confirmed, the student would be required to undertake additional training. This would ensure the quality of every student is at the required level of competency, which has been independently validated, lifting standards universally across the sector.  
Our view is that the strength of a model where mandatory independent assessment is conducted reflects not only individual competency but also a level of confidence in the entire system. We note that countries recognised for their level of quality in the VET sector, such as Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom, have compulsory independent assessment as a key feature of their programmes. We believe that the model of compulsory external and independent assessment works to increase confidence in the VET system among students, employers, training providers, and the public. 

Recommendation: 
Enhance the quality, integrity, and reputation of training programmes by introducing compulsory Independent Assessment as an end-point assessment for all occupations.