- Related consultation
- Submission received
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Does the role of industry need to be strengthened or expanded across the VET system? Why/why not?
- What does industry engagement mean to you?
- How can industry be encouraged to connect with and use the VET system? What does this look like?
- Are there any roles for industry in the VET system that are not covered or outlined in the case for change?
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Response:
The Queensland Urban Water Industry is closely engaged with the VET system with the peak industry body in Queensland holding an Industry Skills Advisor contract with the Queensland Department of Employment, Small Business and Training, and also a position on the National Water Industry Reference Committee and all Technical Advisory Review Committees. This is not the case in all industries and jurisdictions but is critical to ensure relevant training that meets industry needs. It would be beneficial for industry to have greater insight/involvement with ASQA as the regulator.
Are you aware of the current industry-leadership arrangements led by the Australian Industry and Skills Commission?
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Response:
Yes
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How effective are the current industry engagement arrangements in VET in meeting your needs?
- What works well and what could be improved? How could it be improved?
- How well are you (or your organisation) represented by these arrangements?
- How well do current arrangements allow collaboration across industry sectors on common workforce and skills needs?
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Response:
As the peak industry body representing water and sewerage service providers in Queensland, qldwater holds a position on the Water Industry Reference Committee and has held an ongoing position on all recent Technical Advisory Committees for reviews of the National Water Training Package. This has provided a critical voice for the needs of Queensland employers in updates to qualifications and changes have been made where possible within the current packaging requirements. However, a number of impediments to meeting industry needs have been identified in the packaging rules for qualifications and advocacy for changes to these has been unsuccessful. This may be a result of limited formal opportunities to collaborate across industry sectors. The Queensland Government has made improvements at a local level for cross-industry collaboration to occur and this has provided benefits, but these are not able to influence changes to training packaging arrangements that are determined by the AISC at a national level.
What can be done to drive greater collaboration across industries to broaden career pathways for VET graduates and maximise the workforce available to employers?
- How can workers be equipped with skills that can be applied across different jobs?
- How can industry support this through the VET system?
- How can we break down silos and improve collaboration across industry groups?
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Response:
There needs to be identification of common skills across all industry sectors and recognition of where these sit in multiple training packages and formal opportunities for those industry representatives to collaborate, most likely at the IRC level.
Are qualifications fit-for-purpose in meeting the needs of industry and learners now and into the future? Why/why not?
- Are the different needs of industry and learners effectively considered in designing qualifications in the current system? What works well and why?
- Are there issues or challenges with the way qualifications are currently designed? What are they and what could be done to address these?
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Response:
The current packaging rules for qualifications do not reflect industry's identified need for flexible mechansims to facilitate upskilling and competency development to meet evolving role requirements and mobility across organisations and industries. Core qualifications need to remain at the centre of the training package environment, but there needs to be changes made to the design of qualifications to incorporate micro-credentials, flexible skill sets and competency clusters.
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Are there any further issues in relation to improving industry engagement in the VET sector that you would like to provide feedback on?
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Response:
There needs to be better coordination across all levels of government involved in VET and how they engage with industry. Over the past few years there have been numerous VET reviews conducted by multiple stakeholders, often with similar questions and topics of interest, with what appears to have been no sharing of information across these reviews. The processes for seeking input from industry also needs consideration of employer needs. This Skills Reform site at one point had six open surveys and it would be impossible to expect many within industry to have the capacity to respond to all of those.