Anonymous - 24 - Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Australian Government

Related consultation: Submissions - Skills Reform: Improving industry engagement and reforming qualifications in Vocational Education and Training discussion paper
Submission received: 26 February 2021

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?

Response:

It is essential to ensure that training packages are meeting the needs of industry
The industry needs a greater understanding of the importance of their input into the qualifications that affect the industry.
They need to understand that qualifications are not developed to make their life harder.

Are you aware of the current industry-leadership arrangements led by the Australian Industry and Skills Commission?

Response:

Yes

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?

Response:

[CONTENT REDACTED] we are very aware of the process for industry engagement, however there are many stakeholders who do not necessarily want collaboration.
Each industry sector believes that they are unique and do not want other sectors imposing skills requirements upon them.
the needs is to make industry know that collaboration is very necessary and can enable economies in traiing and assessment

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?

Response:

Cross skilling is essential for the growing needs of industry.
As stated in the previous question, industry needs to understand that collaboration and adopting skills form other industry sectors will not "water down" their qualification but can add strength to the outcomes of learners

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?

Response:

Unfortunately most qualifications do not meet the needs of all learners.
Whilst all sectors use the streamlines qualification template there is still many variations of qualifications that do not work in harmony.

In some cases this is necessary, particularly where the qualification is used for licensing and accreditation purposes.

Performance criteria is still quite vague in many training packages.

Are there any further issues in relation to improving industry engagement in the VET sector that you would like to provide feedback on?

Response:

No response provided.