The national training system brings together students, employers, governments, and registered training organisations in the delivery of vocational education and training. Its key roles are driving economic growth and addressing areas of skills needs. Through strong industry leadership, the national training system provides Australians with the skills needed to enter the workforce for the first time, to re-enter the workforce, to retrain for a new job, to upgrade skills for an existing job, and to learn throughout their lives.
The national training system includes both publicly and privately funded training providers. Training may take place in classrooms, in the workplace, off-the-job, online and through other flexible delivery methods. The vocational education and training (VET) sector provides training for Australians of all ages and backgrounds, for small and large businesses, across all industries and in many communities.
For more than fifteen years, Australian, State and Territory Governments have worked with industry to develop a national training system that provides the basis for high quality, industry developed and nationally recognised training to about one in eight working-age Australians. Through a national network of over 4,000 public and private registered training providers, over 1.6 million Australians from all ages, backgrounds and locations participate in VET each year to support their life goals.
The goals and priorities of the national training system provide the directions for the continuing improvement of the training system. These are cooperatively agreed between states and territories, the Australian Government and stakeholders, and reflected in a variety of documents.
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goals and priorities of the national training system.
The training system has many partners; some are involved with providing training, some deal with ensuring the quality of training, some that make decisions about the direction of the system. Australian, state and territory governments have agreed to work collaboratively in areas of national priority that support the long-term objectives of the training system. Governments work with training providers, and regulatory bodies to ensure training is of a high quality. And industry engages with different parts of the system to ensure that the training provided is relevant to the needs of industry and the economy.
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There are structures and mechanisms which govern how training is provided, and how we maintain high quality training. Australian, state and territory ministers have agreed to work collaboratively to support the National Governance and Accountability Framework, which establishes the decision-making processes and bodies responsible for training, as well as planning and performance monitoring arrangements to guide the operation and growth of the training system.
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High quality training is an important feature of training in Australia, and is taken seriously by all partners in the national training system. The quality of vocational education and training is assured through nationally consistent quality assurance of training services and products.
The Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) sets the standards for the operation of training organisations registered to deliver training services and to issue VET qualifications. Training products include national training packages and accredited courses which outline the qualifications, competencies and assessment criteria for specific areas of training. These two dimensions form the National Skills Framework. The National Quality Council is responsible for overseeing the effective operation of the Framework.
Find out more information about the quality of the national training system.
There are several ways in which the performance of the national training system is reported to the Australian public. These are outlined below.
The Annual National Report of the Australian Vocational and Technical Education System outlines the performance of the publicly funded VET sector, providing detailed information on Commonwealth, state and territory operation of the national system; its achievements, challenges and the outcomes achieved for the system’s clients.
The Review of Government Service Provision was established in 1993 by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to provide information on the effectiveness and efficiency of government services in Australia. This includes education and training. The Annual Report on Government Services publishes a set of performance indicators for each jurisdiction (where possible). These indicators assist governments to assess the performance of the services provided in their jurisdiction. The Report on Government Services 2007 was released on 31 January 2007, on the Productivity Commission’s website.