On Friday 22nd October, the Prime Minister announced that, from 1 July 2005, the responsibilities and functions of the ANTA would be transferred to the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST).
All ANTA functions have now been transferred to DEST.
The 2005 – 08 Commonwealth-State Agreement for Skilling Australia’s Workforce, was signed by all States and territories in July 2005. View the 2005 – 08 Commonwealth-State Agreement for Skilling Australia’s Workforce .
Under the Agreement, the Australian Government will provide almost $5 billion to the States and Territories to support their training systems over 2005-08. The Agreement includes $215 million of additional funding, an annual average real increase of 4.1 per cent over the quadrennium compared to 2004.
This funding is expected to create up to 128,000 additional training places over the life of the Agreement.
The Bilateral Funding Agreements and VET Plans have been developed collaboratively between the Australian Government and the States and Territories. A requirement of the Skilling Australia’s Workforce Act 2005 is for all jurisdictions to provide an annual update of their respective VET Plans and to review their Bilateral Agreements. The Australian Government minister has approved the 2007 VET Plans.
During consultations on
Skilling Australia - New Directions for Vocational and Technical Education, stakeholders identified the need for a streamlined process for addressing national training issues. A protocol has been developed by NSOC and approved by the MCVTE to govern the process for establishing all
Action Groups and ensure an appropriate, balanced membership.
Parties to the Commonwealth-State Agreement for Skilling Australia’s Workforce, have agreed to conduct a Strategic Review of the Infrastructure Funding offered under the Agreement. At the November 2005 meeting of the Ministerial Council for Vocational and Technical Education (MCVTE), Ministers noted the draft Terms of Reference and indicative work plan for the Review and agreed to work with the Australian Government to finalise the Review for presentation to MCVTE in June 2006.
While the Agreement specified a review of the Major Capital and Skill Centre components of Infrastructure funds, Ministers agreed at the November 2005 meeting to also include the New Technologies element of Infrastructure Funding in the Review.
A discussion paper 
(78.9 KB) has been drafted to gather views on the future directions of Infrastructure Funding particularly in relation to priority areas for funding and the administration and reporting arrangements.
It is intended to facilitate discussion only. Please note, the paper does not represent the final position of DEST or the Australian Government.
If you wish to provide comment on the paper, please send your submissions to:
Dr Darren Gaunt
Project Manager, Review - DEST
GPO Box 9880
Canberra City ACT 2601
Loc Code 123
(02) 6240 5245
darren.gaunt@dest.gov.au
Submissions will be accepted up to 9 June 2006.
As part of the Strategic Review of Infrastructure Funding a think piece (1.3 MB) was produced exploring the tensions between Information and Communication Technology infrastructure and ‘bricks and mortar’. It is intended to stimulate discussion. Please note that the think piece does not represent a policy of the Department of Education Science and Training or the Australian Government.
Download the AQTF 2007 Essential Standards for Registration from
training.com.au 
To search for ANTA publications, Fast Facts and back issues of the Australian Training Magazine, select Publications from the right hand side of this page under In this section.
Shaping our Future sets a vision, four objectives and 12 broad strategies for progressing vocational education and training (VET) in Australia until the end of the decade.