There are five main planning and accountability aspects to the national vocational education and training system. The ANTA Act 
specifies them as:
The ANTA Agreement is a key document that provides an additional layer of planning and accountability. Its requirements, which focus particularly on funding, are integrated within the VET planning cycle.
The strategy sets a broad vision and establishes long term objectives for the national VET system. It includes key performance measures designed to indicate progress towards the achievement of the objectives.
The current national strategy, Shaping our Future: Australia’s National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training 2004-2010 , was endorsed by the ANTA Ministerial Council in 2003. The strategy’s vision for the national vocational education and training system is:
‘VET works for Australian businesses making businesses internationally competitive. VET works for people giving Australians world class skills and knowledge. VET works for communities building inclusive and sustainable communities.'
To implement the national strategy, the Ministerial Council sets annual national priorities for the next calendar year. These specify the system’s areas of focus and expected outcomes for the next year.
Annual national priorities for 2005 are:
- Improve quality and national consistency of VET.
- Meet industry skill needs, responding to the evolving needs of existing industries, reducing skill shortages and meeting the needs of new and emerging industries.
- Support an open, flexible, competitive and high quality training market.
- Provide opportunities and better outcomes for young people as they move from school to VET and work.
- Foster adult skilling.
- Improve VET opportunities and outcomes, including through better linking of training and employment, particularly for people with a disability, women, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
- Improve client focus.
- Develop communities through better linkages with VET, including increased VET opportunities and outcomes for people in rural and regional Australia.
- Improve VET opportunities and outcomes for Indigenous Australians, including through better linking of training and employment.
See the areas of focus 
(34.1 KB) for each of these priorities.
State and territory training authorities then prepare annual plans that respond to the national strategy and annual national priorities. These plans include the strategies to be used, the planned level of training delivery to be achieved during the year, as well as other information required by the ANTA agreement. These plans are consolidated into the Directions and Resource Allocations report to the ANTA Ministerial Council, agreement to which triggers the release of Australian Government funds for the next year.
VET Funding Act funds are allocated annually to national projects through the broader process of directing and allocating resources in the national VET system. National projects are developed within the framework of the national strategy. Their outcomes facilitate change to achieve the objectives of the strategy and enhance the system.
Individual national projects support activities, which relate to:
- the management and support of the core VET system
- the change process to implement agreed national VET reforms, and
- national priority areas for action agreed by the ANTA Ministerial Council from time to time.
National project proposals are sought from states, territories and the Australian Government in August each year. Funding is allocated to proposals during a meeting of the VET Planning Working Group in November each year.
Each year, ANTA coordinates an annual national report on the system. The report is an accountability requirement of the ANTA Act, and provides valuable information to stakeholders. The report comprises a national overview of the system, as well as Australian Government, state and territory reports of each jurisdiction’s achievements against the annual national priorities. It also provides a detailed assessment of the national system's performance and its progress towards the system's goals.
ANTA also produces an annual report on operations of the authority itself.