NCVER is a company limited by guarantee whose members (shareholders) are the Australian Government and State and Territory Ministers responsible for vocational and technical education. The company has been operating for over 25 years and was formed to manage the collection of national statistics on training in Australia, and to support the operation of training through conducting research.
NCVER receives core funding from shareholder governments with 50 per cent funding from the Australian Government and the remainder provided by other jurisdictions in accordance with their population share. NCVER’s main revenue source ($9,471,600 in 2005, accounting for about 88 per cent of revenue from ordinary activities in that time period) is for services contracts covering statistical and research work on behalf of the national vocational and technical education system. These services are funded from the Commonwealth-State Agreement for Skilling Australia’s Workforce through Strategic National Initiatives (SNI).
The allocation of funds for individual projects/contracts under SNI, including the two contracts with NCVER, are considered jointly by the Australian and States and Territory Governments with payment approved by the Australian Government Minister for Vocational and Technical Education, under the provisions of Skilling Australia’s Workforce Act (2005). The Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), in taking over the functions of the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA), manages the services contracts on behalf of the national vocational and technical education system.
The two services contracts between DEST and NCVER on behalf of the national training system are the:
- National VET Research and Evaluation Contract; and
- Statistical Services Contract.
The review will focus on the efficacy of the National VET Research and Evaluation Contract and the Statistical Services Contract for shareholders, stakeholders and clients of the national training system.
The review should address the following issues:
- The range of services provided in the statistics and research contracts and their alignment with the priorities and needs of shareholders, stakeholders and clients of the national training system, taking into account similar work conducted by other agencies in the training system.
- Value for money for research and statistics services provided by NCVER benchmarked against other agencies with comparable functions and responsibilities.
- The impact of the research and statistics work completed by NCVER, especially its utility for government shareholders, stakeholders and clients of the national training system, taking into account levels of satisfaction with NCVER services.
- Mechanisms for responding to shareholder and stakeholder priorities for statistics and research services in the set-up and during the life of the contracts, with particular reference to the role of the NCVER Board and the National Training Statistics Committee.