A focus on improving productivity – comment by CEO, Jenny Dodd

Dr Jim Chalmers was clear post the election that productivity was going to be a focus for the next term of the Albanese government. Discussions about productivity are occurring within many industries, including tertiary education.

Firstly, the Productivity Commission has five productivity inquiries. These include ‘creating a more dynamic and resilient economy’ (Pillar 1) and ‘harnessing data and digital technology’ (Pillar 3). These are both areas that it would be expected the Productivity Commission would focus on.

The Productivity Commission’s Pillar 2 is about ‘Building a skilled and adaptable workforce’. This pillar has three reform areas, one being ‘support the workforce through a flexible post-secondary education and training sector’. Within this pillar the Productivity Commission will be investigating making credit between VET and higher education easier.

TDA has been driving for a single tertiary education system for some time. There are moves towards this with the focus on harmonisation. Additionally, enabling easier qualification recognition for credit between TAFE and universities is not new either. It has always been an area requiring intense labour input as individual agreements are negotiated.

As highlighted previously in this newsletter, TDA had Ten Big ideas that were presented to the University Accord in 2022 (over 2.5 years ago). The first was that there be one post-school tertiary education system. And number four was about improving credit between TAFEs and universities. TDA’s Big Idea No 4 was “Systematic credit for TAFE Diploma students (AQF 5) of the first year of a degree regardless of which university”.

Both ideas were about putting adult learners at the centre. They were about recognising the 50-year learning environment that will exist post school that adults must engage in. It is now widely understood Australia will need most of its working population to hold a post-school qualification if we are to be internationally competitive. And adults will require constant skills development. So, it is good to see this conversation becoming a priority in other important economic organisations, such as the Productivity Commission.

It is interesting that the fourth pillar of the Productivity Commission inquiries relates to the care economy. This pillar is about “delivering quality care more efficiently”. As we know, in high labour force industries, it is difficult to achieve productivity improvements.

However, separately, the work of the newly formed Care Economy Cooperative Research Centre may assist. Just before the election, La Trobe University announced the Care Economy Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). This is a partnership between 60 organisations which includes a range of universities and Holmesglen Institute. According to the La Trobe University website “By supporting innovation and workforce efficiencies, the CRC will position Australia as a global leader in exportable care services, models, training, and technologies.”

There is much to ponder in relation to productivity and the contribution tertiary education can make. Joining up all the pieces of work being undertaken will be important.