Last Wednesday Professor David Lloyd in his address to the National Press Club of Australia stated, “the Australian tertiary education system will need to produce and support an extra one million graduates each year studying on Commonwealth 
Supported Places, growing from 860,000 in 2022 to 1.8 million in 2050. Now, that is the equivalent of creating a new institution the size of Monash University every two years. … So, if we are not to deliver a huge number of new institutions, we now have no choice but to grow and improve the existing higher education system.”
Professor Lloyd is Vice Chancellor and President of the University of South Australia and Chair of Universities Australia.
TDA argued in our submissions to the Universities Accord last year that TAFEs are well placed to deliver the growth that is needed in higher education. It is timely to reiterate that message given the focus of Professor Lloyd’s Press Club Address.
TAFEs are not just training organisations. TAFEs are focused on the full suite of educational outcomes that embrace foundation skills, skill sets, and vocational qualifications. Additionally, most TAFEs are also higher education providers registered with TEQSA. Except for two qualifications in two Victorian TAFEs, all our TAFE higher education students are disadvantaged because they cannot attain a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
TAFEs also have a focus on equity students, the cohort from which this growth will come.
So, it is clear, that part of the solution to the growth that Professor Lloyd talks about is in giving these TAFE students, who are learning with quality higher education public providers, access to CSPs. This requires much less building of new institutions.
TDA pushed this point heavily in our submissions to the Accord. We know that it has been heard through the Accord Implementation Advisory Committee.
For Australia to meet the quantum Professor Lloyd refers to, new thinking is needed. Failing to grab the capacity for growth that sits within TAFEs is likely to mean that the costs of achieving the target will be higher with less-than-optimal outcomes.
Completion rates for apprentices and trainees decreased in 2023, with non-trade completion rates leading the fall.
The NCVER’s Completion and attrition rates for apprentices and trainees 2023 report finds that the completion rate for all individuals who commenced an apprenticeship or traineeship in 2019 was 54.8%, down 1.0 percentage point compared with those who commenced in 2018.
Individual non-trade completion rates decreased by 2.5 percentage points to 55.7%, while individual trade completion rates increased by 0.7 percentage points to 54.1%.
The highest individual completion rate for trade occupations was in Electrotechnology and Telecommunications Trade Workers (61.8%), Automotive and Engineering Trades Workers (57.6%) and Engineering, ICT and Science Technicians (55.3%).
“NCVER research shows that the most common employment reasons apprentices and trainees left training in 2022 included dissatisfaction with pay or working conditions, and being offered a better job,” the report said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic was a significant disruption for apprentices and employers, which may have impacted completion rates.”
Samin Zare from North Metropolitan TAFE in Perth is the winner of “The Heart of TAFE” 2024 Photo Competition.
Samin’s winning entry is titled Enjoyable Time (above, centre) and wins $5,000, as well as having the work published in the Australian TAFE Teacher magazine. Samin is studying the Advanced Diploma of Creative Product Development.
The winner was announced at Australian Parliament House at a special event on National TAFE Day and was unveiled by the Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles.
Minister Giles was one of the judges, along with Australian Education Union Federal President Correna Haythorpe, and TDA Chief Executive Officer Jenny Dodd.
Industry has a strong interest in the new TAFE Centres of Excellence. As TAFE people know, these centres will focus on key industry sectors, forming opportunities for national networks of collaboration between TAFEs, industry, universities, and communities.
Emphasising innovation, the centres will support industries through applied research and practical problem-solving.
Announced centres include ACT’s Electric Vehicles, WA’s Clean Energy, SA’s Early Childhood Education, Queensland’s Care and Support TAFE Centres of Excellence, and NSW’s Advanced Manufacturing Centre of Excellence.
Ai Group will host a webinar to explore the characteristics of the new TAFE Centres of Excellence, how industry can benefit, and how to connect with them.
Time: Wednesday 18 September 11am – 11.45am AEST
Guest Speakers:
Dr Caroline Smith has been appointed as the new Executive Director of the Centre for Education & Training at Ai Group.
Dr Smith was the inaugural Executive Director of Jobs Queensland and also served at the former Skills Australia. She also worked in a senior executive role for the Queensland government and was deeply involved in the economic response to the Covid pandemic and the recovery.
In the UK, Dr Smith worked in partnership with stakeholders on apprenticeship policy and reform. She has a PhD from the Department of Human Resource Management at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and was a Fulbright Vocational Education and Training Scholar in the United States.
Dr Smith replaces Megan Lilly who has commenced as a Deputy Commissioner with Jobs and Skills Australia.
The two winners of the inaugural AVETRA Conference Scholarships, offered by Victorian Skills Authority and AVETRA, have been announced.
Emily Barter, a PhD candidate at Melbourne University, has been awarded a scholarship for her research on the experiences and impact of compliance on new VET teachers in Victorian TAFEs. Emily’s hopes her research will elevate the voice of VET teachers and increase knowledge relating to new VET teachers and compliance.
The second scholarship has been awarded to Vikki Millar, a PhD candidate at CQ University who works as a VET Specialist at Deakin University. Her research aims to understand how space can improve outcomes for students impacted by trauma. Vicki draws from her prior roles within TAFE and VET and her current engagements with VET, schools, students and teachers.
AVETRA says it was impressed by the calibre of the researchers who applied for the scholarship, and the diversity of their research activity.
Women & Leadership Australia has released a new round 
of scholarships for women’s workplace skills and leadership development programs.
The Education, Training and Development Sector Women’s Development Scholarships offer partial scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $6,000 per person, for one of four leadership and workplace skill development programs.
Applications close 29 November 2024.
Ai Group Centre for Education and Training
Webinar: Industry’s vital place in new TAFE Centres of Excellence
18 September 2024
More information
Association for Tertiary Education Management (ATEM)
ATEM 2024 Conference – ‘Purpose’
22-25 September 2024
Brisbane
More information
WFCP World Congress 2024
22-27 September 2024
St James, Jamaica, West Indies
More Information
AVETRA 2024 Conference
3-4 October 2024
University of Technology, Sydney
More information
2024 National Conference on University Governance
Shaping the Future of Higher Education
22-24 October 2024
Melbourne
More information
2024 National VET Conference
31 October – 1 November 2024
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
More information
TEQSA 2024 Annual Conference
Navigating tomorrow: Anticipating challenges, embracing change
13 November 2024
More information
Australian Council of Deans of Education Vocational Education Group (ACDEVEG) 2024 Conference
9-10 December 2024
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
More information
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