Today will be the last TDA Monday Newsletter for 2024. Therefore, I am taking a minute to reflect on a few of the numerous big-ticket items that have occurred during this last year.
The establishment of the first eight TAFE Centres of Excellence stands out as the most innovative policy direction. Through these TAFE Centres of Excellence there is an important opportunity for TAFE to lead responsiveness to industry. TAFE Centres of Excellence will foster a level of innovation that has not been possible for many years, especially focusing on priority industries.
In terms of industry’s leadership role in vocational education and training, two parts of the architecture of the system should be mentioned. Jobs and Skills Australia and the ten Jobs and Skills Councils are now fully operating. These bodies are responsible for revealing labour market challenges and needs, and for bringing industry to the table, ensuring that vocational education and training is equipping people for employment.
While TAFE Centres of Excellence are essential for servicing industry, the fee free TAFE initiative for making vocational education and training accessible for individuals who might not have accessed education and training otherwise, is also very important. For these students their skills are greater than they were before, helping them move towards employment and improving their life opportunities.
Other key VET policy directions that have emerged during the last year have been qualification reform (more on that in 2025), tertiary harmonisation (looking forward to understanding how this will occur), and the long-anticipated RTO standards (to be implemented next year). We have written about the higher education accord implementation and international student changes very recently and there is much more to come in 2025 in both those areas.
In terms of the Australian workforce and VET qualifications, we have had some successes. The Enrolled Nurse is now recognised in the minutes required for nurses in aged care facilities. And there has been a focus on the VET workforce, although the outcomes of the work here are yet to make much difference to TAFEs. We look forward to actively contributing to the National TAFE Network when it gets off the ground in 2025.
Bringing TAFE people together, such as the huge and highly successful TDA Convention 2024 has also been a focus. During 2024, TDA has provided lots of professional development opportunities such as the TAFETalks webinars, as well as network gatherings. Thank you to all who participated and presented throughout the year.
In closing I want to thank all of you who read the TDA Monday Newsletter. It is our aim to keep you informed and to provide a TAFE perspective into the very complex world of tertiary education. Thanks to all who support this endeavour including the TDA Board and TDA members, TDA Corporate Affiliates, and TDA’s little team.
Stay safe all this festive season. We’ll be back on Monday 20th January 2025.
This session will explore how TAFE SA has transformed its apprenticeship programs through the adoption of a digital training plan and attendance management system. We will discuss the specific challenges TAFE SA sought to address, the outcomes achieved, and the broader implications for managing apprentices in the field using technology.
The conversation will extend beyond this case study to explore how technology – especially AI – can enhance workplace-based apprenticeship management, focusing on communication, monitoring, and engagement.
Attendees will leave with actionable strategies and forward-looking insights for modernising apprenticeship management.
More than half of the students of the now-deregistered Gills College Australia have had their qualifications cancelled by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), while the remainder are still to be decided.
ASQA advised last week that qualifications and statements of attainment of more than 2,000 former students of Gills College (trading as Elite College Australia and Sterling Business College), have been cancelled.
ASQA issued notices of intent to cancel qualifications of 3,364 former Gills College students who had an opportunity to respond before a decision was made. Of those, 2,000 did not provide a response within the timeframe.
ASQA received responses from more than 800 former students and is considering these. More than 270 former students have until January 6 to make their case.
The students held qualifications across individual support, early childhood education and care, community services, first aid and automotive.
ASQA found the college had issued qualifications and statements of attainment without adequate assessment, and did not ensure students had successfully satisfied all requirements prior to issuing VET certification since January 2022.
The first participants of an Australian-first dual trade apprenticeship in electrical and refrigeration and air conditioning are completing their training at TAFE SA this term.
After graduating they will be fully licensed in both the electrical and air conditioning and refrigeration trades after serving a five-year apprenticeship.
The dual trade apprenticeship has been developed in consultation with industry, including the National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA) of South Australia/Northern Territory. Participants complete a Certificate III in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration and a Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician.
TAFE SA Chief Executive, David Coltman, said the dual trade program delivers all essential units from both qualifications, with the aim of producing multiskilled technicians.
“This program eliminates the need for people to do two separate apprenticeships which would take eight years and include some doubling up of training.”
The Minister for Education, Training and Skills, Blair Boyer, said the qualification has been in the works for almost a decade and better aligns apprentices with learning and skills development with the on-job experience.
TAFE Queensland is advancing work to develop skills in priority industries that will be the focus of its two new TAFE Centres of Excellence.
TAFE Queensland will collaborate with national clean energy stakeholders as part of the TAFE Centre of Excellence Clean Energy Batteries, and with health partners to progress the TAFE Centre of Excellence Health Care and Support. Both are the joint initiatives between the federal and Queensland governments.
TAFE Centre of Excellence Health Care and Support Executive Director Robyn Littlejohn said the $35 million Centre will address challenges and promote opportunities related to the delivery of training and skills in health, nursing and community services, with a particular focus on aged care, disability and mental health.
“Health care and social assistance is Australia’s largest employing industry and, in the last year, the number of workers grew by over 86,000,” Ms Littlejohn said.
“Strong future job growth in this sector will continue, highlighting the need for quality and accessible training to ensure skill demands are met.”
TAFE Centre of Excellence Clean Energy Batteries Executive Director Shawn O’Sullivan said the $20 million Centre will support the growth of current and emerging battery technologies and Australia’s transformation to a net zero economy.
“This TAFE Centre of Excellence will deliver targeted training solutions to meet current and emerging skill needs in renewable energy storage, grid connectivity, network embedded storage at large and small scales, and electric vehicles,” Mr O’Sullivan said.
“Australia is advancing towards a renewable energy future and, in Queensland alone, the energy transformation is expected to support around 100,000 jobs by 2040, creating strong prospects for workers seeking job security.”
The TAFE Centres of Excellence emphasise a national perspective on training and skills development, fostering increased collaboration and partnerships between TAFEs, industries, employers, unions, universities and other stakeholders.
Rather than a single piece of infrastructure or confined to a specific campus, the two TAFE Centres of Excellence represent national a network of partnerships, products, activities, research and deliverables aimed at addressing training and workforce needs.
Three representatives from Chisholm Institute of TAFE played a lead role in a recently published research report which is shaping policy decision-making about Victorian Centres of Excellence and will help inform Chisholm’s approach to TAFE Centres of Excellence.
Jessica Corbett, Dr Lam Pham and Dr Ben Allitt from Chisholm’s Higher Education College, along with Dr Thanh Pham from Monash University, led the research project to help establish nationally networked TAFE Centres of Excellence to deliver a coordinated response to national priorities and skills needs.
This was the third research project funded by the Australasian VET Research Association and the Victorian Skills Authority, focused on best practice in the design and implementation of centres of excellence.
The team set out to compare and contrast how a ‘vocational centre of excellence’ is defined and differentiated from a ‘centre of excellence’ in the Australian context, and proposed a framework to conceptualise points of differentiation between the models.
Ultimately, the team proposed establishing a vocational excellence framework for TAFE Centres of Excellence to support a national evaluation of activities.
The Clean Energy Skills National Centre of Excellence (CESNCE) has officially commenced operations, with the appointment of a general manager and a ten-member industry advisory body.
The General Manager is Ty Theodore, who comes from South Metropolitan TAFE where he was Executive Director for the Engineering, Transport and Defence division, the Australian Centre for Energy and Process Training, and the Automation and Robotics Training Centres.
The industry advisory board comprises:
A new website has been designed to showcase the state’s hydrogen, battery, solar, energy minerals, and wind projects and promote the occupations and training options to skill individuals in the sector.
The federal and Northern Territory governments have announced an extra 170 free TAFE places in the construction and housing sector courses, commencing in January.
Commonwealth funding of about $800,000 has been provided to create the additional places, which include up to 40 pre-apprenticeships.
There have been a total of 1,960 total student enrolments in free TAFE courses in the Northern Territory since January 2023, up to June this year.
The Northern Territory Minister for Education and Training, Jo Hersey noted that the additional places in construction and housing courses complement the government’s HomeGrown Territory Grant of $50,000 for first home buyers to build or purchase a new home.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has made available a recording of its recent introduction to the new Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA), which replaces ANZSCO.
OSCA was launched by Dr Andrew Leigh, the Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, and Assistant Minister for Employment, and the Australian Statistician, Dr David Gruen.
A recording of the launch is available to view here on the ABS YouTube channel.
Guest speakers at the launch included:
You can read the OSCA stories to learn more about how OSCA helps users of the classification.
2025 VET AI Symposium
18 March 2025
VET Development Centre Melbourne/online
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National Apprentice Employment Network 2025 National Conference
11-13 June 2025
Brisbane
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WorldSkills Australia National Championships and Skills Showcase
12-14 June 2025
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
34th National Vocational Education and Training (VET) Research Conference ‘No Frills’
9-11 July 2025 (Abstract submissions due by 7 March 2025)
Gold Coast
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VET National Teaching & Learning Conference
14-15 August 2025
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
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Velg Training National VET Conference
30-31 October 2025
Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre
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TDA Convention 2026
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5-7 May 2026
Brisbane
2026 WFCP World Congress
23-28 November 2026
Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, Kenya
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