The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission into the review of the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011. We would like to take this opportunity to fully endorse the more detailed submission being offered by the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU).
The issues raised in the AMWU submission reflect the concerns of the broader union movement – issues which reflect on both the VET regulator and the VET system as a whole. Any review which seeks to improve the effectiveness of the VET regulator must address these points as a first step.
- The notion that the market will ever be the solution to market failure must be dispensed with.
- The Regulator needs to concentrate on the capability of the graduate against the standards as reflected in training packages, not whether the paperwork produced by providers ‘should’ deliver confidence and sound outcomes.
- The system needs to revert to its primary purpose which is the production of the skilled and capable (socially capable as well as vocationally) workers Australia needs.
- The need for a direct and demanding role for the industrial parties in driving higher levels of engagement in quality
These issues are expanded upon in much greater detail in the AMWU submission, which the ACTU commends to the review.
