The Issue
A new era has begun for TAFE with the renewed focus on skills and vocational education at a national level. In September 2022 at the Jobs and Skills Summit, unions, employers, civil society and governments came together to discuss the nation’s shared economic challenges and the need for immediate action for skills and training.
Since that time, TAFE has been recognised as the anchor institution for public vocational education in Australia. With the signing of the National Skills Agreement, the Commonwealth will provide additional funding of up to $3.7 billion for vocational education and deliver a national VET system that focuses on high quality, responsive and accessible education and training. This will be backed by historic investment in TAFE at a state and territory level.
Further, significant national policy work is underway with the VET Workforce Blueprint focusing on investing in a high-quality VET teaching workforce, lifting the quality of vocational education, and the delivery of Fee-Free TAFE among other measures. For the many thousands of students who attend TAFE, and the TAFE teachers who provide high quality vocational education every day, the change in policy and investment direction is life changing.
However, this is just the beginning for TAFE. After more than a decade of funding cuts under the previous Coalition Government, the TAFE teaching workforce, campus programs and TAFE infrastructure need to be rebuilt.