In this speech, Mitchell Professorial Fellow Peter Noonan discusses the role of vocational education and training (VET) and calls for a sustainable investment base for VET and a more coherent funding model across the tertiary education system in Australia.

Introduction

The national VET system in Australia is very much at the crossroads.

While workforce skills and capabilities are recognised as central to Australia’s future economic prosperity and to individuals’ life chances and well‐being, the VET sector ‐ which arguably is of greatest relevance to most Australians and to most Australian firms ‐ is facing a diminishing future.

Almost all of the public commentary in relation to education funding in Australia over the past year has been in relation to funding for schools and higher education. However, the real funding crisis is in the VET sector.