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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-05-17 Daily Xml
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SKILLS FOR ALL

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (14:48): My question is to the Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education. Can the minister update the house about the recently released Skills Australia blueprint for reform of the vocational education and training system and tell the house how the state government Skills for All policy compares?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Treasurer, Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education) (14:48): I would like to thank the member for Little Para for the question and yes, I can. Skills Australia is an independent statutory body providing advice to the federal government on Australia's current, emerging and future workforce skill needs and workforce development needs.

The federal government recently announced Skills Australia's report into the vocational education sector titled Skills for Prosperity—A Roadmap for Vocational Education and Training. This report, receiving support and praise from both the education and business sectors, has many notable points of comparison to the South Australian government's reforms under Skills for All that I announced earlier in the year.

The Skills for Prosperity report has outlined the need for changes to the way the VET system is funded and accessed by students. The recommendations include:

an entitlement system;

greater competition within the sector between public and private providers;

a focus on literacy and numeracy skills;

full public subsidy for those lower-level qualifications;

HECS-style loans for higher-level qualifications;

funding attached to the student rather than to institutions; and

a student and industry demand-driven system.

Those in the house who think this all sounds rather familiar would be absolutely right. This highly anticipated report from Skills Australia has made recommendations that mirror the reforms we are already undertaking and have already announced in South Australia.

As many of you would be aware, the recently announced Skills for All reforms outline the strategic direction for vocational education and training in South Australia. Skills for All aims to modernise and revitalise the VET system so it is more responsive to the needs of students and businesses, as well as being a better link to our schools and universities. Underpinning these reforms is the state government's pledge of $194 million in extra funding for training over six years to support the creation of an extra 100,000 training places. The reforms improve training accessibility and simplify the arrangements through which all South Australians can increase their skills and employment prospects. Training will be available to those without qualifications who are seeking new skills and job opportunities and for existing workers to increase their skill levels, work with new technologies and improve their productivity.

Like Skills for All, Skills Australia recognises the need for participation and productivity improvements and calls for a move towards a demand-led funding model with caps and incentives, regulatory arrangements to ensure quality, a focus on supporting disadvantaged learners, and a focus on strengthening the system with better information for individuals to make informed choices.

The state government endorses Skills Australia's call for closer connections and collaboration between employment services and VET providers. The relationship is one that South Australia is committed to improving. Notably, the federal government budget commitment includes $100 million to support new approaches to training, allowing skilled apprentices to gain their qualifications sooner. It was interesting to hear the member for Unley has difficulties with that.

It also includes an additional investment of $1.75 billion over five years from 2012-13 under a new national partnership with the states and territories. This funding is conditional on more ambitious reforms to make the VET system more transparent and more productive. South Australia welcomes this commitment from the commonwealth, which will result in an increase in funding and place us in a good position to achieve our objectives of modernising and revitalising the VET system, particularly when added to the growth investment of $194 million that has already been pledged by the state government.

Skills Australia proposes the redesign of existing commonwealth funding for training to include a national entitlement; increased scholarships for VET students on youth allowance, Austudy and Abstudy; and the redesign of financial incentives and services for employers, apprentices and trainees. These proposals are strongly supported by the South Australian government and once again may sound very familiar to the house. Skills Australia also calls for the introduction of public funding for skill sets within defined parameters in line with the measures being introduced by Skills for All. Skills Australia proposes an entitlement which provides the greatest level of public subsidy to lower-level qualifications, mirroring South Australia's model. It is built on the premise that as a student gains higher-level qualifications their income potential rises, and so it follows that their financial contribution to their study should increase.

The state government's Skills for All subsidy includes fully subsidised literacy and numeracy skills under our realigned adult community education network; a full subsidy for certificates I and II; on average a subsidy of 80 per cent for certificate III and 70 per cent for certificate IV and diploma level qualifications. A reform package also calls for income contingent loans, similar to HECS, for higher-level qualifications, placing high school diplomas and advanced diplomas within the financial grasp of many more South Australians.

As the house can see, not only is South Australia leading the country in vocational education and training reform but our major reform principles have been picked up under the Skills Australia model as the way forward for the entire country's VET system. Given the federal government's additional $1.75 billion investment of conditional funding to make the VET system more transparent and productive, South Australia is positioned to do very well.

I look forward to further discussions with my interstate colleagues and the federal minister on how South Australia's experience and foresight can assist in the creation of a national entitlement for the benefit of the national economy.

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