VET News

AISC: Reflections and Opportunities 2015 - 2022

The Australian Industry and Skills Commission has recently released a paper outlining key reflections across the past seven years and describing the opportunities that we may now have as a sector moving forward.

Earlier this year the Final Report to the Department of Education, Skills and Employment provided a high-level overview of the role, activities, and achievements of the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) since it was established by Skills Ministers in 2015. 

The AISC was established to provide advice on the implementation of vocational education and training (VET) policies and ensure the standard of nationally recognised training, with the latter role coming to dominate the Committee’s time. 

A transition to new arrangements for industry engagement in VET from 2023 presents an opportunity for AISC Members to reflect on good practice and innovations, some of the challenges that have been experienced and resolved by the AISC, and strategic advice and insights to pass on to Industry Clusters, government agencies, and others across the training system.

VET System Overview

Challenges can arise in training product development. To an extent, this is inevitable given the breadth of interested parties and when settling on the most appropriate training pathways in complex areas.  

Challenges that can hinder both progress and positive outcomes include: 

• limited engagement, consultation and validation processes 
• unresolved disputes within or among industry stakeholders that originate outside the training  system, e.g. industrial disputes, employment conditions, business models 
• inflexible positions taken by stakeholders where nationally effective outcomes are needed 
• industry stakeholders not meeting or agreeing with national policies and standards 
• differing interpretations among jurisdictions and State Training Authorities (STAs) 
• misalignment between training packages and regulatory frameworks, and
• siloes that hinder collaboration, innovation and decision-making across the system. 

The case studies detailed in this paper demonstrate how some of these issues have been resolved.

You can access the AISC Reflections and Opportunities 2015-2022 paper here.

Date posted Dec 8, 2022