Occasional Paper - TAFE Directors Australia

19
Conference speakers
Monday 13 September 2010
Welcome to Country: Aunty Joy Wandin Murphy,
The Senior Elder of the Wurunjderi People
Welcome by TDA: Bruce Mackenzie, TDA Chair
MC: Jo Pearson, Media Strategies Pty Ltd
TDA10 Gala Dinner Speaker: Don Watson
ROBIN SHREEVE
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR LEESA WHEELAHAN
ANGELA HUTSON
DR TOM KARMEL
KYM PEAKE
BRUCE MACKENZIE PSM
PROFESSOR GREG CRAVEN
PROFESSOR LESLEYANNE HAWTHORNE
MARK CULLY
LIU JIANTONG
WORLD CAFE – IAN COLLEY
KATHRYN CAMPBELL

20
The ferocious tiger:
What should quality mean for
a 21st century TAFE institute
Robin Shreeve
CEO, Skills Australia
Robin Shreeve has worked in the skills
sector for over 30 years in Australia and
England. He is currently the Chief Executive
of Skills Australia, an independent body
advising the Australian Government on
workforce development and workforce skill
needs.
Prior to this Robin was Principal of a Central
London College of Further and Higher
Education. From 1989 to 2005 Robin was
Deputy Director-General for TAFE in the
NSW Department of Education and
Training. From 1995 to 2000 he was
Director (Principal) of the North Coast
Institute of TAFE NSW. Robin was
foundation Chair of the Board of TAFE
Global Pty Ltd, an international project
management company set up following
TAFE NSW’s success as the official training
partner for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and
Paralympic Games.
Many TAFE institutes assert that they are quality
or even world class providers. But how can they
publicly demonstrate this when there is little
outcome data publicly available at the individual
provider level to support these claims
External bodies such as the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
confirm that at the systemic level the Australian
tertiary sector delivers vocational training that is
valued by its industry and individual customers
(Hoeckel et al. 2008). National and State Training
Awards recognise that there are many exemplary
vocational education and training (VET) providers
across public, private, community and enterprisebased
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs).
However, recently there has been closer public
scrutiny on the overall quality of the VET system as
a result of media reports on the poor experiences of
some international students. Australian VET is being
challenged to demonstrate quality of the whole
system in order to drive excellence and restore public
confidence.
An expression of action on this concern has been
the agreement to establish a new National VET
Regulator that is likely to be operational from 2012.
While this is a very welcome development, more
needs to be done.
The issues affecting quality in the current VET system
include inconsistent regulation, variable assessment
practices and insufficient transparency. While there
are undoubtedly many good VET providers operating
across Australia, it is difficult to demonstrate the
public value, or the value to employers, of the
breadth of activities undertaken by the VET sector
without evidence-based information in the public
domain. For example, individual providers maintain
internal records and data of various performance

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21
measures, however providers are not legislatively
bound to publish their information.
Inconsistent regulation
Quality of the VET sector is regulated by the
Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF), but
there is inconsistency in interpretation and auditing
of the AQTF across state and territory jurisdictions.
The components of the AQTF include conditions
and standards governing the initial and continuing
registration of RTOs, quality indicators, standards for
state and territory registering bodies and voluntary
excellence criteria. In addition, a risk management
framework, which is now part of the new AQTF
arrangements, aims to focus the regulatory effort
on those RTOs that pose the greatest risk to quality.
Consistency across the whole VET system would
guarantee that a Certificate I in one state is of the
same quality in other states of Australia. It is also
important to remember that while nationally
consistent regulation is a step in the right direction,
to be effective it needs to be less bureaucratic and
not unnecessarily burden high performing VET
providers.
Variable assessment practices
Concerns have been raised about variation in
assessment practices across the VET system and
between qualifications (NQC 2008, p. 5). The
National Quality Council (NQC) has established a
Quality of Assessment Action Group to develop
strategies to improve the quality of assessment
practices within the VET sector. Its final report is due
by September 2010 (TVET forthcoming).
Another issue that has affected confidence in
the quality of VET qualifications is assessment
moderation (NQC 2008). Better moderation
processes and standards should be developed and
implemented in a manner that ensures independent
scrutiny and consistency across RTOs, industries and
jurisdictions. Among possible options to address
this issue is for the AQTF to make assessment
moderation and validation compulsory. Further
consideration and public discussion should be
undertaken to establishing a formal assessment
moderation body as part of the establishment of
the National VET Regulator currently under way in
Australia.
At the core of the VET qualifications system is the
training package. There is growing concern from
industry about inconsistent competency standards,
particularly in relation to institution-based
programs. Recent work by the NQC has focused
on addressing these concerns (NQC 2009, p. 7).
Critical to achieving better quality and higher levels
of confidence in Australian VET involves analysis
and identification of the most effective means to
improve assessment practices.
Insufficient transparency
Public reporting of national data and performance
indicators is available at the national level, however
individual provider information is not. Therefore,
there is a strong case that if little or no public
information is available on an individual VET
provider, how can quality be demonstrated
Under the AQTF, individual RTOs are required
to collect, use and report data on three key
performance indicators (KPIs) (AQTF 2007):
1. competency completion – measuring the
rate of qualification and module completion, based
on data provided by RTOs on the previous calendar
year’s number

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TAFE IN THE YEAR OF THE TIGER
2. learner satisfaction – measuring learner
engagement, perceptions of the quality of training
and resources available and the support they receive
3. employer satisfaction – measuring employer
perceptions of learner competency, relevance to
work and further training, and the overall quality of
training.
From July 2010 reporting against the three KPIs
become mandatory. However, the performance of
individual VET providers is not publicly available.
As part of the 2010–11 Budget, the Australian
Government announced that it would establish
a MySkills website, an online database to inform
students or potential students of their VET options
to help them find the provider that best meets their
needs. It will also allow students to make more
informed choices about how to strengthen their
skills base and will link with other sites such as the
MyUni website. In the longer term, it is expected
that with the inclusion of student outcome data, the
site should also achieve improvements in the quality
of training by showing providers where they excel
and where improvements can be made
(DEEWR 2010).
While MySkills will publish valuable data, it will be
limited to information relating to RTOs that receive
public funding for accredited training delivery. The
scope of public information on MySkills should be
available for all VET providers, particularly since
Australian providers operate under a national
infrastructure. Perhaps then VET providers would be
held accountable for their actions.
Greater transparency of outcome information will
not only enable students and employers to make
informed choices of provider, the evidence is that it
positively impacts on provider behaviour. In England
where the publication of qualification course
and success rates is mandatory, the percentage
of students completing whole courses has gone
up from 50% to 75% in the last few years (Skills
Australia 2010).
Summary
While the Australian VET system has some
exemplary providers and prominent amongst
these are some TAFE institutes, more can be done
to increase the overall quality of VET. There are
undoubtedly some excellent practices being applied
but without nationally consistent regulation, clear
assessment practices, and better accountability, the
overall quality of the VET system will continue to
remain unclear. In my opinion, TAFE institutes should
be more proactive in the pursuit for change – one
simple way would be to get on the front foot and
voluntarily publish individual provider information.
This would go a long way to confirm a growing
public confidence in the system.
References
Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) 2007, AQTF essential
standards for registration,
www.training.com.au/.
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR)
2010, www.deewr.gov.au/Department/Budget/Documents/
FactSheet10BudgetMySkills-JS.pdf.
Hoeckel, K, Field, S, Justesen, TR & Kim, M 2008, Learning for jobs: OECD
reviews of vocational education and training, Australia, November,
www.oecd.org/dataoecd/27/11/41631383.pdf.
National Quality Council (NQC) 2008, Investigation into industry
expectations of vocational education and training assessment:
final report, June, www.training.com.au/documents/NQC_VET_
Assessment_Report.pdf.
National Quality Council (NQC) 2009, Quality assessment practices,
Stage 1 report, www.nqc.tvetaustralia.com.au/nqc_publications.
Skills Australia 2010, Forging a vision for Australian vocational education
and training: a discussion paper on the future of the VET system,
Canberra, ACT.
TVET n.d., ‘NQC quality of assessment action group’, www.nqc.tvetaustralia.
com.au/about_nqc/action_groups/quality_of_assessment.

The toothless tiger:
Are competency-based qualifications relevant
in a 21st century knowledge society
23
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
LEESA WHEELAHAN
LH Martin Institute, University of Melbourne
Leesa Wheelahan is an associate professor
at the LH Martin Institute, University of
Melbourne. Her research interests include
tertiary education policy and practice and
student equity. She is particularly interested
in the development of ‘mixed-sector’
tertiary education institutions and led an
NCVER project on higher education in TAFE.
Leesa is also interested in the nature of VET
qualifications and competency-based
training and training packages. Her PhD on
the role of knowledge in vocational
qualifications led to her book, Why
knowledge matters in curriculum: a social
realist argument. As well as teaching VET
teachers in different universities, Leesa has
been a TAFE teacher and worked in
academic development and policy in a
dual-sector university.
She is leading a project on the quality of
VET teaching, teacher education
qualifications and continuing professional
development.
The putative purpose of competency-based training
(CBT) is that which will deliver the skills and
knowledge that Australian industry needs in an
increasingly competitive international economy.
Its introduction was part of broader reforms to
vocational education and training (VET) that were
designed to achieve two objectives:
• To align educational outcomes with national
economic priorities by aligning the outcomes
of learning with industry requirements; and,
to increase efficiency of education systems by
ensuring that all learning that contributes to
competency outcomes could be credentialed,
including informal and non-formal learning.
• To contribute to equity. CBT is meant to
credential the skills that people already have,
provide them with access to new skills, and
support them in pathways, particularly for
disadvantaged groups.
The definition of competency has been ‘enhanced’
to accommodate concerns that previous definitions
were atomistic and did not provide sufficient access
to underpinning knowledge. The most recent
definition of competency explains that:
The broad concept of industry competency
concerns the ability to perform particular tasks
and duties to the standard of performance
expected in the workplace. Competency
requires the application of specified skills,
knowledge and attitudes relevant to effective
participation in an industry, industry sector or
enterprise (DEEWR 2009).
This paper argues that CBT has not effectively
achieved its designated objectives, and that the
‘enhanced’ definition, while being an improvement,
does not solve the fundamental problem which
is that it continues to tie knowledge to specific
workplace tasks and roles.

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Unlike other Anglophone countries, Australia has
a highly differentiated tertiary education system
with CBT in VET, and curriculum in higher education.
Differentiated systems are effective when they lead
to different labour market destinations that draw
on the different knowledge base of each sector.
However:
• VET graduates from diplomas and advanced
diplomas often compete with bachelor
graduates for the same positions, and diplomas
are being replaced by degrees as the entry level
qualification in many occupations (Foster et al.
2007; Karmel & Cully 2009)
• the ‘fit’ between qualifications and occupations
is quite loose, except for regulated occupations.
In 2008, only 30.3% of VET graduates reported
that they were working in the occupation
directly associated with their VET qualification
(NCVER 2008, Table 7)
• most workers do not move into a different
occupational skill level post-training in VET,
including over two-thirds of those in low paid
occupations and 86% of those in higher paid
occupations (Pocock 2009).
It is difficult to sustain arguments for differentiated
curriculum in VET and higher education when
graduates compete for the same jobs. It is also
difficult to argue that CBT results in efficiencies by
training people for specific workplace tasks or roles
when most people will not be employed in those
jobs. And, it is difficult to sustain an argument that
VET qualifications directly increase access to higher
skilled occupations if this is measured by transition
from a lower to a higher skill level. Yet these are the
narrow purposes of VET qualifications as defined in
policy, and these are how they should be measured.
Outcomes for VET graduates from 2003–2009 show
that the percentage in employment after training
peaked in 2007 but otherwise was not much
different; and, the percentage in further study after
training declined by almost 8%. Demand for tertiary
education declines with strong labour markets, but
strong labour markets also in part account for the
increase in employment outcomes. Some groups
experienced little or no growth in employment
during this period, particularly young people
aged between 15–19 years. Their employment
outcomes declined from 2001–2008 by almost
3% and their further study outcomes declined by
5%. Equity groups are over-represented in low level
VET qualifications and languish in Certificates I and
II which have appalling employment and further
study outcomes.
The new definition of CBT does not address the
fundamental problem which is that learning
outcomes are still based on workplace tasks and
roles. This means that units of competency are based
on a disaggregated view of the workplace, so that
‘becoming competent’ consists of aggregations of
workplace tasks and roles that have been defined
independently of each other. Moreover, it is still
a requirement that knowledge ‘should only be
included if it refers to knowledge actually applied at
work’ (DEEWR 2009).
So, rather than providing students with access to
the applied disciplinary knowledge that underpins
occupational practice (as in the professions),
they are only provided with contextually specific
applications of knowledge. This is because
knowledge is delocated from the applied disciplines
and tied to specific workplace requirements.
Students may be able to associate a contextually
specific application of knowledge with a specific
context, but it does not help them if they need

TAFE IN THE YEAR OF THE TIGER
25
to select a different application of knowledge,
understand why they need to do this and not that,
and creatively apply knowledge in new contexts.
Students must be able to choose and they can only
do this if they have access to the applied disciplines.
Unless they have this access, knowledge is not
under their control. CBT ties knowledge to work
as it currently is and does not build capacity for
the future. It also denies students access to the
knowledge they need to study at a higher level in
their field and thus, undermines the link between
occupational and educational progression. Students
also need access to theoretical knowledge so they
can participate in debates and controversies in
their occupational field of practice. They need to be
able to develop critical perspectives if they are to
contribute to innovation.
VET qualifications need to prepare people for a wider
range of workplace destinations and occupations
rather than a specific focus on workplace tasks
and roles. Society, communities, workplaces and
individuals benefit when high proportions of
the population have non-school qualifications
and higher level qualifications, and we need to
recognise that qualifications serve more than one
purpose. Young people in particular need access
to qualifications that will support them in their
transition to adulthood as active, contributing
members of society. However, this would require a
wider view of education and access to an enriched
curriculum that supports students to situate
themselves in their occupation and to equip them
with the capacities they need to participate as active
citizens.
References
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations 2009,
Training Package Development Handbook, viewed 24 April 2010,
www.deewr.gov.au/Skills/Overview/Policy/TPDH/Pages/default.aspx.
Foster, S, Delaney, B, Bateman, A & Dyson, C 2007, Higher-level vocational
education and training qualifications: their importance in today’s
training market, National Centre for Vocational Education Research,
Adelaide, viewed 7 May 2008, www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1798.
html.
Karmel, T & Cully, M 2009, The demand for training, National Centre for
Vocational Education Research, Adelaide, viewed 27 February 2009,
www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2124.html.
National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) 2008, Australian
vocational education and training statistics: student outcomes 2008,
NCVER, Adelaide, viewed 7 February 2009, www.ncver.edu.au/
statistic/publications/2083.html.
Pocock, B 2009, Low-paid workers, changing patterns of work and life, and
participation in vocational education and training: a discussion starter,
National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide, viewed
13 March 2009, www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2104.html.

26
Tiger or pussycat:
What’s in a name TAFE by any
other name
The East Gippsland TAFE brand
strategy story:
August 2009–August 2010
East Gippsland TAFE drivers to examine our brand
ANGELA HUTSON
Chief Executive Officer, East Gippsland
Institute of TAFE
Angela has been CEO of East Gippsland
TAFE for six years. She has a passion for
people, places, new ways of working,
community and industry engagement
and polygamous organisational
partnerships. She is also Vice-President of
the Regional Hospital Board, Vice-Chair of
the Regional Development Australia-
Gippsland Committee, a member of the
East Gippsland Economic Development
Advisory Board and a Ministerial
appointee to the TAFE Development
Centre Board. Her last qualification was a
Master in Organisational Leadership and
her next one will be in Commercial
Cookery – through TAFE, of course. She
also holds a Grad Dip Bus (E&I), Grad Cert
Enterprise Mgt, DipEd, and a BA.
• Policy context is a given, for example, Securing
jobs for your future – Skills for Victoria.
• It is an opportune time to examine our brand in
the context of full contestability.
• We can’t rest on our laurels – what gave us
success in the past will not guarantee our
future.
• We need to acknowledge our history, our
success, our story, our experience but that is
not enough.
• We need a common language/message/script.
• We need to promise to provide value rather
than focusing on price.
History
It is thirty-six years since the Kangan Report called
for TAFE to provide people with education to meet
their freely chosen vocational needs. The report
says TAFE’s job is not just to supply skilled labour
for industry and commerce. All technical colleges
became known as Technical and Further Education
Colleges. Individual opportunity and social
improvement became catch-cries and important
philosophies.
In the 1990s, as Vocational Education and Training
(VET) became the term associated with the private
and public components of the sector, which by
now was an industry in itself, the national nature of
training was strengthened.
The TDA role is to position TAFE institutes as the
major training brand delivering skills in Australia.

TAFE IN THE YEAR OF THE TIGER
27
Each state and territory has a different approach to
the use of the TAFE descriptor.
At the institute level, the role is to leverage off this
brand or define their own.
The Victorian TAFE Association (VTA) commissioned
a quantitative research project and results were
announced in April 2009: ‘Community Attitudes to
TAFE’ – strong brand recognition – choose b/c of
range of courses – for training and reskilling and b/c
of location/proximity.
Under the Education and Training Reform
Amendment (Skills) Bill 2010 currently before the
Victorian Parliament, there is an amendment to say
that providers and other bodies which are not TAFE
institutes may not give a misleading impression that
they are. The purpose is to protect the TAFE ‘brand’.
The bill aims to protect students from being misled
into dealing with a provider, believing that it is a
government TAFE institution when it is not.
East Gippsland TAFE brand review
process
Commissioning a review of the East Gippsland TAFE
brand represents an opportunity to be bold and
achieve clear differentiation
• Organisational brand name = emotive brand
positioning
• Organisational descriptor = education market
context
• Brand promise = benefits/value proposition
• We have a logo not a brand
• Road to nowhere
• A frightening mask
• A tree that time forgot
Internal research – key messages
Board mandate for corporate image to reflect vision
of a dynamic professional organisation focused on
revenue growth from new markets where we can
promote areas of specialisation outside our region.
Our Strategic Direction Statement necessitates a
more global versus parochial brand strategy and
corporate image.
Strong pride in our service provision and internal
culture is not reflected in attitudes towards corporate
image and brand positioning:
• East Gippsland TAFE has a disjointed and
inconsistent corporate image which requires a
cohesive brand strategy to leverage the relevant
strengths of the master brand with sub brands
• geographic and local community heritage
are a double-edged sword providing emotive
connection and relevance but at the same
time East Gippsland TAFE has to be positioned
as a more progressive organisation becoming
established and more relevant in new markets
to meet future growth objectives.
The higher education market is highly competitive
with a range of institutions employing sophisticated
branding and marketing practices.
External research – key messages
Strong relationship with local business, key
community and regional stakeholders:
• seen as an organisation that is an instinctive
part of the community and region
• seen as a leader providing quality education
services while playing a vital role in regional
development.
Seen to provide a high standard of services which
are aligned with brand values identified by internal
research:

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• flexible, responsive, individualised and success
focused.
Existing brand strategy and corporate image creates
confusion and fails to capitalise on the leadership
position that East Gippsland TAFE has within the
community and region:
• brand recognition is high but corporate image
fails to convey brand values.
Online research – key messages – 800+
participants
• Specialisation and flexibility are the catalysts
for study outside the local area.
• Need to explore TAFE versus alternative new
provider descriptors.
• Predominant reason to study is to achieve
skills and further qualifications to enhance
employment and career opportunities.
• Brand values must reflect flexibility and
convenience for individual needs.
• Brand attributes must focus on qualifications,
skills and career start.
• TAFE brand is strong as a provider of a broad
range of services.
• University brand is strong but cannot deliver
the breadth of services.
Brand descriptors
TAFE brand reputation reflects values of ‘hands on
skills development’ and ‘provides a broad range of
skills education’.
TAFE did not rate highly, seen as traditional and old
fashioned.
Tertiary Education Centre seen as reputable and
broad ranging but didn’t evoke as clear a meaning
as TAFE.
TAFE has an established brand equity with clearly
defined positioning, brand values and attributes:
• clearly understood
• strong resonance
• diversity of skills
• broader than TECH
• practical hands on skills development
• reputable provider of tertiary education
• provides a broad range of skills.
Summary
a. Strong recognition and positive community
awareness of TAFE.
b. Recognition of recent Victorian regional TAFE
campaign – ‘better hope she is TAFE qualified’.
c. ‘Institute’ seen as polarising and evokes medical
associations and clinics.
d. TEC(H) associated with old technical based
education/hands on.
e. TEC – tertiary seen as higher education and a
bit meaningless as a new descriptor.
Decision making factors
Qualitative and quantitative research validation
given to the following attributes (benefits) of
undertaking training/education at TAFE:
• ‘An environment where I can excel and achieve’
• ‘Flexibility of education that fits my lifestyle’.
Outcomes…a new brand strategy
• Aspirational brand name which promises to tap
into the goals, ambitions and drivers for career
and personal development.

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29
• Overwhelming majority prefer an aspirational
brand promise…dream-study-achieve.
• Retaining the benefit of TAFE as the descriptor
within an education market context.
• Currently we are evaluating the following
issues: legal, resource, political, and
commissioning a design for our new brand
strategy.
References
Australian Committee on Technical and Further Education (ACOTAFE) 1974,
TAFE in Australia: report on needs in technical and further education,
[Kangan Report], April, AGPS, Canberra, www.voced.edu.au/docs/
landmarks/TD_LMR_85_...
Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development 2008,
Securing jobs for your future: skills for Victoria, August, Victorian
Government, Melbourne, www.skills.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/
pdf_file/0003/15969/Skills-Reform_web.pdf.
Victorian TAFE Association (VTA) 2009, Community attitudes to TAFE, April,
www.vta.vic.edu.au/.../Sue_Loukomitis_Community_Attitudes_
to_TAFE.ppt.

30
Tiger stripes:
What should performance
benchmarks look like
DR TOM KARMEL
Managing Director, National Centre for
Vocational Education Research
Dr Karmel took up the position of
Managing Director, National Centre for
Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in
August 2002. Prior to this position he held
senior appointments in the Federal
government areas of education,
employment, labour market research and
the Bureau of Statistics. His research
interests have centred on the labour market
and the economics of education, focusing
on empirical modelling, and he has a
particular interest in performance indicators
both in higher education and vocational
education and training.
He has an honours degree in mathematical
statistics (Flinders University), a Master of
Economics and a doctorate from the
Australian National University on the
impact of increasing education levels on
the Australian workforce.
Introduction
The National Centre for Vocational Education
Research (NCVER) has been interested in publishing
institutional level statistics for some time, and
a number of statistical publications have been
released that provide data for individual providers
but without names. This limits their usefulness
because the whole point of individual provider data
is so that readers can make comparisons across
institutions. The reason for NCVER’s current approach
is that the current Vocational Education and Training
(VET) data protocols proscribe the publication of
data for individual providers without the permission
of the provider. This protocol has meant that, unlike
for higher education where tables of indicators have
been the norm for many years, there has been a
complete absence of performance indicators for the
VET sector.
The Commonwealth government signalled in the
2010 Budget that this situation is about to change,
with funding provided for the development of the
MySkills website for VET providers.
Performance indicators need attention on three
fronts. The first is the range of indicators that should
be considered. The second is the unit of analysis -
the provider as a whole or individual subject area.
The third is the issue of statistical reliability.
Likely indicators
We need to distinguish between context and
performance indicators. The former provide useful
context to the reader so that he or she has some
feeling for the type of institution being referred to.
Obvious context indicators include:
• Measures of size (number of students, full
year training equivalents [FYTEs], number of
campuses)

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• Age distribution
• Gender distribution
• Fields of study distribution
• Levels of study distribution
• Percentage of full-time/part-time students
• Percentage of students in various groups (for
example, indigenous, disability, non-English
speaking, regional distribution).
Performance indicators by contrast need to focus on
outcomes. Possibilities include:
• Load pass rates
• Qualification completion rates
• Student satisfaction: overall satisfaction,
teacher quality. assessment quality, learning
outcomes, reason for leaving, whether achieved
main goal
• Employment outcomes: whether employed,
whether employed full-time, wages,
occupational status. Note that employment
status before training needs to be taken into
account here.
Performance indicators need to have face validity,
be robust, and be able to differentiate between
institutions. By ‘face validity’ we mean that if
institution A has a higher score than B then,
everything else being equal, it will be generally
accepted that institution A is performing better than
B. By robustness we are referring to the amount of
noise in the indicator. Thus performance indicators
calculated on insufficient student numbers will be
very noisy and not robust. Finally, indicators need to
be able to differentiate between institutions. There
is little point in having a performance indicator
which takes more or less the same value for every
institution.
The indicators we suggested above can all be
derived from large scale data collections – either
the students and courses collection or the student
outcome survey. More radical indicators are possible
if we broaden the source data. In particular, some
websites allow individuals to rate various aspects
of an institution, in a similar way to Amazon
asking readers to rate books. This approach is quite
common in the United States but probably would
not be appropriate for an ‘official’ site.
There have also been suggestions within the
Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF)
that indicators of employer satisfaction should be
pursued. The difficulty here is that there is no way
of collecting reliable data on individual providers.
While the Survey of Employer Use and Views is
conducted on a regular basis, it is designed to obtain
use of, and views on, various aspect of the VET
system and cannot be used to provider indicators of
individual provider performance.
The appropriate level of analysis
TAFEs are rather large institutions and so the idea
of overall performance is problematic. Some areas
within a TAFE may be much stronger than others.
This suggests that it might be better to calculate
performance indicators for fields of study, or even
a field of study by qualification level. The problem
with this is that the number of students at a field of
study level will be a lot smaller than at a whole of
institution level. This means that the performance
indicators will be more robust at a whole of
institution level but potentially less informative.
Common websites such as the ones in the United
Kingdom typically allow the user to specify the field
of study. Interestingly, these websites don’t seem to
worry too much about the statistical properties of
the indicators.

32
TAFE IN THE YEAR OF THE TIGER
Statistical approaches
There are two basic approaches to adjust for the fact
that providers have different student profiles, and
these differences impact on performance indicators.
First, multilevel regression can be used to separate
the provider specific aspect of an indicator from
the effect of the characteristics of students. An
example is given in Curtis (forthcoming 2010) in
which the module completion rate of individual
TAFEs is modelled as a function of a range of student
characteristics. The control variables comprise:
gender, age, indigenous status, disability status,
commencement status, location, employment
status, school attainment, post-school qualifications,
reasons for study, study load, whether at school,
main field of education, Australian Qualifications
Framework (AQF) level, main delivery mode and
main funding source. Curtis finds that 95% of
the variation in observed module pass rates can
be explained by these characteristics of students,
leaving 5% of the variation which is attributed
to institutional factors. Putting it another way,
the observed modules pass rates are a very poor
indicator of institutional performance and it
would be inappropriate to use the raw scores as
an indicator of performance. When institutions are
ranked by the modelled module pass-rate (that
is, abstracting from student characteristics), we
find that there are bands at the top and bottom
in which the providers are statistically different,
but the performance of many in the middle is not
statistically different from each other. Figure 1 shows
the results with the diamond representing the
modelled performance relative to the overall average
(the bars show statistical confidence intervals).
Figure 1 Profile-adjusted competency
completion rates for TAFE providers
This graphical presentation shows why relative
performance should not be converted into ranks, for
the simple reason that the middle performers are
very close to each other. For example, TAFEs ranked
between 10 and 20 are not statistically different
from each other.
The second approach is to identify peers for each
provider.
There are various ways of doing this. The first is to
take a naive approach and group them together on
variables that have some face validity. For example,
we could classify providers by size and whether they
are city based or not. The obvious difficulty with this
is that two providers may be similar in size but have
very different orientations and student bases.
The second way is to undertake a multivariate
cluster analysis which groups providers together
on the basis of certain characteristics. Essentially
the technique works out the distance between
providers on the basis of differences between
the characteristics. The advantage of this method
over the first method is that it is less arbitrary and
can take into account a considerable number of

TAFE IN THE YEAR OF THE TIGER
33
variables that are relevant. However, there are two
disadvantages. The first is that we need to specify
the relative importance of variables; otherwise
every variable is treated as important as every other
variable. The second disadvantage is that inevitably
the groupings produced by the cluster analysis will
not accord with the ‘common sense’ priorities of
some stakeholders, who will then attack the validity
of the technique.
The third possibility is to define peers on the basis
of predicted values for a range of performance
indicators, where the predictions take into account
the student characteristics of each provider.
The approach is to run regressions predicting
the performance indicators in question. The
peers of a provider are the half dozen providers
whose predicted performance is close to that
of the provider in question. The idea is that the
characteristics of these providers are very similar in
the way that matters for the performance indicators.
The third possibility is attractive but again suffers
from the difficulty that peers will not necessarily
accord with ‘common sense’.
Irrespective of which method is used, it is still
important to take into account the statistical
variation of the performance indicator. Once we
have defined a set of peers we still need to make a
judgment about whether, for example, a module
completion rate of 87% is significantly different
from one of 85%. This will depend on how many
observations are used to generate the indicator for
each provider.
Final comments
Indicators in the VET sector are inevitable. There
is a demand for them by consumers and by
regulators. Providers should also be seeking them
for benchmarking purposes. The one thing that is
certain is that they will be controversial – providers
who rank highly will be happy to use them but
those who rank more lowly will denigrate them. To
ensure that indicators are defensible it is critical that
the serious statistical issues that are associated with
them are addressed.
References
Curtis, D (forthcoming 2010) Evaluating institutional performance indicators
in VET, Technical Paper, NCVER, Adelaide.

34
The Government’s Priority
Drive
KYM PEAKE
Deputy Secretary, Skills Victoria, Department
of Innovation, Industry and Regional
Development (DIIRD)
Before joining the Department in early
2010, Kym worked in the Department of
the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) as
Executive Co-ordinator, Productivity and
Inclusion, and Senior Adviser Policy Liaison.
Kym has extensive experience working at
State and Commonwealth levels, leading
complex policy, legislation and service
delivery reforms. In Victoria, Kym led
reforms for ‘at risk’ children and families,
ensuring services meet the needs of
vulnerable groups and addressing barriers
to social and economic participation.
Prior to returning to PM&C, Kym was head
of a public sector governance practice at
KPMG, advising governments in Australia
and Dubai on governance and strategy
issues relating to urban development,
affordable housing, emergency services,
approaches to social regulation and the
integration of health research, education
and clinical service delivery.
In 2008 the Government delivered Securing jobs
for your future – Skills for Victoria, a $316 million
major reform package directed at addressing
skills shortages and building Victoria’s capacity for
economic growth. The key features of the reforms
were the introduction of a student entitlement to
government subsidised training; demand-driven
funding; a more contestable market for training; a
revised fees and charges schedule; and introduction
of VET-FEE HELP for Diploma and Advanced Diploma
students.
In the development and implementation of skills
reform, the Government has a clear vision for the
vocational education and training (VET) sector –
one in which providers are dynamic, competitive,
able to increase their market share through pursuing
growing opportunities and attracting students from
wider backgrounds and locations. The reforms are
designed to increase the number of people training
in areas of skills need; development of an effective
and efficient training system; ensuring this skills
system is responsive to industry needs; and the
creation of a culture of lifelong skills development.
Together with the recently introduced Education
and Training Reform Amendment (Skills) Bill,
the reforms will provide Victorians with a highly
effective and progressive skills sector better able to
support economic and social productivity objectives.
In a demand-driven system, the role of government
will change from that of a ‘purchaser’ of student
places to that of a ‘market facilitator’, encouraging
the delivery of courses to more students in areas
of high demand. Equally, the role of our TAFEs,
other VET providers and industry will change in
a demand-driven system, to one of providing
expanded opportunities that are responsive to
industry and community needs.

35
Importantly, the Victorian Government recognises
the critical role our TAFE institutes play in the
VET sector, and will continue to support Victoria’s
high quality TAFE institutes to provide a full range
of training services while seeking to capture the
new opportunities presented by the reforms. For
example, the Government is investing an additional
$33 million in the TAFE and Adult, Community
and Further Education (ACFE) sectors to ensure
they have the capability to grow and expand in
the new environment. The sector will also benefit
from a significant information technology upgrade
with $20 million committed to upgrading TAFE
broadband. Additionally, Securing jobs for your future
provides workforce development for teachers and a
new program to attract industry experts as teachers
to further support providers in the new system.
In the implementation of the skills reform program
there was extensive consultation with the sector.
Skills Victoria held 108 information sessions and
workshops for providers between November 2008
and June 2010. The information sessions and
workshops included the information sessions on
the new business rules, round tables with TAFE
Chief Executive Officers, information sessions on
implementation guides; and one-on-one meetings
with TAFEs who requested them.
2010 Review
In any reform of the size and scale of the skills reform
program, it is important to monitor implementation.
In 2010, the Victorian Government has reviewed
Securing jobs for your future to examine the Victorian
Government’s progress on the reforms, to provide
information on how those initiatives contribute
to the achievement of agreed State and national
targets and objectives. The Review also sought to
examine early impacts of the Victorian Training
Guarantee on those cohorts for which it has now
been implemented.
To be successful in this new environment, VET
providers must operate to the highest standards
of efficiency, quality and transparency. This also
presents the opportunity for providers to increase
their capacity to compete and develop their business
acumen.
Education and Training Reform
Amendment (Skills) Bill
In this increasingly competitive demand driven
environment it is imperative to ensure that, whilst
maintaining operational independence, VET
providers, both public and private, operate in an
appropriate governance framework that provides
accountability and transparency.
Therefore, the Victorian Government recently
introduced the Education and Training Reform
Amendment (Skills) Bill which aims to improve
Victoria’s training system in four ways. First, and
most importantly, it aims to protect students’ rights
and ensure their fair treatment. Secondly, it improves
the regulatory system for vocational education and
training. Thirdly, it reforms the governance of the
state’s TAFE institutions and agencies. And fourthly,
it enshrines in legislation the State’s guarantee of
training places.
In particular, the reforms to TAFE governance
arrangements are designed to strengthen their
managing boards and clarify lines of accountability
between those boards and the minister. These
reforms are consistent with other governance
models for public entities engaging in commercial
functions enabled through legislation. It is
important that these institutions have the range
of commercial, financial and management skills

36
and experience that are needed for them to direct
their institutes in the new, demand-driven and
competitive training market.
This Bill represents one of the most significant
reforms to education and training in Victoria in
recent years. It will better equip our institutions to
meet the challenges of a competitive, demanddriven
training market and will significantly
improve governance, accountability and regulatory
arrangements.
Pathways to tertiary education
An Expert Panel, chaired by Professor Kwong Lee
Dow, was commissioned to advise the Victorian
Government on the growth of Victorian tertiary
education, found that by 2025 we will need 47
per cent of Victorians in the age group 25 to 34 to
hold a bachelor degree or above to meet industry
needs. In analysing how many people Victoria’s
knowledge economy will need with bachelor level
qualifications, the Panel also recognised that there is
also a need for a greater number of people with VET
qualifications.
To achieve this there will be two preconditions:
• greater diversity of providers able to offer
Commonwealth supported places, with TAFE
institutes able to quickly grow degree level
output in areas that are not necessarily covered
by Table A providers
• clearer pathways alternate to the traditional
school to university model, as traditional
pathways won’t be sufficient to achieve the
structure and skills profile the Expert Panel
identified as essential to maintain economic
and social wellbeing.
In this latter context, better structured pathways
between vocational and higher education are seen
as key strategies for maximising participation in
and attainment of graduate qualifications. This
further presents the opportunity for VET providers
to compete for an expanding market. A range of
Victorian VET and university partnerships currently
exist which the Victorian Government is seeking to
support and extend, in particular through credit/
articulation arrangements, franchised arrangements
and joint VET/higher education delivery. Several
Victorian TAFEs already offer bachelor degrees and
are well positioned to drive up participation in
higher level qualifications. TAFE NSW has recently
been registered as a higher education provider in
NSW and will begin to deliver higher education
programs from February 2011.
Victoria has the unique and enviable position
of having four of the nation’s five dual sector
institutions. With existing access to the
Commonwealth Supported Places for their
higher education programs, these institutes
are well placed to provide integrated pathways
from industry led delivery of national vocational
qualifications, through to higher education. The
Victorian Government supports the extension of
Commonwealth Supported Places to any higher
education provider, including VET providers, which
meets quality standards. The commencement of
new University Acts this year has recognised that a
modern university may reach out of the traditional
domains of higher education and deliver other forms
of education and training.

THE HYBRID TIGER: ONE TERTIARY – A CONNECTED SECTOR
37
BRUCE MACKENZIE PSM
Chief Executive, Holmesglen Institute and
Chair, TAFE Directors Australia
With over 25 years in the field of vocational
education, Bruce Mackenzie PSM has
played a leading role in the successful
development and implementation of the
TAFE system in Victoria. His contribution to
the vocational education and training (VET)
sector was formally recognised in his
selection for the 1994 National AUSTAFE
Award for Educational Leadership. In the
2005 Australia Day Honours List, Bruce
Mackenzie was awarded the Public Service
Medal for outstanding services to
vocational education. He was a founding
member of TAFE Directors Australia and is
currently its Chair.
Holmesglen Institute enrols over 50,000
students each year, trades locally, nationally
and internationally with substantial
international contracts in the Middle East. It
offers courses over three educational
sectors, upper secondary, vocational and
higher education.
PROFESSOR GREG CRAVEN
Vice-Chancellor, Australian Catholic
University
Professor Greg Craven, lawyer and
academic, commenced as Vice-Chancellor
of the Australian Catholic University in
February 2008. An expert in public law, he
has published numerous journal articles
and four books, including Conversations
with the Constitution. A regular contributor
to public debate, he is a columnist for the
Australian Financial Review.
Prior to his current appointment, Professor
Craven served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor
(Strategy & Planning) at Curtin University
of Technology in Western Australia, where
he also held the position of Professor of
Government and Constitutional Law, having
previously served as Executive Director of
the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy.
Professor Craven was Foundation Dean and
Professor of Law at the University of Notre
Dame Australia, and Reader in Law at the
University of Melbourne. He also served as
Crown Counsel to the Victorian Government
from 1992 to 1995.

38
THE HYBRID TIGER: ONE TERTIARY – A CONNECTED SECTOR
• How would students benefit from a new,
connected ‘tertiary education sector’
• How do universities and TAFE institutes best
meet students’ needs
• Would industry and the community be
satisfied
A conversation between Bruce Mackenzie, CEO,
Holmesglen Institute and Professor Greg Craven,
Vice-Chancellor, Australian Catholic University
The following extract is from Andrew Trounson’s
article in The Australian, 15 September 2010:
UNIVERSITIES may complain that
commonwealth funding doesn’t cover
the cost of teaching, but the chairman
of TAFE Directors Australia believes
the funding rate is “pretty reasonable”.
The comments at the TAFE Directors
Australia conference in Melbourne
this week highlight the lower cost
structures of TAFEs that don’t offer
higher degrees or research.
“You can operate at the HECS level
fairly easily,” said Bruce Mackenzie,
who is also director of Victorian
TAFE Holmesglen.
His comments coincide with TDA
lobbying the Gillard government to
compete with universities for access
to commonwealth funded places for
degrees in areas of skills shortage.
But Mr Mackenzie also said the
faster-than-expected expansion
of the university sector ahead
of commonwealth places being
uncapped in 2012 “suggests that
maybe vice-chancellors think the
money isn’t too bad” after all.
The TAFE push for commonwealth
places is raising questions about the
importance of the research-teaching
nexus in delivering degrees.
Meanwhile, Australian Catholic
University vice-chancellor Greg
Craven said aggressive expansion at
current funding rates during 2010,
was for many universities a business
decision aimed at capitalising on
growth before the market moved to
a student demand-driven system in
2012, rather than an endorsement of
funding levels.
“The reality is if you are a relatively
small university going into open
competition with a two-year time
lag, you would be crazy to wait for
the bell to ring and all the sharks to
jump in the water and then start to
grow,” said Professor Craven, whose
institution is 25 per cent overenrolled
above the existing cap.
On the question of degrees in
TAFEs, Professor Craven said the
appropriateness of it depended on
the course and the capacity of the
organisation.
He noted that while much university
teaching was vocational in nature,
universities also have a wider role
in delivering disciplines that aren’t
specifically vocational, as well as
pursuing research and participating
in public debate.
Professor Craven said some serious
thinking was needed on how
universities and TAFEs could cooperate
in a blurred tertiary sector.
. . .

Riding the tiger:
The impact of changing
migration scenarios on TAFE . . .
39
Professor Lesleyanne Hawthorne
• How well is Australia performing in the global
competition for skilled workers
• How important are international students in
this larger context
• Can Australia remain competitive in the
international student market
• What are the implications for TAFE in this area
PROFESSOR LESLEYANNE
HAWTHORNE
PhD, MA, BA Hons, Dip Ed, Grad Dip Mig
Stud
Lesleyanne is Associate Dean International
and Chair of the Teaching & Learning
Quality Assurance Committee at the
University of Melbourne. She has
researched skilled migration, foreign
credential recognition and international
student flows for the past 20 years – most
recently for the Canadian, New Zealand and
Australian governments, UNESCO, the US
Migration Policy Institute and APEC. In
2005, she was appointed to an Expert Panel
of Three by federal cabinet to complete the
most extensive evaluation of Australia’s
skilled migration program since 1988. This
was followed by federal government
commissioned studies of international
students in migration, studies of
engineering, medical and nurse migration,
and a comparison of Australia’s and New
Zealand’s skilled migration programs. She
has published extensively on these issues,
assessing policy trends and outcomes
across a wide range of countries.
Abstract
The past 10 years have coincided with extraordinary
growth in international student mobility, with
Asia confirmed as the major source of supply.
This process is driven by demographic contraction
across OECD countries, resulting in increased
opportunity for students to convert to permanent
resident status through ‘two-step migration’. The
presentation examines this phenomenon in relation
to international student flows to the European
Union, Australia, the USA and Canada. Growth in
export education demand is described by sector and
discipline, with particular focus on the dominant
student markets (China and India). Australia’s
experience with international students as migrants
is next defined, in particular the extent to which
they gain employment (assessing the influence of
English ability, discipline, and study sector). Within
this context, the presentation describes the skilled
migration paradigm shift now underway, and its
likely impact on students. The implications for the
TAFE sector are defined, as well as Australia’s in
the global student market. The presentation argues
that international students have become highly
discerning education and migration consumers –
researching global options in order to select the
optimal study, migration and future employment
outcomes.

40 RIDING THE TIGER: EDUCATION AND SKILLED MIGRATION

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58
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59 RIDING THE TIGER: EDUCATION AND SKILLED MIGRATION
59

60
International students and
skilled migration:
re-appraising the relationship
• How are we managing the relationship
between migration and education
• How are we managing the impact of recent
changes to government policy on students/
providers
• Decoupling education and migration: what are
the right settings
MARK CULLY
Chief Economist, Department of Immigration
and Citizenship
After graduating with an Honours degree in
Economics from Adelaide University,
Mark was a public servant in Canberra, a
Commonwealth Scholar at the University of
Warwick and a civil servant in Whitehall.
While head of research on industrial
relations for the UK Government in the late
1990s, he ran what was the world’s largest
survey of working life, which was the basis
for his second book, Britain at Work.
In 1999, he joined the National Institute of
Labour Studies at Flinders University, and
was then General Manager at the National
Centre for Vocational Education Research for
six years, running its statistical and then
research operations. Mark was a speaker at
the inaugural Adelaide Festival of Ideas in
1999 and chaired the advisory committee
which prepared the Festival program from
2003 to 2007. He joined the Department in
January 2009 as its inaugural Chief
Economist.
Synopsis
Australia has been a pioneer in the large-scale
provision of international education. In absolute
terms, Australia sits fourth in the world, while on
a per capita basis it is (most likely) first. During
2009, there were close to half a million international
students in Australia, up more than three-fold from
ten years earlier. There are distinctive features that
underwrote this boom, notably allowing students to
transition to permanent residence while onshore.
Some accounts examine the international student as
sovereign consumer, free to choose which country
offers the best experience and cost package. The
approach I take is from a different perspective,
that of the sovereign state. It is the state which
determines whether to allow international students
passage to enter and live in its territory, and under
what conditions. At heart, the state must consider
how the national interest is served by international
students. There are three different roles that
international students play in the host country:
consumers of education services; members of the
resident population; and putative skilled migrants.
Within this framework, the Australian experience
between 1998 and 2008 can be characterised as a
commercialisation phase, one where the national
interest coalesced with the self-interest of education
providers in favouring growing numbers of students.

RIDING THE TIGER: EDUCATION AND SKILLED MIGRATION
61
We are now moving into a sustainable phase, where
the state is re-appraising the national interest
against these dimensions, as the consequences of
untrammelled growth have become apparent.
A re-appraisal might also be warranted on the part
of education providers. Two particular issues arise
for TAFE institutes (as they do for universities). First,
the primary role of public education providers is to
educate and train Australians. Servicing international
students, while valuable, is subsidiary to this role.
Public education providers need to demonstrate
that their primary role is not compromised by a
rising share of international students in their overall
student load. The onshore share of international
students in TAFE is growing, but relatively modest
at 6.5 per cent (in full-time equivalents). Second,
students must be adequately equipped to transition
to permanent residents as skilled migrants. TAFE
has a good track record on improving employment
outcomes for Australian students. The evidence is
not so good for international VET students.

62
Some quotes:
...The range of speakers
...The intensity of the Conference
...The high level of uncertainty
...How reliant we have become on
the political system
...The urgency to raise the profile
of TAFE and the role we play across
our communities

New Trends in VET reform and
development in the People’s
Republic of China
63
LIU JIANTONG
Deputy Director General,Department of
Vocational and Adult Education Ministry of
Education People’s Republic of China
From August 1984 to November 1987 Liu
Jiantong held a post graduate position in
the Department of History, Beijing
University and then from November 1987
to September 1998 was Program Official for
the Department of vocational-technical
education sector of China. From this time
he became Division Chief for the
Department of Vocational and Adult
Education. Liu Jiantong became Deputy-
Director for the Department of Vocational
and Adult Education in December 2007.
In the People’s Republic of China (PRC), vocational
education and training (VET) has been identified
as an important part of the whole education
system. With the energetic support of the Chinese
government, VET in China has been undergoing
significant reform and development during the
last 10 years and the resultant achievements have
helped the rapid development of the Chinese
economy and society. In China, developing VET
has been driven by the need to change China’s
huge population pressure into the advantage of a
skilled human resource. Thus, we not only need a
large number of scientists, engineers and economic
managers but also millions of skilled people with
high level technical and vocational abilities.
To further speed up the development of the whole
country’s education, and to meet the needs of
social-economic development and people’s desire
to learn, the central government held a National
Education Conference and last July, published ‘The
Outline of China’s National Plan for medium and
long term education reform and development
(2010-2020)’. In the Outline, which will be the
guideline for education development for the next
ten years, the country’s education ‘strategic goals
to be attained by 2020 are to basically modernise
education; shape a learning society; and turn China
into a country rich in human resources’. To help
achieve this goal, VET will play a very important role.
The goals of VET, as put forward in the Outline,
which comprises 22 chapters and 27,000 words,
are that by 2020, the PRC will set up a modern
VET system suited to the changes in economic
development and the adjustment of industry
construction, embodying the idea of lifelong
education, and coordinating the development of
secondary and higher VET to meet the vocational
and education training needs of people and those of

64
the economy and society for high quality labour and
skilled talents.
According to the Outline, China will focus on further
strengthening VET development in the next ten
years:
First, by continuing to enlarge vocational education
enrolment in schools/colleges in both
secondary level education and higher
education, especially to keep nearly the
same enrolment scale between vocational
schools and academic schools in the
secondary education level.
Second, by encouraging enterprises, industries and
society to join more readily in the running
of VET.
Third, by more rapidly developing VET in rural areas.
Fourth, by focusing on enhancing VET quality
through developing employment
orientated VET and combining
more tightly schools with enterprises.
Fifth, by making VET more involved in providing an
attractive learning environment.
Sixth, by increasing input of the government to VET.
With a background of globalisation, the efforts to
strengthen China’s VET cannot be undertaken in
isolation. In fact, China has studied many countries’
experiences of developing VET including their
frameworks, systems and management approaches.
In particular, we have a long, constructive and
close dialogue with Germany, Australia, the United
Kingdom, Japan, and others. The Outline stresses
that China must extend its cooperation with other
countries to further develop VET.
Cooperation between China and Australia in
VET has a long history and occurs in many ways
including the joint delivery of transnational VET
programs by PRC and Australian VET institutions,
the TAFE Directors Australia (TDA)/China Education
Association for International Exchange (CEAIE)
mentoring and leadership programs and the
2002–2007 Australia China (Chongqing) Vocational
Education and Training Project. The Australian
Qualifications Framework, the Training Packages
and Skills Australia Act 2008 (2005), all give us
much inspiration. In the future, China looks forward
to strengthening and broadening high quality VET
linkages with Australia to the mutual benefit of both
countries.

World café: success and quality
for a 21st century TAFE
65
Facilitator
IAN COLLEY
Make Stuff Happen
Ian Colley is Partner and Director with Make
Stuff Happen, a consulting practice
specialising in project leadership. Ian
developed his facilitation skills through
extensive experience with the design and
facilitation of hundreds of events in
business, government and community
settings.
He was a senior ministerial advisor in
vocational education and then Project
Director with the Dusseldorp Skills Forum.
His work has garnered a high reputation,
including a Global Best Practice Industry
Education Partnership Award, and a NSW
Premier’s Public Service Award.
Ian currently teaches management and
facilitation skills at the University of
Technology, Sydney.
World Café is a structured discussion session.
Participants join a table group to discuss a specific
(‘prompt’) question. After a set period, all participants
are encouraged to move to another table – and
another question. High energy and high interaction!
After two or three rounds of discussion, the results are
reported by table hosts.
This interactive discussion was led by TAFE emerging
leaders. The leaders were nominated by TAFE Directors
for attendance at the Conference and TDA would like
to acknowledge and thank them for their support to
participants. The session was also supported by Robert
Bluer from Innovation & Business Skills Australia
(IBSA), Denise Janek, Managing Director, TAFE SA
Regional, and a number of TDA Board members.
The emerging leaders were:
Nancy Allet, Holmesglen Institute of TAFE, VIC
Carmen Broderick, Central Institute of Technology, WA
Justin Busse, Charles Darwin University, NT
Wayne Butson, Victoria University, VIC
Kath Curry, Victoria University, VIC
Gail Eaton-Briggs, Skills Institute, TAS
Michelle Fernandez, Holmesglen Institute of TAFE, VIC
Jill Jamieson, Challenger Institute of Technology, WA
Lindy Kemp, North Coast Institute, TAFE NSW
Madelyn Lettieri, Chisholm Institute, VIC
Blair Marsh, Polytechnic West, WA
Fiona Mitchell, Canberra Institute of TAFE, ACT
Judy Parkinson, Charles Darwin University, NT
Sean Parsonage, Adelaide South Institute, TAFE SA
Mark Primmer, Hunter Institute, TAFE NSW
Dr Ruth Schubert, TAFE SA Regional
Leanne Sumpter, Victorian TAFE Association
Sandra Stuckey, Southbank Institute of Technology, QLD
Jai Waters, Illawarra Institute, TAFE NSW
Alison Wood, Sydney Institute, TAFE NSW
The summarised comments that follow are the key
points made in the World Café discussions.

66
Marketing the TAFE brand
TAFE is the only brand that can be sold cohesively in
an international market.
The TAFE brand should be ‘transformational and
inclusive’.
• TAFE offers choice, and support for transition
and pathways.
• It is a community partner and capacity builder.
• TAFE sees it as a social obligation for the
‘whole person’, enabling success and career
progression.
To position itself for competitive advantage, and to
have an aspirational and transformational impact,
TAFE should use the stories of success and social
media as the new ‘word of mouth’ advertising with
young people.
• TAFE has life changing ‘before and after’
outcomes.
• TAFE impact can be ‘career defining’.
The use of mandatory entry requirements for entry
level training is a threat to the fulfilment of the
TAFE brand’s potential – especially for youth and
disadvantaged people. In a world of rebranding,
public providers should maintain TAFE as a ‘sub
brand’. A strong point of difference is in trust,
pastoral care, and active teaching.
We need to acknowledge that there are divided
views on the merits of public providers positioning
together. TAFE institutes will promote individuality
in a contestable market, resulting in competition
between TAFEs.
Youth
We should have both a funding model and an
education planning model that provide for analysis
of need and case management. These models need
to be ‘co-constructed’ (not mutually exclusive).
Good schools transition and pathway planning are
essential.
Our ‘emerging’ clients
To address the needs of ‘emerging’ clients, TAFE
needs to understand the market segments, and
identify specific needs and demands. TAFE should
use technology appropriately, and develop delivery
materials that are tailored and customised to clients’
needs. TAFE should provide ‘whole of organisation’
solutions and develop innovative partnerships with
industry.
• We must ensure that pedagogies are relevant to
each market segment and provide appropriate
professional development for staff.
• TAFE should ‘value add’ to industry, for
example, with ‘job ready’ clients through work
placements.
Competencies – key messages
Are training packages relevant in a 21st century
knowledge-based economy
There is a need for a ‘looser’ system of competencybased
training (CBT) and moderation of assessment
across all VET providers.
Most people acknowledge the notion of training
packages as a very sound platform. Industries have
diversified, technological environments can be too
specific for training package competencies and do
not generally meet the broader needs of industry.
However, elements within competencies can be
too prescriptive which can be a barrier to meeting
specific industry/enterprise needs.
Young people prefer to build their own learning/
training programs, so customisation needs to be
engaging. The language in training packages is
complex.

67
An understanding of mathematics is required across
the majority of industries, and there is minimum
integration into competencies.
• We need better communication between
Higher Education (HE) and VET as HE does not
understand competency.
• For the competencies to be delivered
effectively, providers need to be funded
appropriately.
Make sure policy makers do not ‘throw the baby out
with the bath water’.
Innovation and entrepreneurship
What does it take to build an institution
that achieves a high level of innovation and
entrepreneurship in its educational provision
It is not just about bright ideas but about building
relationships. We need to break down the ‘silos’ and
get greater collaboration between institutes.
There is sometimes a tension between innovation
and quality where there is ‘misdirected’ compliance
rather than too much compliance.
A cultural change is needed from teaching with
chalk to entrepreneurial customer service. It
was considered that executive management
has responsibility for driving the shift to a more
entrepreneurial culture, one of creativity even within
existing budgets and structures, as long as we plan
for innovation and prioritise, proceed in ‘bite size’
chunks, use ‘story-telling’ to change culture and
create incentives.
We can use incentives that are non-financial:
• Skill-up staff to be risk takers.
• Emphasise client review processes.
• Empower staff to be innovators and
entrepreneurs and ‘support them when they
fail’.
Let the teacher work on the business not just in the
business. Take risks!
International students
Why do we want international students Four
important reasons are:
• income
• cultural enrichment
• support for tourism
• internationalisation of the learning
environment.
One important strategy is to make sure that the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the
Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC),
and the Department of Education, Employment
and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) work together
in an integrated approach to international students.
For example, the visa application system needs to
be streamlined and take into account that different
sectors need to have differing risk assessments
applied to them for those visa applications.
A second important strategy is rebuilding/
rejuvenating Australia’s reputation as a quality
education destination. The brand can be rebuilt
through positive case studies and examples.
We should, for example, promote a whole
student experience (accommodation, part time
employment, etc.), including articulated pathways
that will need to be in place.
Internationalisation of learning environments leads
to cultural enrichment. Commercialisation also
enhances independence and financial strength
for our institutions. The carrot for students –
migration – needs careful management, and should
be confined to areas of skill shortage. As well,
international student numbers should be capped
based on facilities.

68
There are too many ‘amateurs’ in the field. Agents
and students are confused and government
mishandling of a small problem can threaten the
entire industry. Australian qualifications are held
in high regard and it is critical to maintain their
credibility.
• Education excellence must be the cornerstone.
• School participation in the area of international
students is likely to be left behind.
• Infrastructure has not kept up with population
growth.
• There has been strong growth in private
Registered Training Organisations’ (RTO)
enrolments.
• Note that the European model of international
education is not linked to Permanent
Residence.
We need to acknowledge students’ contribution
to the economy, and make Australia a ‘welcoming’
destination. We should value-add services to these
students (for example, through placements and
language development).
We should look more at niche markets, providing
offshore partnerships to provide increased student
support/exchange of staff.
We need to attract students through a quality
organisation and ‘forget PR!’.
Quality assurance
The core focus should be on the needs of students
and continuous improvement.
We get mixed messages from auditors. There is too
much focus on compliance rather than on actual
quality of training delivery. Consistency of auditing
activity is lacking and may lead to more ‘paper work’.
We need consistency. Staff qualifications need to
link to Professional Development and there should
be a whole workforce development strategy. We
need to establish benchmarks.
Systems should be better integrated to access
quality data.
Apprenticeships
There is a lack of data on why apprentices are
dropping out and in which areas. Is it a TAFE issue or
an employer issue For example, wages are a huge
disincentive; increase flexibility; don’t base it on time
served. However, some TAFEs report increases in 1st
year apprenticeship retention, and argue the main
reason is ‘they’ve got jobs’ (generally for 3rd year
apprentices).
Employers don’t want apprentices off the job, so
wrap qualifications in work tasks. Learn on-the-job
(with support) and therefore reduce hours.
We need highly skilled teachers working with
predominately young people. We also need more
support for Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN).
We also need more flexibility and additional support
(for example, pastoral care, and workplace support
from the RTO, mentoring).
We need ‘world class’ equipment and facilities
to better meet student expectation. We also
need higher level qualifications, focusing on
advanced teaching and assessment and improved
opportunities in tracking for LLN. We need to ensure
there are appropriate education pathways.
• Generally, the programs are more effective
when shortened.
• Let’s have ‘Retention officers’ dedicated to the
youth cohort. Make pre-apps a pre-requisite.
Have more recognition up front.
• We need a more diverse demographic in the
teaching staff.
• We should put more training into employers.

69
Quality teaching
The Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAA)
is all right for entry level in some industries but we
need higher qualifications, focused on advanced
training and assessment. However, there are Literacy
and Numeracy problems – and these need to be
addressed through entry level qualification. In the
main, the Certificate IV is not enough. We also need
induction, and teaching practice.
It should be noted that the TAA course has been very
successful in other countries.
Teacher quality
The core issue is the professionalisation of the TAFE
workforce. We should lift the status of teachers and
encourage self-regulation.
New South Wales school teachers, for example,
register and take responsibility for their own
professional development.
One model outlined the framework for a diploma
to be developed with a university, providing for
different levels of performance, for example,
proficient and exceptional. The Certificate IV would
be embedded in the diploma.
Some saw professionalisation of ‘public’ providers as
a point of differentiation.
Young people
Our approach is wrong. We need to engage and
inspire enthusiasm for learning and broaden the
programs to include personal development. This will
require a massive rethink about how we work with
young people. Maths and numeracy problems mean
many trade students are struggling.
We need to:
• increase literacy and numeracy support, use
project-based learning, and provide much more
support. Students don’t complete because they
lack basic literacy/numeracy skills.
• Integrate tutor support.
Scandinavia has increased retention rates. Skills are
integrated, and project-based work and self-esteem
building are central to each program. Also, there is
a lot of literacy/numeracy support, and follow-up
on absenteeism. There are no dead ends – students
are streamed early but can easily bridge across to
other streams. There are strong links with industry.
In Finland, students are fully ‘tracked’ and there is no
stigmatisation of the VET option compared to Higher
Education.
In some models, students and teachers were
working together as equals. Respect is high, work is
enjoyable and learning is ‘project-based’.
We need to:
• get young people involved in ‘outward bound’
type activities
• grasp ‘social media’ in order to market to young
people.
It is important to note that we are not failing
all. There are some who are disengaged/
disenfranchised. Teaching has not kept pace with
21st century expectations. And the failings are not
all due to TAFE – it is more about prior educational
experiences.
Industry specialists and youth workers working with
teachers could make a difference. There are good
outcomes when teachers are technology specialists
and are young themselves.
We need a two-day conference on Youth. There are
many initiatives and programs in place which need

70
to be shared, measured and learned from. We need
to collaborate with other educational providers to
address the literacy and numeracy and learning
issues that prevail and address them before they
come to TAFE.
Success measures
Measures are really important to drive the
right behaviours. These measures should cover
completions and qualification levels attained,
community and social responsibilities, further
training into employment, social inclusion, regional
impact, customer satisfaction and referrals.
Measures should acknowledge complexity. Perhaps
the most important measure is ‘are you satisfied’
How do we measure ‘relationships’ – partnerships,
linkages with community and schools Do we need
to put a dollar value on these contributions .
We need to stratify clients and align success
measures to their individual requirements. We also
need to take a longer term perspective and do
longitudinal outcome studies of VET students. We
need a set of measures that make sense over the
course of an individual’s five career changes. Jobs
may not be the best or only measure, for example,
if the system is demand driven, then the job/study
nexus may be weakened compared to industry
driven places.
• Effective teaching should be measured.
• High performing TAFEs should contribute to the
economy.
Rural and regional
The vital messages should be that TAFE makes a
major contribution to regional communities, and
TAFE is necessary in order to achieve the Bradley
Access targets.
Regions are not all the same, each is unique. Regions
have different ‘aspirational levels’ to metropolitan
areas. There are lower levels of qualification and
participation. Training is seen as a ‘luxury item’ in
the context of such issues as drought, and generally
lower socioeconomic demographic. It should be
acknowledged that some ‘inner country’ regions can
be attractive, compared to more remote and border
areas.
The policy of how training is purchased does not
recognise its true cost. Policy should be customised
to create a ‘regional’ loading. The Community Service
Obligation that TAFE, in effect, provides is not
recognised.
Attraction and retention of staff is challenge, for
example, in Resources and Engineering.
Large regional employers have a leadership
function as well as an economic function. Very few
organisations cover the space in ways that local
government and TAFE institutes cover it.
There are already regional university campuses
working with TAFE to deliver courses, awarding TAFE
Diplomas and leading to Degrees. Some universities
are not viable. In terms of capital investment, it is
wasteful to double up on facilities (for example, in
schools and universities) that are already available
in TAFE. People are concerned about status. So for
Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas, it is valuable to
‘sell’ the upfront pathway and guaranteed entry to
university.
TAFE fulfils social responsibilities, access and equity,
for example, to Aboriginal students. Local services
must be maintained, there would be serious flowon
effects from removing services. Accommodation
is a key attraction.
It is ‘Our TAFE’.

The Tertiary Sector 71
statements, and the Office of Evaluation
and Audit (Indigenous Programs). She was
also a member of the Financial Reporting
Council from 2005 to 2010.
Ms Campbell holds an MBA, an MInfSc, and
a BAppSc (AppMaths). She undertook the
Advanced Management Program at
Harvard Business School in 2008.
KATHRYN CAMPBELL
Deputy Secretary Tertiary, Youth and
International Department of Education,
Employment and Workplace Relations
Kathryn Campbell commenced as the
Deputy Secretary, Tertiary, Youth and
International in the Department of
Education, Employment and Workplace
Relations on 24 May 2010. Prior to this
appointment, she was Deputy Secretary,
Budget within the Department of Finance
and Deregulation (Finance), and provided
advice to the Minister, senior ministers and
Cabinet’s Expenditure Review Committee
on expenditure priorities, and supported
the Government in preparing and delivering
the Budget.
From 2005 to 2009 Kathryn was Deputy
Secretary, Financial Management in
Finance, responsible for the financial
framework of the Australian Government,
the Future Fund and Nation-building Funds,
Australian Government civilian
superannuation schemes, the production of
Australian Government financial

72
72
The Ter&ary Sector
TAFE DIRECTORS AUSTRALIA
Na&onal Conference 2010
Kathryn Campbell
Deputy Secretary
So what is Ter-ary

73
A UNESCO Defini-on
“Any educa+on entered a/er successful comple+on of
secondary educa+on, which may include voca+onal post-­secondary
educa+on (leading to a cer+ficate) and higher
educa+on (leading to a degree), even though the designa+on is
o/en used synonymously with higher educa+on”.
Source-­‐ Campbell, C and Rozsnyai, C, 2002 ,Quality Assurance and Development of Course Programmes,
UNESCO
Towards an Australian Defini-on
•“all Victorian universi+es, the 1,300 providers registered to deliver VET,
and the 350 publicly-­‐owned adult and community educa+on providers.”
Source: Report Advising on the development of the Victorian Ter+ary
Educa+on Plan (the Kwong Lee Dow Report)
• TDA and UA propose that ter-ary is only diploma and above.

74
The Australian Government
Australian Government working view:
• The VET and Higher Educa-on sectors together form a
“ter-ary sector”; and
• Diversity is encouraged within each sector and across
both public and private providers.
Why is it important to the Australian
Government

75
Educa-on Pathways aren’t StraighNorward!
The par&cipants in an NCVER study:
• 75 percent of par-cipants recorded three or more moves
• The highest number of an individual’s moves was seven
• 60 per cent of learning moves involved moves to different
educa-on fields
• 64 per cent of inter-­‐sectoral moves were from VET to higher
educa-on
• Intra-­‐sectoral moves were highest within VET
A Post-­‐Bradley Landscape
“the move to a mass higher educa+on system together
with the growth of a creden+als-­‐driven employment
environment has seen a blurring of the boundaries
between the two sectors.”
Source: Professor Denise Bradley, AC, Review of Australian Higher Educa+on

76
The Australian Government
“…we need the two systems to work together to produce
integrated responses to na+onal needs in knowledge, skill
development and social inclusion … two systems, one shared
vision…”
Source: Julia Gillard, the then Minister for Educa+on, Employment and Workplace Rela+ons,
Media Interview, March 2009
Australian Government and COAG
Targets
• By 2025, 40% of all 25 to 34 year olds will hold a bachelor degree level
qualifica-on or above
• By 2020, 20% of HE enrolments at the undergraduate level will be of people
from a low socio-­‐economic background (low SES)
• By 2020, halve the propor-on of Australians aged 20 to 64 years without a
Cer-ficate III qualifica-on
• By 2020, double the number of higher qualifica-ons comple-ons (Diplomas
and Advanced Diplomas)

77
Australian Government Skills
Objec-ves – Budget 2010
• Address immediate skills needs and help tackle emerging skills
shortages
• Provide enhanced resourcing to improve the literacy and numeracy
levels of Australians with poor levels of literacy and numeracy; and
• Lie the capacity, quality and transparency of the VET system to
befer service the needs of the Australian popula-on.
Regional Delivery
• Government commifed to delivering for Regional Australia
• Funding from the Educa-on Investment Fund
• TAFE footprint in Regional Australia.
• VET Par-cipa-on in major ci-es 4.5%, Outer Regional 9%
and Remote and Very Remote 11.3%.

78
So where are we
Challenges
• Different regulatory environments
• Quality Assurance and Accredita-on
• Data Collec-on and Repor-ng
• Percep-ons

79
MCTEE
A “joined up” Ministerial Council: the Ministerial Council
for Ter-ary Educa-on and Employment (MCTEE) to ensure
that future planning and decision-­‐making takes into
considera-on the issues that span the two sectors.
Australian Qualifica-ons Framework
• Review of the AQF to improve flexibility and movements
between VET and higher educa-on.
• The AQF Council “Pathways Project” to improve the
ar-cula-on and connec-vity between the sectors.

80
Quality Assurance
Strengthening the Australian Quality Training Framework
• Strengthened condi-ons and standards for registra-on of new
providers entering the market and con-nuing registra-on of
ongoing providers have been introduced.
• Only training providers likely to deliver quality outcomes will be
admifed to the VET market; and only training providers that
deliver to required standards are permifed to con-nue in
opera-on.
Na-onal VET Regulator and TEQSA
• Interim Na-onal VET Regulator Chair and CEO and Interim
TEQSA Chair and CEO appointed
• Working together and with DEEWR on implementa-on
• Shared approaches to facilitate eventual bringing together of
the two en--es.
• Focus on minimising the regulatory burden on ins-tu-ons
whilst ensuring quality.

81
Skills Australia
Expanded role of Skills Australia -­‐ skills forecas-ng ac-vi-es
not constrained by ar-ficial boundaries rela-ng to whether a
worker was educated and trained by voca-onal or higher
educa-on providers.
So what next

82
Minister Evans – Minister for Jobs,
Skills and Workplace Rela-ons
TAFE Directors Australia Posi-ons
• TDA Posi-on 5 – The dominant considera-on in moving towards a single
ter-ary regulator should be to improve the opportunity for students to
move in both direc-ons between VET and HE study according to their
capabili-es and aspira-ons at different stages of life.
• TDA Posi-on 7 – Ensure funding supports students to choose the best
course of study for their par-cular circumstances and aspira-ons, including
more equitable access for VET students.
• TDA Posi-on 8 – In the first instance, TAFE ins-tutes to receive funding for
Commonwealth Supported Places in priority areas of na-onal skills shortage
and TAFE ins-tutes offering degrees to have access to funding for
Commonwealth Supported Places.

83
Pathways
• AQF Council “Pathways Project”
• Government Commitment to Ter-ary
2010-­‐11 Budget Skills Package
• Na-onal VET Regulator and Standards Council ($55m)
• Quality Skills Incen-ve ($129.8m)
• Na-onal En-tlement to a Quality Training Place ($53.6m) – income con-ngent loans for VET
qualifica-ons in return for commitments to improve VET training system including the
guarantee of training place to all 15-­‐24 year olds.
• Cri-cal Skills Investment Fund ($200.2m)
• Appren-ce Kickstart extension ($79.4m)
• Smarter Appren-ceships ($19.9m)
• Founda-on skills package ($119.2m)

84
Commonwealth Supported Places
• The call for TAFE ins-tutes to receive funding for Commonwealth
Supported Places will need to be considered by the incoming Minister.
• Na-onal Agreements between the Commonwealth and States and
Territories.
• Australian Government Fiscal Commitment – all new spending offset.
Ques-ons

Conference gala dinner
speaker
85
recent publication is Bendable learnings, an
assortment of noxious management drive
and financial market blather. Don is also a
screen writer of several feature films,
including ‘The Man who Sued God’, starring
Billy Connolly and Judy Davis.
DON WATSON
Author of Weasel Words
After completing a PhD at Monash
University Don Watson was an academic
historian for ten years. He wrote three books
on Australian history and then spent several
years writing political satire for the actor
Max Gillies and political speeches for the
then Victorian Premier John Cain.
In 1992 he became Prime Minister Paul
Keating’s speech-writer and adviser and his
book, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: Paul
Keating Prime Minister, won several awards
including the Age Book of the Year, Brisbane
Courier Mail Book of the Year and the
National Biography Award.
Death sentence, his best-selling book about
the decay of public language won the
Australian Booksellers Association Book of
the Year 2003. Watson’s dictionary of Weasel
Words was published in 2004. In 2008,
American journeys won the Age Non-
Fiction and Book of the Year Awards, the
Indie Award for Non-Fiction and the
Walkley Award for Non-Fiction. Don’s most

The Melbourne Aquarium – venue for the 2010 Conference
Gala Dinner.
Jeanette Allen, CEO, Service Skills Australia and
Coralie Morrissey, Victoria University.
Blair Marsh, Director, Commerce and Social Services,
Polytechnic West; Phil de Garis, Managing Director, Education
& Training International; Carmen Broderick, Director,
Teaching & Learning, Central Institute of Technology;
Paul Houghton, Director, KT Studio, Polytechnic West.
Patrick Coleman, Director Policy, Business Council of Australia
and Martin Riordan, CEO, TAFE Directors Australia.
Liu Jiantong, Deputy-Director, Department of Vocational
and Adult Education Ministry of Education People’s
Republic of China and Brenda Cleaver, A/Associate Director,
Organisational Capability, TAFE NSW Sydney Institute.
Neil Fernandes, Managing Director, Central Institute of
Technology; Wendy Burns, Managing Director, TAFE NSW
South Western Sydney Institute; Lyn Farrell, Managing
Director, Pilbara TAFE.