The Parents Returning to Work Program (PRTW) is a Victorian government initiative which commenced in 2003. It provides grants to assist eligible parents who wish to return to paid employment after a period of caring for children to participate in training that will increase their work skills and job prospects. This evaluation aimed to review the…

This report has been prepared for the National Training Reform Taskforce to report on the future supply of, and requirements for, vocational education and training (VET) qualifications in Australia. It is intended to inform the next stages of reform of the sector to be considered by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). The report…

This report investigates the future supply of and demand for certain types of skilled labour at the trades and sub-trades levels that will be required for these projects up to 2010. In particular, it focuses on skilled labour in the mechanical, fabrication and electrical trades and mobile plant operators and construction workers in the sub-trades.…

Australia has made significant changes in the ways it regulates and funds vocational education and training (VET), with increased emphasis on competition to promote efficient delivery of the type of programs that students and employers want. National, state and territory governments have increased the role of employers by basing nationally…

Debates on skill shortages and the aging of the population have markedly increased the attention given to Vocational Education and Training (VET) and to Technical and Further Education (TAFE). New roles for VET include new products, pedagogy and partnerships with industry, all with implications for staff development. TAFE has particular…

Migration patterns to and from Australia are becoming complex with migration programmes increasingly targeted towards meeting the needs of the labour market and regional development. This paper provides an analysis of the permanent and temporary movements of people to and from Australia in the last three years and their impact on the skilled…

The paper provides an overview of Vocational Education and Training in School (VETIS) and its provision across States and Territories. Costs are affected by the nature of the training provided under VETIS, the quality of the teaching and the workplace learning accompanying it. A major question is whether this can be accommodated within existing…

This report provides estimates of job and occupational mobility by demographic, educational and labour market variables using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) "Labour Mobility" survey for 2002. The report provides information on the effects of these variables on the probability of job separation. It also identifies the factors…

This paper is concerned with the strategies being adopted for vocational education and training (VET) in Australia and the lessons that could be learned for them from policies in other countries. Six issues are considered in the paper, each relates to or more of the objectives and particular strategies in the Australia's National Strategy for…

This paper provides an analysis of revenue for and expenditure on Australian education institutions. It includes a review of funding from public and private sources and from overseas. Analyses are made for education as a whole and for the major sectors: schools, vocational education and training (VET) and higher education. Estimates are considered…

The purpose of this project was to review the use of price measures in education and training and to consider the types of measures that could be applied. There are several contexts in which price measures are needed and the context will affect the type of measure of price change that is needed. Section 1 of the report discusses budget estimates…

In the higher education sector most students enrol in a course with the intention of obtaining a qualification. In the vocational education and training (VET) sector many students tend to complete only some units of competencies or modules of a course. This study analysed the progress until 2000 of students who commenced a TAFE course in 1997, and…

Despite wide publicity and common usage, the concept of skills shortage has different meaning to different people depending on their perspective. Understanding the different concepts of skills shortages, their measurement and the causes of skill shortages is important if sound policies are to be developed in the areas of employment, education,…

Improvements in lifelong learning are necessary for a range of overlapping reasons, including changing needs of the labour force in a globalised economy, the aging of the population in high-income countries and inequalities in education, work and income. Increased lifelong learning, for all, is important for productivity, but also to support…