Vocational education and training (VET) research in Australia has changed dramatically in the last 10 years. In a 1993 report titled "No Small Change," VET research was characterized as a fragmented activity that was underfunded and had little or no relevance to policy or practice in the VET sector. Since that time, increased funding through the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) has been highly successful in increasing the overall quantity of research. The quality of research, however, will determine whether governments continue to fund the research effort. Relevance, timeliness, objectivity, and methodological integrity are the hallmarks of high quality research in applied fields such as VET. This involves both users and researchers becoming much more involved with the research management process. Users need to be clear about what issues should be addressed and the standards they expect from that research. Researchers need to examine their own practices to ensure that research is meaningful and builds on the work of others. This more demanding regime for VET research demands new skills from researchers and the development of research training programs that ensure the continuing supply of those skills into the VET research community. (Contains 10 references.) (KC)