Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to rise this morning to speak on behalf of the coalition in my capacity as deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training Committee on the Shared vision, equal pathways report, which is about the inquiry into the perceptions and status of vocational education and training. I'd like to thank the chair, Lisa Chesters, the member for Bendigo, and all the committee members for their genuine engagement in this most important of inquiries. I'd also like to thank the committee staff, headed by the secretary, Fran Denny, for their excellent work, and all those who gave evidence, submitted submissions and attended hearings, either public or private, in person or remotely. You have certainly opened my eyes to some of the challenges that we face.

I was very excited when this inquiry was launched, as I come from a generation where most of the school leavers, particularly boys, left after attaining their junior certificate after completing year 10. It was mainly those who wanted to attend university that continued on to year 12. This, of course, has resulted in what we see now: a shortage of tradies. For a couple of decades, out of good motivation, we have encouraged our children to get a degree, even if they weren't suited to or desirous of getting a university degree. It got to the point where, as a society, we were basically, either subconsciously or consciously, treating people without a degree as second-class citizens, to our own detriment. I'm very pleased that this attitude is slowly changing and that those with VET qualifications are valued as much by society as those with a university degree. Supply and demand issues will have this effect.

On most things, we as a committee agreed, and I support, in the main, the final report, but as coalition members we have included the following additional comments:

1.2 Members are concerned that the recommendations overlook the role of private registered training organisations (RTOs). For example, zero of the report's 34 recommendations mention the inclusion of private RTOs. This goes against the will of secondary education providers who stated in paragraph 4.133 that they preferred to engage with private RTOs due to their ability to be flexible and more cost effective.

1.3 Furthermore, in discussing the Government's recent Australian Universities Accord, the Minister for Education almost exclusively refers to university and TAFE while refusing to recognise the substantial number of students who choose to study with an RTO.

1.4 As such, members are concerned that private RTOs have been forgotten about in the recommendations of the final report where there is a strong emphasis on government providers and Members request that RTOs be considered alongside TAFE as part of the report's recommendations. Doing so will provide choice for students and secondary schools between public and private education providers.

1.5 We believe that Government should be supporting both public and private RTOs equally to provide the best outcomes for all.

It was interesting to speak during the inquiry to several employers that said that, if they were faced with two applicants with similar qualifications, the applicant with the qualification from an NGO provider would, in their eyes, have an edge when getting the job advertised. This is another reason why we believe that greater emphasis must be given to private RTOs, while ensuring that we have a strong TAFE sector. Neither TAFE nor private NGOs on their own are the solution, but together they can be.

I commend the report to the House.

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