A Blueprint for building a sustainable VET workforce

The Australian Government, in collaboration with states and territories, has released the VET Workforce Blueprint to help grow Australia’s VET workforce. It has been informed by consultations with stakeholders and expert advice from the VET Workforce Blueprint Steering Group. 

The Blueprint identifies opportunities and actions to attract, retain, develop and support the sustainability of Australia’s VET workforce. It provides a long-term roadmap that will be responsive to changes in the VET sector and the economy.

There are 3 key goals of the Blueprint:

• Growing the workforce: Increasing the number of people entering the VET workforce to ensure long-term supply of staff to support quality training.

• Retaining and developing the workforce: Improving retention and supporting workforce capability to ensure a sustainable, highly skilled and quality VET workforce.

• Understanding the workforce: Developing data collection systems for the VET workforce and undertaking foundational work and research to better understand the various roles and pathways across all VET contexts.

An initial suite of agreed national actions will be led by the Commonwealth in response to the Blueprint. They include:

• occupational mapping for the VET workforce

• a VET workforce data strategy

• an ongoing research program for key workforce issues

• mapping and analysing compliance and administrative burden to inform strategies to reduce this burden.

Governments will also continue to work together through the National Skills Agreement on further actions to strengthen the VET workforce. The Australian Government is investing up to $100 million over 5 years to respond to the Blueprint. This includes $70 million for state and territory initiatives, with matched funding from states and territories, and $30 million to support agreed areas of national action.

The Jobs and Skills Councils are also undertaking industry-led initiatives that respond to VET workforce challenges faced by the industries within their remit. These will complement and contribute to the opportunities and actions identified in the VET Workforce Blueprint. An investment of $12 million has been made to support this work.

To support the development of the Blueprint, Jobs and Skills Australia undertook a VET Workforce Study to provide an evidence base and profile the VET workforce to build a better understanding of the size, composition, characteristics and transitions of the current workforce. It also considers the key job roles and pathways into, within and out of the sector.

The VET Workforce Blueprint and the VET Workforce Study are available through the Department of Employment and Workplace Relation’s website.