COAG ministers meet to discuss VET reform as skills shortages in ECEC bite

Ministers from the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) will meet in Brisbane this morning to attempt to reach an agreement on national Vocational Education and Training (VET) reform. 

The outcome of the meeting will be of interest to those in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector, where skills shortages are escalating, and a number of state governments are rolling out incentive schemes in the hopes of attracting more people to the profession. 

During the meeting the proposed National Partnership Agreement between the Commonwealth and the states which determines the future direction of the training system and its funding will be considered. 

Speaking about the significance of the occasion, Ai Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox said “now is not the time for the Federal Government and their state counterparts to emphasise points of difference. Industry, the education and training sector and the wider community need a national agreement now on how best to lift productivity and fill our emerging skills gaps and needs. A failure to do so will have significant economic and social consequences for decades to come.”

The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) is an employer organisation which represents tradition, innovative and emerging industries and sectors, representing the interests of more than 60,000 businesses employing more than 1 million staff. 

Mr Willox said the broader Australian community “are reliant upon a high quality, cohesive, appropriately funded national training system to help boost productivity, to tackle this current and future skilling imperative and to create a greater range of economic and social opportunities for the domestic workforce.” 

Ai called on COAG to prioritise the establishment of the National Skills Commission, which they believe provides “a unique opportunity to elevate national VET reform in the interests of the nation.” 

The outcome of the COAG meeting as it relates to both VET and ECEC specifically will be shared by The Sector once it comes to hand. 

To follow the outcome in the meantime, please see here.