NSW TAFE Commission Board Submission to the Commonwealth House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Employment’S Inquiry Into TAFE

NSW TAFE Commission Board submission to the Commonwealth House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Employment’s Inquiry into TAFE

Introduction

The NSW TAFE Commission Board (the TAFE Board) appreciates the opportunity to contribute to the Commonwealth House of Representatives Standing Committee (the Committee) on Education and Employment’s Inquiry into the role of the TAFE system and its operation (TAFE Inquiry).

The Board provides strategic direction for TAFE NSW and advice to the NSW Minister for Education. TAFE NSW is an innovative and dynamic organisation offering customised training solutions catering to diverse learner, industry and community stakeholders and supporting economic development across the State.

On 1 May 2013, the Board made a comprehensive submission to the previous 2013 House of Representatives Inquiry into the role of TAFE. The Board supports this Committee considering both this submission and the Board’s previous submission as part of its current deliberations.

Although this additional submission makes no new recommendations, it provides supplementary information highlighting recent State and national developments that impact on TAFE NSW. This submission provides an overview of the role of TAFE NSW and focuses on:

 how this role is articulated in the NSW Government’s Statement of Owner Expectations  how TAFE NSW provides social and economic value for individuals, communities and the State  TAFE NSW’s strong industry focus and relationships.

This additional information highlights the role of TAFE NSW as the public provider of vocational education and training (VET) in NSW.

TAFE NSW – value proposition

In our 2013 submission, the Board recommended that the Commonwealth “publicly articulates the role and value of TAFE and the essential contribution TAFE makes nationally to the economy, community and in addressing disadvantage”.

Subsequently, on 28 August 2013, the NSW Minister for Education, the Hon. Adrian Piccoli MP, released the NSW TAFE Commission Statement of Owner Expectations (the Statement). The Statement is unique in Australia and explicitly recognises the critical role of TAFE as the public provider supporting achievement of the economic and social priorities of the State. It is framed by NSW 2021: A plan to make NSW number one and sets out new directions that will ensure TAFE NSW services remain efficient, effective and relevant in the new competitive environment.

The Statement sets specific objectives for TAFE NSW as the public VET provider, not least of all providing stability throughout the reform process. TAFE NSW will continue to be the backbone of the training system in NSW. This includes setting the benchmark for quality, supporting the NSW Government’s economic priorities and increasing individuals’ workforce capability.

As the State’s public provider, TAFE NSW will continue to receive some direct public funding, but is expected to compete for entitlement funding, increase its commercial revenue and decrease its reliance on government funding.

The Statement sets out TAFE NSW’s critical role providing access to a broad range of high quality training for people regardless of where they live or their circumstances. This includes providing specialist and accessible training services, foundation skills and second chance education options to ensure that people who face disadvantage can gain the education and skills they need for the workforce. TAFE NSW will continue to have ownership and management of its capital assets to determine the best local and responsive forms of delivery.

The Statement outlines new governance and budget arrangements for TAFE NSW including:

 greater separation from the Department of Education and Communities (including the October 2012 decision to separate the position of Managing Director from that of the Secretary of Education and Communities)  a separate and distinct budget for TAFE NSW allowing it to operate as a distinct financial entity with greater transparency  greater authority and accountability for TAFE NSW Institutes as separate entities wholly owned and controlled by TAFE NSW  greater authority within an agreed accountability framework for Institutes to manage their finances, assets and workforces.

The Statement requires the Board to submit an annual Statement of Business Intent to the Minister, identifying major risks and critical areas of performance accountability.

The Minister’s Statement of Owner Expectations can be downloaded from: www.tafensw.edu.au/about/soe.

Let’s Talk about TAFE

The new directions outlined in the Statement, were informed by TAFE NSW’s largest ever public consultation, Let's Talk about TAFE. It was conducted by the Board in 2013 at the request of the NSW Minister for Education. It sought feedback on what the people of NSW value about TAFE NSW, how effective it is in meeting industry and community needs and how TAFE NSW needs to adapt in a changing environment.

The Let’s talk about TAFE project consisted of a representative survey (conducted by Newspoll) of 1,905 adults in NSW, 844 detailed responses to an online

2 consultation and 70 face-to-face forums and meetings with students, employers, industry, staff and community and special interest groups.

The independent Newspoll survey found that TAFE NSW is almost universally recognised, with 97 per cent of people aware of TAFE. Of those, 96 per cent say the services provided by TAFE NSW are valuable to the State; 94 per cent say TAFE services are valuable for business and industry; and 97 per cent believe TAFE is very important in providing apprentice training.

Let’s talk about TAFE showed that TAFE NSW is deeply valued as a networked organisation with its state-wide footprint of Institutes; and plays a critical role in skills training across the State, especially in regional and rural areas, by providing a range of quality local training options, and an alternative to university. It also showed that while people in NSW understand and value the significant role TAFE plays, there is recognition that it must adapt to remain relevant and competitive in a changing environment.

The full report of Let’s talk about TAFE was published on 28 August 2013 and can be downloaded from: www.tafensw.edu.au/about/ltat

The TAFE Board has listened to these messages and is considering a range of governance reforms to ensure we develop our commercial and entrepreneurial capabilities to meet the many expectations of our customers and key stakeholders.

TAFE NSW is working closely with TAFE staff to develop new approaches to training delivery as well as business reforms. Last year, following extensive consultation with staff and unions, TAFE NSW successfully negotiated a new Enterprise Agreement for teachers. This Agreement includes a trial of new flexible education support roles and opens up new possibilities in the way TAFE can deliver its services.

Industry focus

Through the Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990 (NSW), TAFE NSW has statutory responsibilities to provide training for individuals and communities in support of the State’s economic and social development. A key role of TAFE NSW is to provide training for the occupations that drive the productivity and growth of New South Wales. This role was reinforced in the NSW Legislative Assembly Committee on Economic Development’s Skill Shortages in NSW1 report.

Overall,… the evidence before the Committee recognised the central role of TAFE NSW as the leading provider of vocational education and training in NSW and that crucial to supporting the economic and social priorities of NSW and to meeting the expectations of the community for a skilled workforce, is that TAFE's priority should be delivering training in areas of skills demand (p.48).

TAFE NSW prioritises the delivery of training to support growing industry areas with strong job prospects. In 2013, TAFE NSW had over 570,000 course enrolments

1 NSW Government, March 2014, as accessed at www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/economicdevelopment

3 across a range of diverse programs covering foundation level courses to Bachelor degrees. Over 105,000 enrolments were in skill shortage occupations such as electricians, childcare workers, enrolled nurses and plumbers. Over 226,000 of these enrolments were by students from regional and remote areas.

In keeping with VET reforms in NSW, there has been a significant shift in enrolments to qualifications on the 2014 NSW Skills List to reflect the State’s changing skills priorities. From 2013 to 2014, there has been a 43 per cent (54,609 enrolments) increase in course enrolments in skills priority qualifications.

Supporting local enterprise

TAFE NSW offers unparalleled breadth and depth of training across its network of ten TAFE NSW Institutes. Each TAFE NSW Institute is embedded within its community, has extensive business and community partnerships and offers training and related services customised to the specific needs of the region including addressing specialist training requirements of regional and remote communities.

For instance, TAFE Western’s Western Connect initiative uses mobile learning units, connected classrooms and online learning to provide training with very isolated and remote communities in the far west of the State and directly where the students live. Western Connect provides training in many areas including early childhood, nursing and health, heavy vehicle driving, conservation earthworks, and welding to students who would otherwise have missed out or had to travel significant distances.

Over 3,200 students gained access to training in 2012 through Western Connect: 28 per cent of these students were Aboriginal and ten per cent had a disability. In 2013, Aboriginal students enrolling in Certificate III qualifications as part of the Western Connect initiative had the best completion ratio in Western TAFE. TAFE Western won a 2013 NSW Premier’s Award for Revitalising Regional NSW.

TAFE NSW has also increased the delivery of work-based and flexible training to better meet the needs of employers and industry across all sectors. Since 2008, TAFE NSW delivery outside the classroom increased from 25 per cent to more than 45 per cent of all delivery. TAFE NSW – Western Sydney Institute recently launched their new entirely flexible course offering Mix + Match. This initiative gives students the choice to start a course at any time and choose how, when and where they will study. The program was designed in response to a Western Sydney Institute student survey which found that approximately 80 per cent want more flexibility, including the flexibility to combine classroom teaching with online. In the future, the Institute will extend Mix + Match to also include work-based delivery.

TAFE NSW collaborates with enterprises to increase the use of skills and promote workforce development solutions. TAFE NSW has a strong track record of partnerships with industry to improve their return on investment and increase productivity. TAFE NSW sets the benchmark for quality through partnerships with organisations like AusGrid, BlueScope Steel, CISCO, Le Cordon Bleu Australia, Telstra, RailCorp, Ramsey Health Care, Racing NSW, Woolworths, and thousands of small and medium enterprises.

The Hunter Business Chamber, the largest regional business chamber in Australia, has worked closely with Hunter TAFE to develop initiatives that have added value to the region’s skill development. In April 2014, the Hunter Business Chamber relocated to the Institute’s Hamilton Campus, strengthening the collaboration. Likewise, TAFE NSW – Riverina Institute hosts the Forest Industry Training Centre at its Tumut Campus. This is a longstanding collaboration with the Forest Industry Council and involves five multi-national forestry firms. The Centre provides specialist training spanning the growth management of forests through to harvesting and processing.

Responding to industry restructures

TAFE NSW Institutes are ideally positioned to respond in a timely way to significant changes in local industry. For instance, TAFE NSW – Illawarra was part of the State Government’s rapid response team that supported retrenched workers from BlueScope Steel in Port Kembla in 2011 TAFE NSW – Illawarra Institute provided career advice and counselling for affected employers and workers

In 2010, TAFE NSW – Illawarra Institute worked closely with Pacific Brands and the region’s Local Employment Coordinator on potential training opportunities and career guidance following approximately 30 workers being made redundant. These workers enrolled in a range of courses from Statements of Attainment to Certificate IV programs in areas such as Aged Care, Baking, Financial Services, Business Administration, Transport Distribution, Horticulture, Children’s Services and Retail.

In 2012, TAFE NSW – North Coast Institute provided training in Business Administration, Forklift Licence, Engineering – Mechanical Trade, Hospitality and Food Safety to workers who were retrenched as a result of closures at South Grafton Abattoirs and Ingham’s Chickens. The Institute also delivered training for the Kempsey Bypass Alliance, a partnership between the NSW Roads and Maritime Services and Leighton Contractors, enabling existing and new workers, many from local Aboriginal communities, to develop their skills to adapt to the fast paced and changing construction industry.

In addition to responding to forecast changes in the level of employment by occupation, TAFE NSW considers the changing nature of skills required for many occupations. Increasingly, industry is demanding stronger interpersonal and people skills as well as higher order skills. TAFE NSW consultations with national Industry Skills Councils indicate the need for problem solving and contingency planning skills at every job level, while basic management, leadership and business skills are also a priority.

For example, TAFE NSW – Northern Sydney Institute recently offered customised workforce development solutions to the Department of Family and Community Services through the Towards a Better Future Project. The Institute provided recognition of prior learning, skills gap training and mentoring so that regional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees could achieve the Vocational Graduate Certificate in Community Services Practice (Statutory Child Protection) and Diploma of Community Services (Case Management).

Partnerships and innovation

The partnership between TAFE NSW – South Western Sydney Institute and Advance Metal Products also exemplifies industry engagement in program design and workplace delivery. The key features of the program include the establishment of a mature age apprenticeship program to provide 50 employees with skills recognition and gap training towards a fabrication trade qualification. TAFE NSW – South Western Sydney Institute was recognised for these and many other innovative initiatives when it won the 2013 Australian Large Training Provider of the Year.

TAFE NSW Institutes’ centres of excellence offer training for specialist occupations as well as for high cost programs in thin but strategic industries. This training often requires specialised and expensive infrastructure. For example, TAFE NSW - Sydney Institute expanded its capacity to support changes in the transport industry by constructing the AutoCel in 2012. This purpose built, state of the art transport technology facility supports training for jobs in light automotive, spare parts, marine, motorcycle and outdoor power equipment. It contains equipment for online simulation, which provides flexible training for students to study on-site or remotely.

TAFE NSW - Sydney Institute, which won the International Training Provider of the Year in 2012, extends access to the TAFE AutoCel facility to Korean high school students through its international partnership with the Busan Automotive Miester High School. Just as TAFE NSW - Sydney Institute supports surrounding high schools with authentic vocational education and training options, these Korean high school students are able to improve their English communication skills and get a taste of the automotive training market in Australia.

Student pathways and higher education

TAFE NSW has always built pathways from school to vocational education and training to universities. As the previous submission highlighted, TAFE NSW has developed a tertiary pathway model that extends access to higher education qualifications through supportive and authentic ‘work ready’ degree programs. Students undertake their first two years of study with TAFE NSW Higher Education, gaining a custom-built TAFE NSW Associate Degree which, on successful completion, will equate to the first two years of each partner university’s relevant Bachelor Degree.

A partnership between the TAFE NSW – New England Institute and the University of New England extends this pathway model in a new type of integrated degree using horizontal articulation. In the fields of Agrifoods Systems and Community Services/Health, students develop vocational skills and knowledge alongside the theoretical knowledge until the final year of the degrees. Students can exit with a variety of qualifications including Certificate IV, Diploma and Advanced Diploma. The program, funded through the Commonwealth Government’s Structural Adjustment Fund, is offered online to be accessible and convenient for a wide range of students.

Since 2011, TAFE NSW has offered a range of specialist higher education courses. TAFE NSW Higher Education qualifications are in niche industry areas and designed

6 to ensure graduates are job ready with both practical and theoretical skills. As at February 2014, there were 708 students enrolled in nine nationally accredited courses at nine locations.

TAFE NSW has deliberately increased delivery of higher level training to help support the State’s economic goals. From 2008 to 2012, the number of TAFE NSW graduates with Certificate III or higher qualifications increased by 41 per cent, from 61,588 to 86,539. Significantly, during this same period Aboriginal student graduates with qualifications at or above Certificate III increased by 83 per cent, from 1,436 to 2,628.

TAFE NSW is ideally placed to support low socio-economic status and otherwise disadvantaged students through vocational programs into higher education programs. To do this TAFE NSW Institutes provide essential student support: contextualised language, literacy and numeracy, disability support, counselling and childcare. An important distinguishing feature of TAFE as a tertiary institution is its supportive learning environment with hands-on practice-based learning and e- learning capability. In 2012, 56 per cent of government funded students in TAFE NSW were from low socio-economic backgrounds and 27 per cent were unemployed.

Commonwealth VET reforms

The Board is aware there will be changes to the Commonwealth Government’s objectives for the VET sector. The Board understands, at a high level, that the Commonwealth will propose reforms to improve outcomes for students and align VET activity to the needs of industry. The Board strongly supports these principles. The Board is, however, unclear about changes being considered to the regulatory arrangements. This uncertainty may be shortly clarified by Ministers and/or by the Council of Australian Governments. In the interim, the Board would be willing to discuss with the Committee its previous support for related reforms, such as the review of the National VET Regulation Standards and total VET activity data collection.

Recommendations

Within the context of these recent developments, the Board reiterates its earlier recommendations, that the Commonwealth Government:

1. publicly articulates the essential contribution TAFE makes nationally to the economy, community and in addressing disadvantage noting the NSW Government’s Statement of Owner Expectations

2. increases Commonwealth funding for vocational education and training (VET) by at least the Consumer Price Index (CPI) per annum to work towards parity between the education sectors

3. amends the rules regarding the National Workforce Development Fund to allow training providers to have direct access to funds to facilitate and support the engagement of small and medium enterprises

4. extends the streamlined visa processing and post-study work rights available to international students enrolling in universities to students enrolling in public TAFE institutions

5. strengthens the recognition of the role TAFE in providing tertiary pathways by:  acknowledging of the contribution, capacity and quality of TAFE Institutes as tertiary providers  agreeing to the provision of Commonwealth Supported Places higher education funding for public TAFE Higher Education providers to deliver undergraduate degrees in skill priority areas linked to low socioeconomic targets  consulting with stakeholders to develop a principles-based framework that encourages TAFE and higher education collaborations to make the most efficient use of public funding and facilities

6. increases the level of funding available to the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) to support a higher level of quality under revised national standards for National VET Regulator registered training providers

7. promotes opportunities for States to work together to ensure that their students, employers and training providers in cross border regions are not disadvantaged and can benefit from VET reforms.

Conclusion

TAFE NSW drives a strong economy and supports vibrant communities by developing the skills that individuals, enterprises and communities need to thrive. The Board is committed to ensuring that TAFE NSW maintains its focus on providing quality training during and after the current reforms. The Board welcomes the opportunity to contribute further evidence to this inquiry.