The Minister for Industry, The Hon Ian Macfarlane MP announced reforms
to vocational and education training (VET) at the recent National Skills Summit
in Canberra.
Welcoming the announcement, the Australian Institute of Building (AIB) commended
the Federal Government and Minister Macfarlane for the review of the VET sector.
AIB has a keen interest in ensuring effective operation of the VET sector to provide
for the best possible outcomes for construction professionals, industry,
government and consumers.
Mr Robert Hunt, AIB Chief Executive Officer observes that training should
be aligned to industry needs, adding that students and industry need to have
confidence that training undertaken is highly relevant to industry
requirements.
Apart from establishing an advisory committee of industry
representatives to make the national training system as efficient and effective
as possible, an independent review of the training regulator, the Australian
Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), should also be conducted to enhance the
efficiency and productivity of the VET sector.
Having long called for better auditing of
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and improved regulation of the sector,
AIB believes the proposed reforms are a definite step in the right direction.
