Across Australia’s regional, rural and remote areas, the vocational education and training (VET) sector is challenged in growing and sustaining a workforce who can suitably train workers for our essential industries – creating a need for practical, feasible and industry-led attraction and retention solutions for the VET workforce.
Click across the tabs to view active and completed project stages. Consultation takes place at every stage of the project.
Skills Insight will explore the challenges facing regional, rural and remote registered training providers (RTOs) in attracting and retaining educators and trainers across 13 sectors within the agribusiness, fibre, furnishing, food, animal and environment care industries.
RTOs support industries in developing a skilled workforce that can safely and efficiently complete work. They provide a national standard of formal accreditation and skills recognition to support workforce consistency.
The project’s findings and potential solutions will support the the Skills and Workforce Ministerial Council’s blueprint to sustain qualified trainers and assessors throughout Australia, as well as guide future research. Further industry analysis for the blueprint will come from the other Jobs and Skills Councils, along with Jobs and Skills Australia’s VET Workforce Study.
Skills Insight works across agribusiness, fibre, furnishing, food, animal and environment care industries, uniquely placing us where we can dig deep into regional, rural and remote VET workforce structural challenges and sustainable development pathways.
Get involved
RTOs that are interested in consulting on their workforce’s dynamics should email Diana McNaughton at
[email protected].
Project Goals
The project aims to uncover insights into:
Project Design
Through stakeholder consultation and qualitative research, this project will map VET workforce dynamics in regional, rural and remote areas to understand specific workforce challenges and uncover potential solutions.
The project team will start consultations with a sample of RTO participants and specialist program-focussed providers, who can provide insights into VET challenges and RTO needs for workforce development.
VET workforce research will also include national, state and territory data on demographics, diversity, employment, VET roles, skills shortages, qualifications, regional and remote distribution, and sector information from industry stakeholders, unions, peak bodies, VET learners, state/territory training authorities, industry training advisory bodies, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Jobs and Skills Australia, and Australian Skills Quality Authority.
A review of initial intelligence and data will later be undertaken to confirm and provide a detailed plan for project work after February 2025.
Initial Report Timeline
Project Team
Diana McNaughton
Project Lead and Stakeholder Engagement, Skills Insight
[email protected]
Ruth Geldard
Project Manager, Skills Insight
[email protected]
Ruth Barnard
Research Specialist, Skills Insight
[email protected]
Skills Insight is undertaking this project to better understand the challenges experienced by registered training providers (RTOs) in attracting and retaining educators in rural, regional and remote Australia. As the Jobs and Skills Council for the agribusiness, fibre, furnishing, food, animal and environment care industries, we are uniquely placed to undertake this work.
The project team have undertaken a series of 30 interviews with a sample group representing training providers from across rural and remote areas (as well as industry-aligned RTOs based in metropolitan areas) working in the agribusiness, fibre, furnishing, food, animal and environment care industries. These took place between October and December 2024. Thank you to everyone who has participated so far.
The team are now analysing the qualitative data collected, so that early analyses can be included within a report to be submitted by the end of February 2025. The report will outline demographic characteristics (for RTOs, teachers, trainers, and assessors), employment and workforce dynamics, geographic and remote work issues, qualifications of the VET workforce and industry support for workforce development.
The February submission will also include a proposal for the next stage of this work. Once the approach is confirmed with the Department of Employment and Workforce Relations (DEWR), we will build on research to date to gather more information. This will include exploring key systematic challenges and the causes behind them, as well as current initiatives and partnerships used across the VET workforce. If you would like to be notified about consultation opportunities, please subscribe to our newsletter and select ‘General news’ as one of your industries of interest.
The project’s findings and potential solutions will be used alongside work from all JSCs and Jobs and Skills Australia to support the Skills and Workforce Ministerial Council’s blueprint for a sustainable VET Workforce and guide future research.
Get involved
Anyone interested in the project, both RTOs and employers, should email Diana McNaughton at [email protected]
Project Goals
The project aims to uncover insights into:
Timeline
Project Team
Diana McNaughton
Project Lead and Stakeholder Engagement, Skills Insight
[email protected]
Ruth Geldard
Project Manager, Skills Insight
[email protected]
Ruth Barnard
Research Specialist, Skills Insight
[email protected]
This stage has not yet commenced.
At the broad consultation stage, we present and discuss potential solutions, collecting feedback from a wide range of stakeholder across the country. It follows consultation with various stakeholders that has already taken place throughout the project.
This stage has not yet commenced.
At the finalisation stage, final checks are conducted and the outcomes of the project are submitted to the Department for consideration. Following this, outcomes are published or enacted.