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.
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.
During the development stage, key stakeholders, including subject matter experts, are engaged and consulted to gather further information and begin investigating potential solutions.
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.
As part of consensus gathering, we check our work with stakeholders to confirm that solutions are in line with expectations.
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.