The responsibility for the development of training packages will pass from Industry Skills Councils to a new model of Industry Reference Committees supported by Skills Service Organisations. The Australian Industry and Skills Committee will have overall responsibility to endorse qualifications, advise on VET quality instruments and provide industry input into VET research and the ministerial council.
"These new arrangements retain industry at the centre of training package development and the determination of the skills needed for the increasingly competitive and technologically advanced economy," Innes Willox, the Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group said.
"A further advantage of the new model will be the efficiencies achieved by reducing administration and duplication as well as prioritising training package work according to industry needs. In the current climate it remains a high priority to achieve available efficiencies", Willox said.
The Department of Education and Training will organise an open competitive grants process to select organisations to provide Skills Service Organisation services. A small number of these will be established from October and the new model will be fully operational from 1 January 2016.
An orderly transition will be a feature of these new arrangements and Industry Skills Councils will deal with any urgent issues until the new model is fully established.
These new arrangements are the result of an extensive stakeholder consultation process conducted over recent months. They were announced by Senator Simon Birmingham, Assistant Minister for Education and Training, at the Melbourne office of the Australian Industry Group.
