A more comprehensive picture of Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) workforce is now available, with a recent survey showing 246 167 people were employed at registered training organisations (RTOs) as at February 2019, including 45 628 employees at TAFEs and 200 539 employees at other RTOs.
The report Understanding the Australian vocational and education training workforce, compiled by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), also shows that 29% of the total VET workforce (71 379 workers) were employed as trainers and assessors, with the proportion of these workers higher at larger RTOs.
“In this rapidly changing economy, a comprehensive profile of the current VET workforce is essential to ensuring the sector has the capacity to meet the skill development needs of industry, now and into the future” said Simon Walker, Managing Director, NCVER.
“Currently there is no consistent, regular collection of data on the VET workforce, and the last study was released by the Productivity Commission in 2011.”
The report presents estimates of the size and nature of the Australian VET workforce as at February 2019, including the number of trainers and assessors employed and the qualifications they hold.
Data was collected between March and May 2019 from RTOs delivering nationally recognised training via the 2019 National VET Workforce Survey.
It shows that, of people employed as trainers and assessors, 93.3% had a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment or higher, and 89.4% had a Certificate III or higher qualification related to their industry or field of training delivery.
“It’s important to note that the survey did not include trainers and assessors employed at non-RTOs that have third party partnership arrangements with RTOs, such as some schools and businesses,” Mr Walker said.
“This means that the size of the national trainer and assessor workforce is likely to be under-estimated. However, the figures provided will still be of enormous use to VET sector stakeholders when making decisions regarding the VET workforce as a whole.”
The report Understanding the Australian vocational and education training workforce is now available on the NCVER Portal.
Media enquiries: Helen Wildash, PR and Social Media Officer M: 0448 043 148 E: helenwildash@ncver.edu.au
About NCVER: we are the principal provider of research, statistics and data on Australia’s VET sector. Our services help promote better understanding of VET and assist policy-makers, practitioners, industry, training providers, and students to make informed decisions.
This work has been produced by NCVER on behalf of the Australian Government and state and territory governments, with funding provided through the Australian Government Department for Education, Skills and Employment.