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Background

A Brief History of NVEAC & Equity Reform

ANTA puts a focus on achieving equitable outcomes

It is over twelve years since the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) established the ANTA Disability Forum and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Training Advisory Council (ATSIPTAC) to provide much-needed focus on creating opportunities for people with disabilities and Indigenous Australians to successfully participate in training leading to employment. The Disability Forum and ATSIPTAC produced Bridging Pathways and Partners in a Learning Culture, Australia’s national strategies for disability and Indigenous reform in the training system that have been guiding the reform process ever since.

Following Ministerial endorsement of the strategies, the ANTA Disability Forum and ATSIPTAC were replaced by the Australian Disability Training Advisory Council (ADTAC) and the Australian Indigenous Training Advisory Council (AITAC) which oversaw the implementation of the strategies and provided advice to government. Each produced a mid-term review of the respective strategies that provided more practical focus on the reform process.

During this time ANTA also produced a national policy paper for women in Vocational Education and Training (VET) called Women: Shaping Our Future and a national strategy for people in corrections called National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training for Adult Prisoners and Offenders in Australia.

Following the transfer of responsibility for the national training system from ANTA to the Commonwealth, a short-term Action Group - the Client and Student Voice Action Group (CSVAG) was established for a 12-month period to provide advice to the Ministerial Council for Vocational and Technical Education (MCVTE) on a new structure to provide leadership to the equity reform process at the national level.

What happened in 2007 & 2008?

Following an extensive national consultation process in 2006, advice from the Client and Student Voice Action Group (CSVAG) saw the establishment of new national VET equity advisory arrangements by MCVTE for a two-year period from the beginning of 2007 until the end of 2008.

The advisory arrangements comprised three National VET Advisory Taskforces (Indigenous, Disability and Equity) and a National VET Advisory Alliance which reported to the National Senior Officials Committee (NSOC – comprising the Chief Executives for the Training Authorities in each state and territory and chaired by the Australian Government) and MCVTE. Each of the taskforces had two co-chairs: an influential leader from the client group(s) that the taskforce represented and an NSOC representative. The Advisory Alliance comprised the co-chairs of each of the Taskforces plus a member of the National Industry Skills Council (NISC).

The key objectives of the three Taskforces were to see improvements in the following areas for their client groups:

• sustainable employment outcomes;
• higher level qualification attainments;
• effective transitions from school or community;
• participation rates; and
• the capacity of the VET system to contribute to addressing whole-of-life barriers to training and employment.

NVEAC is established

At the end of its two year term, the Advisory Alliance proposed a single national VET equity advisory body from 2009. In November 2008, Ministers agreed to the establishment of the new equity advisory body: the National VET Equity Advisory Council (NVEAC).

Sourced from the National VET Advisory Taskforces ‘Joint Communiqué to Stakeholders’ – April 2009

Timeline

Print this page | last updated: 11 Aug 2009 3:27pm