Publications - December 2009

Training Today for Tomorrow - Challenging the VET Sysytem in SA

Date : 2009-12-02 16:41:12

Business SA, as South Australia's leading business organisation, represents many thousand of businesses across all industry sectors, ranging in size from micro-business to multinational companies. 

Skills and workforce development issues at the state and national level present both a challenge and an opportunity to the South Australian business community and it is in this regard that Business SA's Training Today for Tomorrow has been developed.

While talk of economic recovery ebbs and flows, productivity in Australia will always rely on a highly skilled and educated workforce.

A vibrant, resourceful and innovative education and training sector is criticle to a buoyant South Australian economy, if we are to fully capitalise on future opportunities.

Now is not the time to be complacent. Instead, it's time for change - bold change.

To provide certainty for business and ensure our prosperity continues well into the foreseeable future, there is no doubt that now is the time for a courageous and resolute approach to changes in education and training in South Australia.

In the wake of national vocational education and training developments, the State Government is putting steps in place to tackle skill challenges with its “Skills for Jobs” plan. However significant reform will be needed to have a major impact on the future of South Australia’s ability to be competitive in a global marketplace.
 
Unfortunately, current reform measures fail to address a number of persistent legislative, operational and procedural issues that continue to inhibit the effective operation of the vocational education and training system in South Australia.
 
This document is a call to action to ensure that in future the State has the right skills, at the right time, at the right level, delivered in the right way and at the right cost.
 
Business SA invites South Australia’s key decision makers to heed and endorse the recommendations contained in Trainng Today for Tomorrow.

 

Robert Atkins

Business SA President
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