10.0 Invest in TAFE
TAFE and Central Queensland University (CQU) offer the highest standard of vocational education and training (VET) at all levels, with nationally accredited programs delivered by a highly qualified and experienced workforce. TAFE Queensland can “make great happen” because TAFE teachers and tutors are at the heart of great. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, TAFE teachers made a significant contribution to the state’s economy. TAFE teachers and tutors:
- reimagined VET programs for modes of online delivery with very short timelines, in line with public health restrictions
- resumed face-to-face delivery, with new pedagogies, in accordance with the public health restrictions
- delivered webinars on cash flow management and business planning
- developed COVID-safe online training short courses and delivered these free of charge for employees in the beauty and hospitality industries
- delivered free online micro-credential courses in a range of skill sets and areas of focus in the community care, customer engagement, food service and medication assistance sectors
- developed micro-credentials and skill sets to promote job opportunities in high demand industries and delivered these free of charge.
TAFE teachers and tutors were delivering these benefits to the Queensland economy while many provided additional support for students in crisis who were employed in insecure jobs in the hospitality sector.
10.1 Prioritise the TAFE EB
The nominal expiry date of the TAFE Educators Certified Agreement 2019 is 30 June 2023. In its 2023/24 budget, the Queensland Government must recognise TAFE Queensland and CQU faces significant workforce challenges and ensure that salary increases can be achieved that will enable TAFE Queensland and CQU to attract and retain highly qualified and experienced teachers and tutors.
10.2 Ensure that 70 per cent of VET training is undertaken in TAFE
The Australian VET funding model that has arisen over the past 20 years has eaten away at the foundation of the TAFE system and impacted upon the educators and students within it. The current “user-pays” philosophy (which has seen increasing amounts of funding move to private providers, many of which fail to provide robust training or comply with the rigours of regulations) has seen TAFE forced to compete against private for-profit sector practices that have variously been described in the Australian Senate Education and Employment References Committee (2015:vii-2) as “exploitative”, demonstrating “evidence of rampant abuse,” and delivering “massive profits at the public expense”.
Queensland has a proud history of delivering high quality VET that benefits Queensland workers, industries, and communities. KPMG’s assessment of TAFE’s value to the Queensland economy found that more than 250 per cent is added to every dollar of investment in TAFE. These findings are supported by Centre for Future Work, which found that, at a national level, the TAFE system costs $5.7 billion per annum but supports $92.5 billion in annual economic benefits (Pennington 2020).
TAFE’s value adding to the Queensland economy is at risk. The Queensland Government must act to break the stranglehold of the discredited funding model and restore the right of all Queenslanders to access high quality, public vocational education and training in their local communities or regional centres.
The new federal government was elected with a commitment to allocate 70 per cent of the federal training and skills budget to the public sector, including TAFE and CQU. The likely impact of this federal commitment is the appearance of increased funding in Queensland’s Department of Training revenue. The QTU calls on the Queensland Government to ensure that increases from the federal government flow to TAFE and CQU, and that the Queensland budget commits a minimum of 70 per cent of the state’s training budget to these institutions. The increased allocation must be without the requirement for growth through efficiencies, and should recognise that TAFE is the leader of quality in the provision of VET.
10.3 Invest in TAFE capital works
The QTU believes that investment in skills and training is an investment in this state’s future, and we applaud the Queensland Government’s Equipping TAFE for Our Future program, which is rebuilding regional TAFE facilities to support local and emerging industries. The QTU calls on the Queensland Government to continue to deliver a capital works program for TAFE that ensures that every community has access to fit-for-purpose state of the art training facilities.
RECOMMENDATIONS
59. Prioritise the TAFE EB and commit to higher salaries and better conditions for TAFE employees to attract and retain the TAFE teaching workforce.
60. Ensure that 70 per cent of funding for VET is allocated to the TAFE sector.
61. Invest in TAFE capital works and infrastructure.
QTU State Budget Submission 2023-24