Vocational Education Training in Australia - Literature review Example

The changes have not only taken place in the social life and economic foundations but also on the competencies, skills, and knowledge that is applied to the job market. Dempsey (2013, p.18) noted that there is a similarity in the driving forces which are changes in structure and nature of work that caused dramatic shifts from agrarian to industrial later to knowledge era and beyond. During this period, the changes are caused by issues such as trade and communications globalization, technological advancements, economic and social life changes, health and social conditions improvements, and demographic differences.

So how did the country manage to secure such achievements to incorporate VET in their education programs? The following is a narrative of the revolutions that took place from 1995 to 2005 to enable Australia to have remarkable success with the VET program. According to Victoria Auditor-General (2006, p. 10), 30.2% of the total Australians between 15-64 years were accredited with VET qualification in 2004. In the same year, there were 27% apprenticeships and traineeships for publicly-funded VET and 20% VET activity in Victoria.

In the 1990s, the country introduced the Australian Apprenticeships, National Training Framework (NTF), Training Packages Developments, and VET in schools. Similarly, there was the development of working standards, and formal training complements for the VET trainers, assessors, and teachers. Consequently, from 1994 to 1999, the Workplace Trainer Category 2 (WTC 2) was endorsed nationally. Nevertheless, in 1998, WTC 2 was replaced by the Training Package for Assessment and Workplace Training (BSZ40198), also Certificate IV level, which facilitated the assessment and delivery of VET teachers to the workplaces (Dempsey, 2013, p. 26). Dempsey (2013, p.26) stated that the Certificate IV level was criticized for the lack of attention to the unique demands that learning required in some industries and embracing of the learners’ diversity in VET during Assessment and Workplace Training.