Turning Australian vocational education and training (VET) into a market has disadvantaged learners in regional and rural Australia. While introducing “marketisation” (privatisation) competition into VET was meant to increase quality, responsiveness, efficiency, access and more equitable outcomes, the impact of competition has particularly disadvantaged regional and remote Australia, as well as disadvantaged learners generally. These are the conclusions of Dr Continue Reading

Community Colleges Australia (CCA) has announced the winners of this year’s Community Education Student of the Year Award. The winner of the 2019 Award is Carmel Kentwell (pictured left, and below), a student from Atwea College (formerly WEA Hunter), Newcastle. Carmel grew up in the NSW country town of Warren – northwest of Dubbo, and completed the Certificate III in Continue Reading

The Victorian Government has launched a Ministerial Statement on the Future of Adult Community Education in Victoria 2020-25, the first such comprehensive statement in Australia in many years. The launch, by the Minister for Training and Skills and Minister for Higher Education, Gayle Tierney, marks a long process of consultation and discussion with the state’s not-for-profit community education sector.  (Download the Continue Reading

CCA’s conference in Brisbane next week will feature a noted research and analyst from Ernst & Young (EY), who will talk on the topic “Widening your lens: climate change, sustainability and risk”, with particular applicability to post-secondary education providers in the adult and community education and VET sectors. Christine de Waard (pictured), EY Senior Consultant, Climate Change and Sustainability Services, Continue Reading