Representation

• Australian Government Foundation Skills Advisory Group, announced by Minister Brendan O’Connor at the CCA Conference in September 2022
• Australian Government Vocational Education and Training (VET) Industry Stakeholder Committee
• Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) – member of Provider Roundtable
• NSW Department of Education, Adult and Community Education (ACE) Reference Group
• External Referee Group (ERG), National Careers Institute
• VET Student Loans Implementation Advisory Group, Australian Government Department of Education and Training
• NSW Skills Board, NSW Department of Industry – Chair and CEO members of Provider Reference Group – see details of the NSW Skills Board Act 2013
• Victorian ACE Peak Organisations Network, which collaborates on areas of policy to advance adult and community education in Victoria
• Reading and Writing Hotline National Steering Committee
• CCA staff participated as judges in the 2017 and 2020 Australian National Training Awards
• Training Product Reform Joint Working Party, Australian Government Department of Education and Training
• Department of Industry – participant in the peak body VET Reform Agenda
• Department of Industry – member of Unique Student identifier External Reference Group
• NSW Tech Savvy Seniors Project – Steering Committee member
• The National Partnership on Skills Reform – member of NSW Project on Independent Validation of Assessment

Community Colleges Australia also advocates for the community education sector in public, national, regional and other debates on adult and community
education, vocational education and training, government funding for adult education and other post-school education issues.

Recent CCA representation includes:

• Submission to Training Services NSW on Smart and Skilled Program 2023/24 Allocations and Operations, 22 June 2023 – Link to submission (PDF)
• Submission on Jobs and Skills Australia to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, 10 February 2023 – Link to submission
• Smart and Skilled Provider Expression of Interest: Submission to the NSW Government, 7 December 2022 – Link to submission (PDF)
• What “Free TAFE” Means for Australian Adult and Community Education Providers: A Submission by Community Colleges Australia to Federal and State Skills Ministers, 11 November 2022 – Link to submission (PDF)
• Pre-Budget Submission to the NSW Government: Infrastructure Maintenance Funding for NSW Adult and Community Education Providers, 19 January 2022 – Link to submission and Link to submission summary
• CCA proposes support programs for ACE aged care trainers, students and workers, 2 December 2021
• CCA National ACE Summit Foundation Skills Resolutions FINAL 29 June 2021 – Link to Resolutions
• Statement opposing the expansion of VET Student Loans to Certificate III level (December 2020 and June 2021) – Link to Statement
• Upper Hunter By-Election Background Briefing, 28 April 2021, sent to all major candidates in the May by-election – Link to Briefing
• Submission to Productivity Commission: CCA Response to the Interim Report - National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development, 17 July 2020, link to submission
• Submission to the NSW Government: Infrastructure Maintenance Funding for NSW Adult and Community Education Providers, 7 May 2020, Link to submission; Executive Summary of the Submission - Link
  2019-20 Maintenance Infrastructure Project Photos
• Request to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to re-broadcast two adult basic education TV series, submitted in conjunction with the Reading Writing Hotline, Australian Council for Adult Literacy and Adult Learning Australia, 7 April 2020; link to request
• Submission to the NSW Government: Coronavirus Impacts on NSW Adult and Community Education Providers, 31 March 2020, link to submission Executive Summary
• CCA published its Federal Election Policy Platform in April 2019
• CCA published its NSW Election Policy Platform in March 2019
• CCA joined together with Neighbourhood Houses Victoria, ACE Victoria and Adult Learning Australia to support a Victorian Adult and Community Education (ACE) sector statement (November 2018).
• CCA requested the NSW Government to provide funding to support maintenance costs of community education providers (May 2018); the NSW Deputy Premier wrote to CCA in November 2018 confirming that funding would be provided in 2019/20, with possible extension to future years.
• CCA contributed to the response developed by Neighbourhood Houses Victoria and Adult Learning Australia to the Victorian Government's Future Opportunities for Adult Learners (FOALS) review (August 2018)
• Our call for a new Ministerial Statement on Adult Community Education (June 2016).
• The CCA CEO has recently written an article reinforcing the proposition that the most cost-effective VET policy initiative is to reinvigorate the community education providers and build on their capacity (May 2016).
• CCA has called on all states, territories and the Australian Government to adopt the policy that active membership in a peak vocational education and training industry association be a minimum requirement prior to receiving any government funding.
• A submission to the Productivity Commission on the implications of promoting competition in the vocational education and training sector, with particular attention to the implications for community education providers.

Acknowledgement of Country Community Colleges Australia acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of our land, Australia. CCA acknowledges that our office is located on the traditional lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.