Report on Government Services 2017

Volume B, Chapter 5

Vocational education and training

This chapter reports performance information for government-funded vocational education and training (VET) in Australia.

Please note: An errata was released with this chapter. The files below have been updated to reflect the changes.

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Key Facts
Indicator Framework
Indicator Results
Indigenous Data

The Australian, State and Territory governments’ recurrent expenditure (excluding user cost of capital) on VET totalled $5.4 billion in 2015 — in real terms this represents a decrease of 2.1 per cent from 2014, but an overall increase of 8.0 per cent from 2006).

Nationally in 2015:

around 1.2 million government‑funded VET students were enrolled in 1.6 million courses, with these courses delivered by 1978 RTOs at 35 179 locations. Overall, 7.6 per cent of the Australian population aged 15–64 years participated in government‑funded training
there were around 479 700 qualifications completed by government‑funded VET students. The majority of qualifications completed were at AQF Certificate level III or IV (63.8 per cent), followed by AQF Certificate level II or lower (23.0 per cent) and AQF Diploma level or above (13.2 per cent)
86.8 per cent of all government‑funded VET graduates indicated that they were satisfied with the quality of their completed training.

The VET system, as outlined in the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development (NASWD), aims to:

deliver a productive and highly skilled workforce
enable all Australians to participate effectively in the labour market and contribute to Australia’s economic future
contribute to increasing the skill levels of the working aged population.

The NASWD also acknowledges that the VET system has a particular aim to address the needs of individuals experiencing disadvantage or disengagement. To achieve this, the Australian, State and Territory governments aim to create a national training system that:

is accessible to all working age Australians
meets the needs of students, by providing them with the opportunity to develop the skills and capabilities needed both for improved economic participation and participation in society
is accessible to and engages with Australian businesses and industries to develop, harness and use the skills and abilities of the workforce
meets the needs of employers, by supporting the skill needs of Australian industry and which appropriately responds to areas of future jobs growth
is centred on quality teaching and learning outcomes.

Governments aim for a national training system that meets these objectives in an equitable and efficient manner.

The performance indicator framework provides information on equity, efficiency and effectiveness, and distinguishes the outputs and outcomes of VET services. The performance indicator framework shows which data are complete and comparable in the 2017 Report.

Indicator framework

An overview of the VET performance indicator results are presented. Information to assist the interpretation of these data can be found in the indicator interpretation boxes in the VET chapter and attachment tables.

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Equity — Access indicators

VET participation by target group

Participation rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians aged 15–64 years, 2015

Most recent data for this measure are not comparable but are complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
%	19.9	18.2	11.1	19.0	15.4	8.9	12.2	16.9	16.1

Source: Attachment table 5A.12

Effectiveness — Access indicators

Student participation in VET

Participation rate for the population aged 15–64 years, 2015

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
%	6.5	9.6	7.0	7.2	7.6	8.6	6.1	12.2	7.6

Source: Attachment table 5A.12

Effectiveness — Appropriateness indicators

Students who achieve their main reason for training

Proportion of government funded VET graduates who indicated that they achieved or partly achieved their main reason for doing the course, 2015

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
Helped achieve main reason	67.1 ± 1.1	60.8 ± 2.4	62.1 ± 2.2	69.8 ± 1.3	64.1 ± 2.1	68.8 ± 2.1	68.6 ± 3.2	79.2 ± 3.0	64.5 ± 0.9
Partly helped achieve main reason	15.2 ± 0.9	16.2 ± 1.9	14.6 ± 1.7	14.3 ± 1.0	16.2 ± 1.6	14.4 ± 1.6	15.2 ± 2.6	10.6 ± 2.4	15.3 ± 0.7

Source: Attachment table 5A.21

Employer engagement with VET

Proportion of employers who in the last twelve months had employees with formal vocational qualifications as a requirement of their job, 2015

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
%	39.6 ± 3.8	31.2 ± 3.5	39.5 ± 4.1	38.3 ± 4.0	30.7 ± 3.7	34.8 ± 4.7	33.2 ± 3.5	42.7 ± 4.8	36.6 ± 1.9

Source: Attachment table 5A.33

Effectiveness — Quality indicators

Student satisfaction with quality of training

Proportion of government funded VET graduates who were satisfied with the quality of their completed VET course, 2015

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
%	88.9 ± 0.8	84.1 ± 1.8	86.3 ± 1.7	87.8 ± 1.0	88.5 ± 1.4	88.8 ± 1.5	84.9 ± 2.5	87.0 ± 2.7	86.8 ± 0.7

Source: Attachment table 5A.27

Qualification completion rate

Program completion rate for all government-funded students plus fee-for-service students of government providers (TAFEs and other), commencing 2014

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
%	38.6	35.9	43.9	37.6	32.8	35.8	39.4	35.3	38.0

Source: Attachment table 5A.35

Subject load pass rate (government funded VET), 2015

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
%	79.0	79.5	93.3	83.5	86.8	81.4	84.5	81.9	83.0

Source: Attachment table 5A.36

Employer satisfaction with VET

Proportion of employers who were engaged with the VET system in the last 12 months, and were satisfied with VET in meeting their skill needs — Satisfaction with formal vocational qualifications as a job requirement, 2015

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
%	73.7 ± 5.7	79.1 ± 5.2	75.9 ± 5.8	78.9 ± 5.6	77.7 ± 6.1	79.6 ± 5.8	77.9 ± 5.8	76.1 ± 6.4	76.2 ± 2.8

Source: Attachment table 5A.34

Efficiency — Inputs per output unit indicators

Government recurrent expenditure per annual hour

Government recurrent expenditure (including User Cost of Capital) per government funded annual hour, 2015

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
$	25.22	10.76	14.32	18.48	18.44	19.72	20.42	28.15	16.16

Source: Attachment table 5A.43

Outcome indicators

Student employment and further study outcomes

Proportion of government funded VET graduates who were employed and/or continued on to further study in 2015 after completing their course in 2014

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
%	85.5 ± 0.8	82.9 ± 1.9	81.7 ± 1.9	88.5 ± 0.9	87.6 ± 1.5	88.1 ± 1.4	91.8 ± 1.8	89.4 ± 2.3	84.6 ± 0.7

Source: Attachment table 5A.44

Proportion of government funded VET graduates who improved their employment circumstances after training, 2015

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
%	58.8 ± 1.2	54.7 ± 2.5	59.4 ± 2.3	61.0 ± 1.4	60.4 ± 2.2	61.0 ± 2.2	63.6 ± 3.3	65.9 ± 3.7	58.2 ± 1.0

Source: Attachment table 5A.57

Student completions and qualifications

Qualifications completed by working aged VET students, per 1000 people aged 15–64 years, 2015

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
no.	22.4	37.5	36.9	26.8	25.9	28.5	27.9	28.9	30.1

Source: Attachment table 5A.73

Students who improved education status

Proportion of graduates with improved education/training status after training, of all AQF qualifications completed, 2015

Most recent data for this measure are comparable and complete, subject to caveats
	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
%	62.1	75.2	72.1	60.9	52.2	56.1	41.8	61.9	67.5

Source: Attachment table 5A.81

Notes

These data and caveats for these data are available in chapter 5 and attachment 5A.

Some percentages reported in these tables include 95 per cent confidence intervals (for example, 80 per cent ± 2.7 per cent).

Performance indicator data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this chapter are available in the attachment tables listed below. Contextual data and further supporting information can be found in the chapter.

Indigenous vocational education and training data
Table number	Table title
	Participation
Table 5A.12	Government-funded VET participation, by target age group and Indigenous status
Table 5A.18	Government-funded VET participation by Indigenous status (per cent)
Table 5A.19	Government-funded VET participation in Certificate III and above, by target age group and Indigenous status
Table 5A.20	Government-funded VET participation in diploma and above, by target age group and Indigenous status
	Achieved main reason
Table 5A.22	Whether course helped graduates achieve their main reason for undertaking training, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander graduates (per cent)
Table 5A.23	Whether course helped graduates achieve their main reason for undertaking training, non-Indigenous graduates (per cent)
	Student satisfaction
Table 5A.28	Proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander graduates who were satisfied with the quality of their completed course, by purpose of study (per cent)
Table 5A.29	Proportion of non-Indigenous graduates who were satisfied with the quality of their completed course, by purpose of study (per cent)
	Qualification completion rate
Table 5A.36	Government-funded subject load pass rates by Indigenous status (per cent)
	Employment and further study outcomes
Table 5A.45	Proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander government-funded VET graduates in employment and/or continued on to further study after completing a course
Table 5A.46	Proportion of non-Indigenous VET graduates in employment and/or continued on to further study after completing a course
Table 5A.51	Labour force status after the course of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander VET graduates who were unemployed prior to the course (per cent)
Table 5A.52	Labour force status after the course of non-Indigenous VET graduates who were unemployed prior to the course (per cent)
Table 5A.56	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander VET graduates who undertook their course for employment related reasons, by job related benefits (per cent)
Table 5A.59	Proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander VET graduates who improved their employment circumstances after training
Table 5A.60	Proportion of non-Indigenous VET graduates who improved their employment circumstances after training
Table 5A.61	Proportion of VET graduates who improved their employment circumstances after training, by Indigenous status
Table 5A.63	Proportion of VET graduates aged 20–64 years who improved their employment circumstances after training, by Indigenous status
	Completions and qualifications
Table 5A.70	Number of government-funded VET qualifications completed by students, by course level and Indigenous status, preliminary — all ages
Table 5A.71	Number of government-funded VET qualifications completed by students, by course level and Indigenous status, preliminary — students aged 18–24 years
Table 5A.72	Number of government-funded VET qualifications completed by students, by course level and Indigenous status, preliminary — students aged 20–64 years
Table 5A.73	Number of government-funded VET qualifications completed by students, by course level and Indigenous status, preliminary — students aged 15–64 years
Table 5A.74	Government-funded qualification equivalents, by course level and Indigenous status
Table 5A.78	Government-funded units of competency and modules completed, by Indigenous status
	Improved education status
Table 5A.79	Government-funded VET qualification completions with improved education/training status after training, by Indigenous status, all students
Table 5A.80	Government-funded VET qualification completions with improved education/training status after training, by Indigenous status, students aged 20–64 years