Information from the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) indicates that training within New Apprenticeships is more flexible than traditional apprenticeships and traineeships. The ability of employers and employees to select a training provider of their choice, providing that it is registered in their state or territory, is known as…

This document focuses on investigations of three main issues of "User Choice," which has been applied to New Apprenticeships since 1998. The issues are as follows: (1) why some firms do not access User Choice when arranging training for their trainees and apprentices; (2) whether the size of the firm has a significant impact on User…

Data from an Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry survey of approximately 350 employers were reanalyzed to determine the effects of organization size and geographic location on the implementation of User Choice, which provides public funds to training providers chosen by apprentices and trainees. Among the respondents, 41.1% were small and…

Emerging and potential Australian industries were surveyed to identify the skills needed by their current and future workers and to determine how Australia's vocational and training (VET) system can best respond to those skill needs. The study investigated industries emerging from the work of Australia's Co-operative Research Centres program. The…

Australia introduced User Choice nationally in January 1998 to develop a national training system that is more responsive to clients' needs. User Choice is based on nine principles, including the following: (1) clients can negotiate their publicly funded training needs; (2) User Choice operates in a national training market not limited by state or…