This report examines the current state of open and flexible technical-vocational education and training (TVET) in nine Pacific Commonwealth countries: Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) has commissioned the Open Polytechnic to complete this report to…

Work practices in the meat-processing industry have changed in recent years. The industry has moved away from workers dressing a whole carcass towards a chain-based system, with each worker performing a single task along a moving production line. The nature of the meat-processing workforce has also changed. It is no longer dominated by seasonal…

This paper was presented in Sydney in September 2008 at a seminar conducted by Skills Australia and the Academy of Social Sciences. It examines the demand for training. It concentrates on the factors that affect individual and employer demand, and points out that accredited vocational education and training (VET) need to be considered in the…

Purpose: The overall aim of this research is to investigate how aspects of organizational culture enable or constrain the facilitation of learning in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative design was used involving 100 semi-structured interviews conducted with air traffic controllers operating in three centers in Australia. The…

This article is concerned with the under-representation of Indigenous workers in mainstream childcare services and the associated problem of the under-representation of Indigenous children in such services. Specifically, it focuses on workforce issues that serve as barriers to both attracting and/or retaining Indigenous staff. The research methods…

Small business training can facilitate business growth. The authors show that a "hands-on" approach can have a direct impact on a business owner's current situation. They consider this in relation to the problem of being unable to find the right staff, demonstrating that a program such as the one they describe enables learning and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the debate surrounding quality of training as it has unfolded in Australia and how concerns about high non-completion rates have entered the debate. Design/methodology/approach: This paper bases its discussion of quality in VET training on analysis of qualitative data collected from focus groups and…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to examine the ways in which Australian companies can achieve high quality apprenticeship and traineeship systems in a time of labour shortage through close attention to the recruitment and development of apprentices and trainees. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on six qualitative case studies…

Inexperienced trade apprentices were presented with text in a visual-only manner and in both auditory and visual forms. Results show that the diagram-only presentation was the least intelligible, but after two specifically designed training sessions the advantage of the visual diagram-auditory text method disappeared. In a second study, the…

Features of the Australian educational system are examined: the evolution of postcompulsory education, continuing education and training within employment from 1950-80, issues and options faced in the mid-1980s, and decisive changes in the structure of higher education at the end of the 1980s. (SK)

Informal workplace trainers help employees learn what they need to know and do in order to get their job done. Little is known about the actions of informal workplace trainers, who may be colleagues or supervisors. This study provides an empirical basis for actions undertaken by informal workplace trainers. A total of 350 Australian enterprises…

Women's care work sits on the boundary between unpaid work in the private domain and poorly paid, low-status work in the public sphere. It continues to be a site for the expression of complex, high-level knowledge and skills, and of ongoing gender oppression. The aged-care industry is a particularly salient example of such work. It is a…

The paper provides an overview of Vocational Education and Training in School (VETIS) and its provision across States and Territories. Costs are affected by the nature of the training provided under VETIS, the quality of the teaching and the workplace learning accompanying it. A major question is whether this can be accommodated within existing…

A survey of 52 administrators and clerical-administrative personnel in Australia found that clerical training was acquired largely on the job; only one-third regularly update skills; 39.3% perceived assessment to be competency based; and a focus on technical skills was counter to employers' emphasis on interpersonal/communication skills. (SK)

Three Australian studies identified attributes of workplaces as learning environments: authentic activities, experts, other workers, and task engagement. Limitations of workplace learning included inappropriate knowledge, lack of access to activities, expert reluctance, absence of expertise, opaque knowledge, and problems with instructional media.…