The vocational education and training (VET) profession in Australia is confronted with a radical reconstruction, not only in terms of the new work VET professionals are expected to perform but also in terms of the new culture and professional roles that have emerged out of the diversifying sites of professional practice. Reasons for the shift in the conceptualization of professional work in VET must include the changes brought about by over a decade of training reform and the establishment of a competitive market in VET provision. The VET market is characterized by an increasing variety of providers. The VET sector is exhibiting quite radically changed employment patterns, particularly non-standard employment. Today, VET delivery increasingly relies on casual and part-time staff. The changes reflect quite fundamental shifts in the way knowledge, learning, skills, and work are conceptualized in contemporary societies. A future is predicted in which the VET professional is either a VET consultant working across a number of VET sites or a learning manager employed to manage learning activities of large VET providers. The new VET professional must in some senses not only be capable of spanning the cultural divide that distinguishes the world of work from the world of education but also that which distinguishes the world of private enterprise from the world of public service. (Contains 16 references.) (YLB)