Skills council looks to reorganise job training

Federal and state industry ministers are proposing six major reforms to Australia’s vocational training system.

The reforms were outlined at the first meeting of the national Skills and Industry Council, one of eight priority groups formed in December 2013 to streamline operations of the Council of Australian Governments. Yes, there’s been a major COAG overhaul and it wasn’t widely reported or analysed by the media.

The changes were announced in a communiqué issued after the December meeting in Canberra. It claimed “too much bureaucracy and red tape has grown up around COAG” and therefore its 22 ministerial councils were being reduced to eight priority areas. Education is on the priority list, but arts, science and agriculture are not.