A university Commission linked to the Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) has called for a new agency to be established to advise Governments and industry on the structure and function of lifetime training and education following compulsory schooling.
The Monash Commission’s first report, Rethinking Post-Compulsory Education in Australia, examines future types of work and the role of skills and expertise, research and development, governance and regulation, as well as public and private funding sources.
The Commission was founded by the President and Vice-Chancellor of Monash University, Professor Margaret Gardner, who is also a member of the ANZSOG Board.
It conducts a series of independent, in-depth inquiries into public policy matters Monash University believes to be critical to Australia’s future.
Chaired by former Secretary of the Victorian Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Elizabeth Proust, the Commission has made three recommendations for Government — the establishment of a statutory agency for post-compulsory education and training; the introduction of a universal learning entitlement and a lifetime learning account; and the design of a coherent, sustainable model of financing for public providers.
The Commission also prepared a paper which considered Australia’s post-compulsory education system as an ‘ecosystem’ and explored the attributes of a range of governance models while benchmarking international examples.
Ms Proust said that in coming decades, Australia’s continued prosperity would increasingly depend on the relevance of workers’ education and skills, ensuring that no one was left behind.
“Major and rapid increases in human knowledge and skills are needed to meet the technological, economic, environmental and cultural transformations taking shape, and Australia must position itself to respond to and thrive in these challenges,” Ms Proust said.
She noted that while 56 per cent of Australians 15 years and older held some sort of post-school qualification, 90 per cent of new jobs created by 2023 were expected to require a Certificate II or higher, which would leave many working-age people with poor employment prospects.
The Commission’s 22-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
