Australian Education Union - TAFE Symposium Canberra

Acknowledgements omitted

Thank you for the opportunity to join you today.

And before going any further, I want to acknowledge that tomorrow is World Teachers’ Day.

All of you here know what a vital contribution teachers make towards Australian education.

And tomorrow, the whole community will get the chance to shine a light on the teaching profession. 

It is a pleasure to be here today not only with TAFE teachers, but with leaders, delegates, students and advocates for public vocational education from across Australia.

The AEU and its members have long advocated for TAFE and its place as a trusted public institution, embedded in local communities.

And I want to acknowledge the essential role you’ve played in ensuring TAFE remains a strong, accessible and valued part of Australia’s education system.

This advocacy is grounded in what you see in classrooms and workplaces.

As the sector evolves, the voices of its TAFE teachers must remain central to reform.

Because reform is most successful when it is done with educators. Working alongside each other – not at odds with each other.

It is teachers who bring together industry expertise, teaching capability and an understanding of individual learners.

It is teachers who connect students to occupations and open doors to careers they may never have considered possible.

And it is teachers who help translate changing industry needs into meaningful learning experiences.

That is why investment in the VET workforce is so important. 

We must attract experienced industry professionals into teaching.

We must retain the skilled educators we already have.

And we must continue supporting professional development, workforce capability and sustainable career pathways.

But attracting teachers is only part of the challenge. 

We also need to ensure there are the right conditions, support and opportunities to build rewarding, sustainable careers.

Fair and secure work, progression, manageable workloads and opportunities to maintain industry expertise are fundamental to the quality of training we want TAFE to deliver. 

When we talk about the future of TAFE, we cannot separate that future from the people who teach in our TAFEs.

And this is why the AEU has such an important role in shaping what comes next.

Your advocacy, experience and willingness to challenge us are important to getting these reforms right.

Today I want to talk about what that future could look like.

Your symposium theme, ‘A Future made with TAFE’ speaks directly to the ambition we should have for our TAFE system.

TAFE is at the heart not just of vocational education, but of the kind of Australia we want to build.

TAFE helps build a more productive economy, stronger communities, and a fairer Australia.

These ambitions are connected. 

And they all depend on skills.

The future of Australia's economy will be shaped by major transitions already underway.

The transition to net zero.

The rapid growth of digital technologies and artificial intelligence.

The need to build more homes and infrastructure.

Growing demand for care and support services.

The development of sovereign capability and advanced manufacturing.

And an ageing population that will require Australians to continue learning and adapting throughout their working lives.

The reality is that lifelong learning is no longer optional.

Skills people need at the beginning of their career may look very different from those they need a decade later.

And TAFE must be supported to respond to these changes, while continuing to deliver practical, hands-on training that has always been its strength.

Over the decade ahead, more than nine in ten new jobs are expected to require a post-school qualification. 

Meeting these challenges will require both vocational education and higher education.

All this reinforces a principle that has guided our government from day one: a TAFE qualification is a valuable and respected pathway in its own right.

TAFE is not a second choice. It is a first-choice pathway for Australians looking to build meaningful careers and contribute to our economy.

And we can meet those significant challenges thanks to the people who make TAFE work.

Australia can rise to the challenges we face today, and the challenges we face in the years ahead. 

But that can only happen if we invest in a strong VET sector.

And that means putting TAFE back at the heart.

It’s precisely what the Albanese Labor Government has done.

It is why we placed TAFE at the centre of the National Skills Agreement.

It is why we established Free TAFE.

And it is why we have invested in TAFE Centres of Excellence, the National TAFE Network, the TAFE Tech Fund, Mobile TAFE and investments in the VET workforce.

The future of TAFE is not simply about delivering more of the same training.

It is about ensuring TAFE has the capability, partnerships and workforce to respond to changing skills needs.

The TAFE of the future will be more responsive.

More connected.

More collaborative.

And more important than ever.

It will continue to provide the trade qualifications and practical skills that have always been its strength.

It will also support Australians throughout their working lives.

Helping people begin careers.

Change careers.

Update skills.

And adapt to new technologies.

This includes responding to artificial intelligence.

As these new technologies rapidly reshape education, the professional expertise of teachers becomes even more important.

Technology should support the work of educators. 

It should strengthen learning.

But it should never replace the professional judgement that sits at the heart of quality teaching.

And teachers must be supported to develop the skills and confidence to use these technologies effectively.

TAFE’s place as a lifelong learning institution will only continue to grow.

To help Australians navigate a rapidly changing world of work.

We are already seeing this transformation through Free TAFE.

From 2023 to June this year, Free TAFE supported over 850,000 enrolments across the country. 

This included over 53,000 enrolments by First Nations people.

And it is not only supporting people entering the workforce for the first time. 

One of the most popular courses has been the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, helping experienced workers gain the skills to train and mentor the next generation.

Free TAFE has now been made a permanent feature of Australia's VET system, supporting at least 100,000 places annually from 2027 onwards. 

And that’s because we must ensure all Australians can access the opportunities they need to prosper, particularly those who typically face barriers to training and employment.

We recognise, too, that increasing the diversity of learners means engaging closely with their teachers who support them every day.  

Putting TAFE back at the heart of Vocational Education puts  it in a strong position as we think about tertiary harmonisation.

Tertiary harmonisation is not about asking one sector to become more like the other. 

It is about creating better connections between two distinct sectors, each with its own strengths.

Because for too long we've fallen into the habit of thinking there is only one successful pathway after school.

If a young person receives an ATAR, the assumption is too often that university is the next step.

But Australia's future depends on more Australians considering all the pathways available to them, whether that's university, TAFE, an apprenticeship or traineeship, work-integrated learning, or moving between those options over the course of their career.

Success shouldn't be defined by the institution someone attends. It should be defined by the opportunities and skills they gain.

I think everyone in this room understands that.

And increasingly, it's something being recognised across government as well.

We're already seeing what this can look like.

At Bankstown City in Western Sydney, TAFE NSW and Western Sydney University are co-located, bringing vocational and higher education into closer connection.

This new campus delivers state-of-the-art learning environments designed to mirror real workplaces, allowing students to gain hands-on experience and develop the practical skills employers need.

It is a practical example of how collaboration can create new opportunities for students while allowing each institution to retain its distinct strengths.

It should be easier for Australians to move between vocational education and higher education throughout their careers.

It should be easier to receive credit for previous learning.

And it should be easier to combine practical and theoretical learning as industries and careers evolve.

You can see that broader shift in other areas too.

Through migration reforms, we're recognising that a qualified electrician, carpenter or technician brings skills that are every bit as valuable to Australia's future as someone with a university degree.

That tells us something important about where Australia is heading.

We're moving away from old hierarchies between different forms of learning and towards a system that values skills, capability and contribution.

Most importantly, tertiary harmonisation must be built on the principle of parity of esteem.

That means recognising the value of vocational education alongside higher education, without treating one as more important than the other.

The job for all of us in this room is to keep making that case.

We should be proud of our TAFEs and our world-class VET system.

Look at the way TAFEs work with industry to deliver the skills employers need.

Look at apprenticeships and traineeships, which have long combined earning and learning, connecting education directly to the workplace.

Look at the role of the National Centre for Vocational Education Research which has built a national evidence base that allows us to understand performance, participation and outcomes across the entire system, not just institution by institution.

Look at the Unique Student Identifier, which recognised early that people move between education and training and work throughout their lives, and that our systems should link that journey.

Look at Jobs and Skills Australia and the Jobs and Skills Councils - a much newer part of our skills system, but already providing the kind of workforce planning and engagement that will be critical to the success of the broader tertiary system.

Time and again, the skills sector has pioneered reforms focused on lifelong learning, learner mobility and industry engagement.

These are exactly the kinds of strengths that should shape the future of tertiary education.

That future is already taking shape through our TAFE Centres of Excellence.

Supported under the National Skills Agreement, the Centres bring together TAFEs, employers, unions, industry groups, universities and Jobs and Skills Councils.

That is what tripartism means in practice: governments, unions like yours, employers and educators working together, listening to one another and bringing different perspectives to the table.

These partnerships are helping to strengthen training in areas such as clean energy, housing construction, manufacturing, care and support services and digital capability.

But the significance of these centres extends beyond individual industries.

They are helping create a nationally connected public TAFE system.

And while not every TAFE is badged a Centre of Excellence, every TAFE should be able to share in the benefits they create.

A teacher in Tasmania should be able to benefit from expertise developed in Queensland.

A student in regional Western Australia should be able to access specialist knowledge developed on the other side of the country.

Through virtual delivery, shared curriculum, communities of practice and workforce collaboration, innovation developed in one TAFE can strengthen learning across the entire network.

We still have more work to do to spread those benefits consistently across the country, but that is the direction we are heading.

That is what a modern public TAFE system should look like.

Strong local connections combined with national reach.

And strong partnerships that help strengthen our economy and our nation.

Friends, the future of TAFE must be ambitious.

For a TAFE system at the heart of vocational education.

An equal partner in Australia's tertiary education system.

A national platform for innovation.

Deeply connected to industry and communities.

And supported by a respected, capable and sustainable workforce.

Australia's future will require more skills.

More lifelong learning.

And stronger connections between education and work.

TAFE will be central to meeting that challenge.

Because when we invest in TAFE, we invest in opportunity, productivity and inclusion.

And when we invest in TAFE, we invest in Australia's future.

I look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure TAFE remains strong, valued and equipped to meet the challenges ahead. 

Thank you.