Australia has been through another hard-fought federal election, in which public debate focused predictably on which party are the “best economic managers.”
Like many members, I had high hopes on Election Day as I handed out how to vote cards in my electorate, believing that this election was the best shot we had at restoring TAFE to its former glory.
The Morrison Government was silent on its policy for TAFE during the election campaign and there was no mention of TAFE in the Federal Budget revealed just prior to the election.
Jonathan Guy, AEU Strategic Research Officer looks at the future for TAFE under a Morrison Government in the light of the Joyce Review.
This article is part two of a two-part series. It focuses on the policy trajectory that created a national training framework, a ‘training market’ and the introduction of VET FEE HELP and looks at how these policies brought TAFE to near ruin.
For far too long, TAFE and the broader VET sector has been neglected by State and Federal Liberal governments. The push to privatise essential education services through contestable funding models, and the rampant and systemic rorting through the VET FEE-HELP loans program has bred a lack of confidence in the system.