VET Review Submission:

Q1. What is working well in the VET Sector?

Critical to addressing the future skills needs of industry is an overarching national

VET system driven by industry and has the flexibility to respond quickly to changing

industry needs. Underpinning this framework should be a mechanism for

industry’s voice to be clearly heard.

In recent years this mechanism has been the remit of Industry Reference

Committees (IRCs) working under the auspice of Skill Service Organisations (SSOs)

appointed by the Australian Industry Skills Council (AISC). This mechanism is

working well for some industries. It is not working well for the local government

sector.

Training Packages are the foundation stone of the VET system in Australia. From

local governments’ point of view the current process of how Training Packages are

reviewed and funded is ineffective and has disengaged the sector. There has been

no review of the Local Government Training Package for 14 years. There is little

confidence in the AISC/SSO/IRC mechanism to review and modernize this training

package which supports an industry with over 189,000 workers.

From a funding perspective great success has been achieved where funding

models are industry driven and fully contestable. For many years the

Queensland State Government has partnered with the Local Government

Association of Queensland under such a model, to upskill workers in remote

indigenous communities. Under this model training is targeted to identified

industry need and linked to real jobs.

The completion rate under this industry driven model between 2015-2018, across

2,600 participants was 95% compared to the average completion rate of 60% across

all government funded VET programs in Queensland. Government return on

investment under this industry driven and managed model far exceeds the outcomes

achieved under traditional VET investment models.

Q2. What are the key challenges in the VET Sector?

The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) is concerned with how

best to future proof the local government workforce. The Local Government

Workforce and Futures Skills Report, Queensland (2018), states that the world of

work in the next two decades will be shaped by technological advances, digital

connectivity, globalisation, an ageing population and changing economic structures

and that these five mega trends are driving the speed of change and are expected to

lead to the restructuring of labour markets throughout Australia, including local

government.

The first challenge is understanding what the impact of these mega trends means to industry on a functional and structural level and how the VET system can better

position itself to support industry to transition to this new world of work. This is not easy given that:

74% of local governments have done no analysis or forecasting of changing roles/skills requirements arising from digital disruption and technology changes. Without this information it will be difficult for the VET system to address the future needs of industry.

100% of local governments indicated the need to improve their position in relation to soft skills, particularly the ability to work productively, drive engagement and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team; ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines; and ability to discriminate and filter information for importance. There is limited understanding about what if any training exits to support these soft skills.

The second challenge is how best to address current skill shortages. 83% of local governments in Queensland are experiencing a skill shortage and in order to address these skill shortages the preferred option of councils is to upskill existing staff. But councils are faced with several challenges:

The inability to source trainers locally;

The cost of sending staff to training (travel costs);

The high cost of training and tight fiscal environment; and

The reported reluctance of councils to release staff to training given current workloads.

The table below highlights the key challenges faced by Queensland local government segments in both the sourcing and the delivery of training.

Source: Local Government Skills Shortage Survey 2017, LGWDG

courses are available/accessible to older workers who are looking to improve

their skills or build on general literacy and numeracy (digital literacy).

the workforce can easily adapt to changing demands (digital disruption)

From a VET perspective the challenge will be how to fund, customise and ensure access to digital training for all councils regardless of location.

The fourth challenge for local government and the VET system is the decline in apprenticeship numbers. 90% of councils in Queensland are employing apprentices/trainees. Apprenticeship numbers in Queensland local government peak in 2012 and since then have continued to decline: In Queensland local government between 2012 and 2017:

Apprenticeship numbers have decreased by 38.8%

Traineeship numbers have increased by 18.0% The trend for All-industry in Queensland over the same time frame was:

Apprenticeship numbers have decreased by 25.9%

Traineeship numbers have decreased by 63.3%

Source: Based on NCVER Customised Report Data, 2018

In 2013, apprentices and trainees made up 4.1% of the Queensland local government workforce. In 2017, this figure had decreased to 3.7%.

Source: Based on NCVER Customised Report Data, 2018

34% of councils surveyed in 20171 indicated that they did not have enough apprentices/trainees to meet their future skill needs. This decline in apprentice numbers is occurring across all industries and is a growing

cause for concern. Councils mentioned that the key factors key factors constraining

the employment of additional apprentices were:

Lack of Funding/Budgetary Constraints; and

Lack the internal capacity (supervisors) to support trainees and apprentices.

the Apprenticeship Order was outdated, inequitable, difficult to read and comprehend and overly complicated in general and suggested that it be reviewed and modernised.

The Queensland government’s First Start Program has been the catalyst in driving the uptake of apprentices and trainees across the local government sector. Its aim was to target those job seekers most disadvantaged in the job market in regional areas. By providing employment subsidies, it has allowed councils to take on additional apprentices and trainees. It is because of this program that apprenticeship numbers have not fallen at the same rate as local government in other states.

The LGAQ will be approaching State and Federal governments to assist councils

increase the number of apprentices employed in local government. Local

government is looking for a VET system that supports an apprenticeship system that

is based on:

Contemporary Apprenticeship Orders; and

Provision of funding direct to employers to assist with cost of employing

apprentices.

1 Local Government Skills Shortage Survey 2017, LGWDG

Advances in computer technologies will influence how workers perform work allowing them to work remotely, and to be connected to colleagues using Cloud technologies. New skills are expected to emerge, to create working roles that do not yet exist.

Skill-sets will change, and career paths centred on a specialisation within a narrow stream will offer less resilience than career paths that develop a worker’s competence in generic/soft skills such as project management, digital skills, adaptive thinking, team work and problem solving etc.

It is expected that organisational structures will be flatter, and workers will be assigned to teams based on their skills and potential to learn. The role of leaders will be to attract and nurture talent; coach, develop and inspire teams to innovate, improve work processes and build the organisation’s adaptive capacity.

Assumptions that determine how an organisation is structured, and the effectiveness of human capital strategies to attract and develop talent and build the organisational culture to maintain competitive advantage will need to be reviewed.

As new technologies emerge in the future the demand for some skills will wain while for others it will increase.

It is expected that soft skill intensive occupations will make up almost two-thirds of the workforce in the future.2

These soft skills are:

Creativity and entrepreneurial skills

Cross cultural awareness

Social intelligence

Novel and adaptive thinking

New media literacy (e.g. social networking)

Ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines

Critical thinking, analysis, and problem solving

Design mind-set

Ability to discriminate and filter information for importance)

Ability to work productively, drive engagement, and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team3

It is in this context that councils were asked how well positioned they were with regard to soft skills and how they intended to address this emerging skills gap. Between 40-60% of councils who responded to this question said they needed to improve their position in 8 out of the 11 soft skill areas listed below. The top three areas in which councils were least well positioned were:

Ability to work productively, drive engagement, and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team

Ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines

Ability to discriminate and filter information for importance

2 Deloitte Access Economics, Soft skills for business success, (2017: 8), Deloitte Australia 3 Deloitte Access Economics, Soft skills for business success, (2017: 8), Deloitte Australia

Councils will be mainly seeking to upskill existing staff with a much smaller number looking to import skills or used shared service arrangements.

Source: Local Government Skills Shortage Survey 2017, LGWDG

Source: Local Government Skills Shortage Survey 2017, LGWDG

Councils were asked to list the key factors that might hinder staff gaining these emerging soft skills needed in the future. The table below lists their responses.

Source: Local Government Skills Shortage Survey 2017, LGWDG

The majority of employees within the Queensland local government sector are in the 40-59 age group. Lack of adaptive thinking, resistance to change and workplace culture might be linked to this age profile. Creating a workforce that can easily adapt to the changing demands of digital disruption and technology advances will require thought and planning. The VET system can assist by working alongside industry to design training programs such as:

Change management, data analytics, high level ICT, GIS

Digital literacy to help transition older workers into new job roles

and programs that build competence in:

The ability to work productively, drive engagement and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team;

The ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines; and

The ability to discriminate and filter information for importance.