Challenges and Investments in Australian Human Resource Development

This report provides an overview of human resource development in Australia, focusing on vocational education and training (VET). It details the government's investment in VET, including its role in providing skills for the workforce and supporting Registered Training Organizations. The report discusses the challenges faced by the Australian government in the VET sector, such as funding constraints and curriculum development. It highlights the need for financial resources, curriculum updates, and the balance between standardized and customized training programs. The report also touches upon the government's initiatives in skills recognition, international collaboration, and promoting the value of VET through various programs. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of VET for individual and national development despite the challenges encountered.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Human Resource Development
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction:
Vocational Education and Training can be defined as education and training that focuses
on providing vocational skills for work to people. It helps students to be qualified for all types of
employment and gives them the requisite skills to help them when they actually start working.
This paper will try to show how Australia is investing in Vocational Education and Training. It
will also try to show the challenges that the government of Australia faces when engaging with
Vocational Education and Training sector.
Discussion:
Vocational Education and Training provides skills to help people join the workplace for
the first time, rejoin after taking a sabbatical, help them to improve their skills in the field of their
choice and pursue a different career. Registered Training Organizations provide courses in
Vocational Education and Training. These include Technical and Further Education institutes,
universities and colleges. The courses that are covered by Vocational Education and Training
cover literacy and numeracy training such as foundation studies or pre-vocational training,
vocational skills for occupations like floristry and automotive, vocational training that is semi-
professional such as occupational health and safety measures and business advertising, study
areas that are practical such as hospitality, viticulture and music (Jones 2018). Eight state and
territory governments, the government of Australia and industry and private and public training
providers, provide vocational Education and Training. These organizations work in unison to
provide good and consistent vocational training across Australia.

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Vocational Education and Training is truly popular in Australia’s education sector.
Supervised by the government of Australia in accordance with the trainers and the industry
norms, the systematic vocational training imparted in Australia is truly effective and helps people
in pursuing their vocational courses. Australia’s standardized system of providing certification
makes sure that professionally trained personnel are always available to students and to working
professionals in Australia’s private business sector, thereby ensuring that the level of vocational
training that is imparted is good and consistent across Australia.
The two interests that Australian government have in the provision of Vocational
Educational Training Program include foundation and core skills and recognition of license and
skills (Jones 2018). The Department of Education and Training encourages and supports the
development of core and foundation skills so that people are equipped with the language,
numeracy, literacy and employability skills as required by various organizations. The
government of Australia encourages, supports and acknowledges and recognizes prior learning,
including knowledge and degrees obtained abroad and the recognition of a few domestic licenses
across state jurisdiction and territory jurisdictions. The government of Australia is undertaking
skills engagement work nationally and internationally. The Australian government is exchanging
Vocational Educational Training experience and expertise, primarily in South Asia, South East
Asia and North Asia to ensure that Australia remains a leader always when it comes to
international skills policy and system design and development (McVicar & Polidano 2015). The
Australian government is supporting and promoting the value of Vocational Educational
Training for the betterment of both individual as well as the Australian economy through the
Australian Apprenticeships Ambassadors Program, Australian Training Awards, National Skills
Week and WorldSkills Australia.

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The government of Australia is supporting mobility and recognition of skills through
various initiatives that includes Trade Recognition Australia among other initiatives. The Trade
Recognition Australia is a service provider that accesses various skills and specializes in
assessing people with trade skills gained in Australia or overseas for the purpose of migration
and skill recognition (McVicar & Polidano 2015). The government of Australia is exchanging
and sharing expertise and experiences in Vocational Educational Training at the international
level.
The government of Australia provides an environment that ensures education and
vocational and training of Vocational Educational Training practitioners so that they are able to
teach students the skills and knowledge required at the workplace. LiteracyNet offers a gamut of
of skills pertaining to professional development in individuals. The Skills for Education and
Employment program offers literacy, numeracy and language training to potential people looking
for jobs so that they are able to participate in training or labour force. The National Foundation
Skills Strategy for Adults focuses on the various ways by which one can improve the language,
numeracy, literacy and employability skills of Australian adults. The Australian Council for
Private Education and Training offers completely subsidized opportunities in professional
development on foundation skills.
The two challenges that the Australian government faces when engaging with the
Vocational Education and Training sector are a lack of resources and curriculum design and
development (McVicar & Polidano 2015). Vocational Education and Training require much
more financial resources than the academic education that is imparted in schools, colleges and
universities. The difference in trainer/learner ratio as compared to schools and colleges, the cost
of equipment and the cost of materials to practice makes Vocational Education and Training a

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much more expensive educational process. Funding Vocational Educational and Training thus is
an expensive proposition and is a constant challenge for everybody associated with Vocational
Educational and Training, including the government of Australia. The majority of the funds
towards Vocational Education and Training is given by the government of Australia who
provides the majority of financial resources. It is funded either by the State or territory or federal
level. The funding provided by the government of Australia unfortunately does not meet the
complete needs. This causes problems regarding which learners require the funds most,
distribution of resources so that there is no discrepancy, and ensuring that financial resources is
allocated equally for everybody and determining the money that should be given to Registered
Training Organizations for their services. While allotting financial resources to Vocational
Educational Training is an investment in the future of the country, there are several challenges in
finding the requisite funding.
The second challenge that the Australian government faces when engaging with the
Vocational Education and Training sector is related to the design of the curriculum and the
development of the curriculum (Bowman & McKenna 2016). While Registered Training
Organizations have a curriculum which they are following, development of new curriculum, or
changes made to the existing curriculum is an expensive process that also requires a lot of time.
With the advent of new technology ever so often, the curriculum that is considered effective, can
quickly become obsolete. In addition, only a few companies produce this curriculum, leaving the
responsibility of framing a curriculum to the registered training organizations. A solution to this
problem is to develop a national curriculum that would be followed by all organizations and
every individual. However, this too shall face the same problems of a lack of time, funding, and
the challenge of constantly revising the curriculum to keep it current and relevant (Bowman &

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McKenna 2016). Since Australian Vocational Education and Training was formed to meet the
needs of this industry, trainers are given a free hand to devise a curriculum so that their learners
may be well-prepared to meet the needs of the specific industry in which they will be working. If
one were to standardize the entire curriculum then trainers will not be able to customize their
training programs to meet the needs of their specific companies thus posing a problem.
CONCLUSION:
Thus to conclude, one can say that the government of Australia invests a lot of time,
energy and financial resources on Vocational Educational Training in order to ensure that
individuals are benefitted as well as the country. Even though, the government of Australia
encounters numerous challenges in terms of lack of financial resources, designing and
developing the curriculum among other factors, it ensures that the education and knowledge of
Vocational Education and Training sector in Australia imparts the best possible vocational
training.

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