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The opening-up of the market for education and training, including vocational education and training (VET), has increased the importance of regulation and quality assurance mechanisms in ensuring the integrity of qualifications. This report investigates approaches to the regulation and quality assurance of vocational education and training in a number of countries: New Zealand, selected European member states (Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom), Canada (province of Ontario) and two accrediting agencies in the United States. The insights gained from this investigation into the practices applied overseas could be used to inform the development of VET regulatory and quality assurance approaches in Australia. Two appendices include: (1) a list of each standard in the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) framework and the items they cover; and (2) tables documenting: Industry skills councils and industry covered as at June 2015; New Zealand industry training organisations, by industry sector, 2014; and Sector skills councils and sector skills bodies, by industry sector coverage in the United Kingdom.

There are lessons for Australia in the key approaches to the development, approval, maintenance and quality assurance of qualifications adopted in countries overseas. This research takes into account a range of approaches used in selected European Union (EU) member states (Germany, Finland and Sweden), the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland) and the nations of New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea. The processes used in Ontario, Canada, and selected accreditation agencies in the United States were also investigated. This work serves to inform the vocational education and training (VET) sector in Australia about practices used overseas. It provides a useful reference document for agencies charged with developing and reviewing qualifications and showcases the different approaches used to ensure that qualifications remain current for the industries they serve. This report highlights some key messages for Australia, some of which include: (1) The introduction of qualifications frameworks, implementation of competency-based or learning outcomes approaches to learning and assessment, recognition of prior learning, and effective regulation and quality assurance processes are all being debated overseas, with varying solutions to the perceived issues being applied; (2) The development of hierarchical national qualifications frameworks comprising progressively higher qualification levels is relatively widespread, and increasing; and (3) Collaboration between governments (or their delegated agencies) and industry stakeholders is key to developing and/or approving competency standards, educational standards and content that align with labour market needs. The following are appended: (1) The criteria for SQA accreditation of qualifications; and (2) Standards for the ACCSC in the United States. [This report has been prepared by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) under the National Vocational Education and Training Research (NVETR) Program.]

In recent years, the level of participation and attainment by Indigenous Australians in education and training has improved, yet substantial gaps still exist between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians. Education has to be a key focus if the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous employment rates is to be closed. This report draws from the 2011 Census data to quantify its importance for labour market participation, employment, and occupational destinations. The research is extensive and varied, and includes academic research articles published in refereed journals and other publications published or completed over the last 10 years. Also provided is the authors' own analyses of the 2006 and 2011 Census, and of data from the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) Labour Force Survey, National Apprentices and Trainees Collection, National VET (Vocational Education and Training) Collection, the Schools Australia catalogue, and the Student Outcomes Survey. The authors use those to provide descriptive information as well as to investigate linkages between participation and attainment in education and training and employment. The report begins by providing a snapshot of key demographics, followed by information on participation and outcomes from senior secondary education, vocational education and training (including apprenticeships and traineeships), and higher education. This is followed by a detailed account of employment outcomes across regions and occupations. The role of educational attainment in explaining the disparity in employment rates is then given a special focus. This document reports on studies that have looked at the need to take into account the multiple elements of economic participation, and focuses in more detail on the role of social capital, cultural attachments, and employer discrimination. It concludes with an emphasis on key findings about the role of education and the need to streamline programs and strategies. Appendices provide extra detail on methodological approaches and programs (including key objectives, funding regimes, and program evaluations). They are as follows: (1) Methodology for decomposition; (2) Selected programs aimed at young people and their parents by participation or progress to date; (3) Selected programs aimed at VET and higher education by participation or progress to date; (4) Selected programs aimed at improving employment outcomes by participation or progress to date; and (5) Additional relevant material in the Clearinghouse.