Improving vocational education and training (VET) delivery in Australia’s regional, rural, and remote (RRR) areas is challenging due to unique landscapes, economies, industries, and cultures. The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) released a new report on 24 April 2023, entitled “VET Delivery in Regional, Rural and Remote Australia: Barriers and Facilitators,” highlighting the challenges faced by RRR locations and viable solutions when it comes to VET delivery.
Ensuring that training is suited to each location requires understanding the needs of each area. The NCVER research set out to investigate how the vocational education and training (VET) system can better meet the needs of RRR Australia, with the project focusing on stakeholder perceptions and barriers to delivering VET.
The study interviewed 58 stakeholders from different areas, including registered training organisations (RTOs), state training authorities (STAs), industry peak bodies, regional development bodies, and employment service providers.
Exploring RRR Areas Local Skills Requirements
The NCVER report noted that state training authorities have traditionally conducted skills planning at the state or jurisdiction level. Still, stakeholders actively focus on enhancing their understanding of skills needs in regional, rural, and remote locations.
Due to the lack of data at the local level, consultation is relied upon by RTOs, state training authorities, and regional development organisations to understand local skills needs.
Engaging in activities involving Industry, local councils, education providers, and community development bodies is essential to understand better and address local skills needs.
Challenges to VET Training Delivery in Regional, Rural, and Remote Areas
VET training delivery in regional, rural, and remote locations poses many challenges for RTOs, with each area presenting unique barriers according to its remoteness.
The NCVER report identified these barriers into three categories:
1. Market- and/or RTO-based barriers
– Occur before training begins, including missed opportunities to deliver training in a location, trainer shortages, and thin markets.
2. Location-based barriers
– These are a result of the location in which training is taking place and include challenges such as travel distance, difficult access, extreme weather, lack of infrastructure and resources, narrow pathways and job opportunities, training not meeting local needs, trainer safety concerns, and a lack of other services in the area.
3. Student-based barriers
– Relate to the training of student cohorts and include issues such as language, literacy, and numeracy (LLN) challenges, limited digital literacy, cultural differences, and the need for cultural awareness in indigenous communities.
VET Training Delivery’s Funding and Viability
According to the NCVER report, delivering VET in RRR locations is often hindered by various challenges, and overcoming them increases training delivery costs. These increased costs can pose serious viability issues for RTOs, particularly in thin markets where enrolling a critical volume of students is challenging.
In addition, funding models often do not match local needs or the available funding. The inconsistency of funding and the inadequate funding loading fail to cover the actual cost of training, including travel, extra support, or time required by students. As a result, this significantly strains the viability of training delivery in RRR locations.
How RTOs’ Strategies Help Them Overcome VET Training Delivery Challenges in RRR Areas
RTOs have developed various strategies to address the challenges of delivering VET in RRR locations, including mobile training units, online delivery, and customised delivery models.
The NCVER research has uncovered several critical characteristics of RTOs that equip them to surmount obstacles. These include an unwavering commitment to helping individuals succeed, delivering outstanding service to businesses and industries, adopting a growth-oriented mindset and a flexible approach, and displaying agility in the face of changing circumstances.
VET Training Delivery in RRR Locations’ Impact on the Industry
The NCVER report stated that despite RTOs’ efforts to deliver training in RRR areas, some require individuals to travel to larger centres to undertake their training.
Students need to travel due to the absence of local trainers, lack of equipment, and the need for extra support. Industry interviewees report that workers must go elsewhere for higher-level skills training, as accessing it in RRR locations is difficult.
Industry interviewees revealed that accessing higher-level skills training in RRR locations is challenging, forcing workers to undertake training elsewhere.
The lack of local training providers and the mismatch between skills needs and available training are other issues impacting their workforce development, including the lack of local training providers, a reluctance among employers to pay for training, and an aging workforce.
Conclusion
Providing training in remote, rural, and regional areas presents a complex challenge that demands a collaborative effort from all stakeholders. This entails active involvement from state training authorities, regional development organisations, RTOs, industry players, local councils, educational institutions, and community development bodies.
As higher-level training access is difficult in RRR locations, policymakers should consider increasing funding and developing specific policies to address these issues, such as matching funding to local needs and providing consistent funding.
The challenges faced by RTOs are many, but there are ways to overcome them, and the VET sector has a crucial role in regional development. RTOs must ensure that learners succeed in providing exemplary service to businesses and industries. With the right mindset and a flexible approach, RTOs can overcome challenges.
Read on other updates on the VET industry through our blogs here.
