Page 1758 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 1 May 2012

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I advised the chair of the standing committee that, in the interests of the environment, I did not propose to provide the committee with the various reports and other documents that are referenced in the steering group’s report. Some, like the Hawke review, are very lengthy. All of them are in the public domain and can be readily accessed. However, those documents are available on request, should any member of the committee, or the Assembly, desire them.

In response to part (b) of the resolution, I can advise the Assembly that a project implementation board has not been established and therefore there are no membership details or terms of reference.

In response to part (c) of the resolution, I advise the Assembly that the steering group did not prescribe a governance structure or student enrolment processes for the collaborative venture as it anticipated that these issues would be among those determined by the project implementation group. The steering group did recommend, on page 12, that the collaborative venture “incorporate sound governance structures including engagement with business and industry and reflect the provenance and standing of each institution”.

In response to part (d) of the resolution I advise the Assembly that the government has not proceeded any further with the collaborative venture, either between the making of this resolution on 28 March 2012 and when COAG met on 13 April 2012 or since. In this time our attention has been on the COAG national partnership agreement on skills reform.

Further work on exploring collaborative arrangements between Canberra Institute of Technology and the University of Canberra has been placed on hold. This is pending the finalisation and implementation of a range of VET sector reforms at institutional, ACT and national levels.

The government is committed to reforming the ACT VET sector through initiatives to improve quality, transparency, access and efficiency. This is consistent with the national directions as expressed in COAG’s national partnership agreement on skills reform.

The ACT government is positioning the CIT to thrive in this complex, changing environment. As our public VET provider, CIT must be able to deliver training effectively and efficiently to meet the needs of industry and individuals. In order to achieve this, CIT must address its internal capacity and organisational culture.

The ACT is currently negotiating details of an implementation plan for the national partnership. The development and implementation of income contingent loans as well as a national training entitlement, all within a more open market, are just some of the reforms that need to be carefully considered. They will affect not just CIT but the entire public and private training sector in the ACT.

It is anticipated that initiatives such as the government subsidised entitlement to a training place, which is a key element of the national partnership, will have


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