Investing in vocational education and training

Tabled Report 1: 2019–20

Tabled date

2019-08-08

Report year

2019-20

Education

Entities audited

• Department of Employment, Small Business and Training

Recommendations

1. QAO's text Addressed to: the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training

   finalises its draft Skills Strategy, ensuring it addresses:

   • Queensland’s longer-term strategies for developing and sustaining the VET sector (Chapter 2)
   • clear roles, responsibilities, and the future purpose of VET public providers (Chapter 4)

2. QAO's text Addressed to: the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training

   develops and applies performance measures supporting the expected public value of the State Contribution Grants (Chapter 2)

3. QAO's text Addressed to: the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training

   periodically reviews the methodology used to determine the value of State Contribution Grants to public providers to account for changes in the training environment and public providers’ costs (Chapter 4)

4. QAO's text Addressed to: the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training

   improves transparency over investment decision-making by clearly documenting information, data, and analysis used in developing and reviewing the annual investment plan and subsidy lists (Chapter 2)

5. QAO's text Addressed to: the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training

   increases the effectiveness of the Skilling Queenslanders for Work program by:

   • improving the grant process with the aim of reducing the time frame between the funding round opening and the announcement of the successful applicants—to help grant recipients better plan resources and service delivery
   • requiring community-based organisations to provide evidence with their application that they have agreed on training delivery expectations with the selected pre-qualified supplier (Chapter 2)

6. QAO's text Addressed to: the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training

   improves the efficiency and quality of the pre-qualified supplier contract-renewal process by:

   • renewing the contracts at least one month before the new financial year start date to help suppliers better plan resources and training delivery
   • extending the time frames of contracts for low-risk suppliers (Chapter 3).

7. QAO's text Addressed to: TAFE Queensland, in consultation with the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training

   finalises specific and measurable strategies and plans to improve the financial sustainability of its training delivery, including:

   • strategies for increasing its student revenue and market share
   • workforce management plans that support program delivery outcomes and financial sustainability.

Authoritative report — Queensland Audit Office

Report PDF on QAO