Beyond flexibility: skills and work in the future

The Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training (ACIRRT) and the Research Centre for Vocational Education and Training (RCVET) were commissioned by the New South Wales (NSW) Board of Vocational Education and Training (BVET) to produce a report on the way in which work and skills are linked, how this linkage is likely to change and the options available for policy-makers to shape the linkage between work and skills in the future. Far-reaching reforms on work and skill policy have occurred over the past 15 years in a bid to improve international competitiveness, develop a ‘high skill economy’ and reduce social inequities. The ‘harvester man’ policy model (award wage-setting linked to skill, focus on permanent full-time employment, a TAFE system geared to apprenticeships/trade training) has been replaced with a ‘flexibility’ model (enterprise bargaining, a ‘demand-driven’ training system through the development of a national ‘training market’). Whilst there have been real achievements arising from these policy reforms (for example, greater numbers of individuals with portable, nationally recognised qualifications) there are now multiplying problems. The challenge for policy-makers is to move beyond the impossible dream of a ‘high skill economy’ to combine a diverse range of policy instruments across a wide range of portfolios to manage a diverse bundle of skill ecosystems. Policy objectives should be clearly defined to distinguish between promoting ‘work’ as opposed to promoting ‘labour’. Policy on work and skills needs to be repositioned. Effective new policy directions therefore require more than just another ‘program’. Policy renewal is dependent on developing fresh perspectives in both policy content (its assumptions, directions and instruments) and policy context (the policy-making system through which options are created, considered and chosen). This requires opening up the policy system to a wider range of informants, re-conceiving clients in a fresh way (as networks, supply chains and regions instead of simply as ‘individuals’ and ‘industry’ and accommodating the ‘cross-cutting’ character of policy initiatives on work and skill by developing a ‘whole-of-government’ approach. The following recommendations are made: (1) that the NSW Government give serious consideration to repositioning policy on work and skills so that it becomes the defining feature of the overall mix of public policies used to govern the state; (2) that BVET audit how current government policies and practices impact on skill formation, skill use and the notion of work defined as something more than being obliged to labour; (3) that BVET sponsor a new ‘work, skills and innovation initiative’ to (a) document existing successful initiatives and company successes and (b) foster the development and evolution of a number of new demonstration ecosystems; (4) BVET should consider ways of enlarging the network of agents involved in developing and implementing policy concerning skill formation and deployment. As a minimum, BVET should consider an annual meeting facilitating communication between all agents involved in the development and deployment of skill; and (5) that BVET investigate other key categories for monitoring and distributing their funding. The following people were members of the project team: John Buchanan, Kaye Schofield, Chris Briggs, Gillian Considine, Paul Hager, Geof Hawke, Jim Kitay, Gabrielle Meagher, John MacIntyre, Alain Mournier and Shaun Ryan.