Janina Gawler, State Rivalries

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING (VET) is receiving unaccustomed national attention. There’s good reason for that. Australia is in the midst of a skills shortage which casts a menacing shadow over our economy. The decision by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to establish a joint Commonwealth-State taskforce to identify and eliminate barriers to a national VET system is a welcome one. Although one might reasonably ask: what kept them?