Training provider market disjointed

IF trades training isn't embraced by private colleges, technicians' courses could remain as rare as horses' teeth.

THE week before the federal government unveiled its latest skills reform roadmap, Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans delivered some early salvos at the National Press Club.

“We don’t need training for training’s sake – we need training for jobs,” Senator Evans told the Canberra club last month.

“We don’t want to see an oversupply of surfboard designers or equine dentists (I pay due respect to both) if the economy is crying out for electricians, retail managers or accounts clerks.”

The ‘Skills for All Australians’ report, released five days later by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, revealed why Senator Evans had highlighted these three occupations.

They’re among the 20 vocational-level occupations expected to grow most strongly over the five years to 2015–16, according to federal Education Department projections.

Electricians, retail managers and accounts clerks will be the top, seventh and tenth fastest growing occupations respectively, the report predicted.

Other rapidly growing occupations will include aged and disabled carers, plumbers, carpenters, chefs and real estate sales agents.

But while projected demand in all 20 occupations is consistently strong – ranging from about 10,000 more jobs for architectural, building and surveying technicians to almost 60,000 for electricians – training availability is anything but consistent.

While many hundreds of colleges are registered to train for rapidly growing administrative occupations, as few as 23 are authorised to train for key technical occupations, according to the training.gov.au website.

And while private colleges dominate the lists of providers registered for personal care, hospitality and sales training, there are relatively few providers of technical and trades training outside the public TAFE network.

The HES has analysed how many colleges are accredited to deliver training in the federal government’s top 20 occupations.

The figures below show the number of providers registered to train the key entry-level qualifications for each occupation, mostly at certificate III level.

They suggest that without a fundamental shift in the national provider market, training might be little easier to find in rapidly growing technical areas than it is in equine dentistry.

Receptionists (projected job growth: 15,200)                         1094 providers
Waiters (26,400)                                                                      622 providers
General Clerks (31,500)                                                           621 providers
Aged and disabled carers (46,700)                                          479 providers
Child Carers (30,600)                                                               385 providers
Retail managers (26,100)                                                         265 providers
Contract, program and project administrators (28,000)         254 providers
Chefs (17,300)                                                                            236 providers
Welfare support workers (16,300)                                              179 providers
Earthmoving plant operators (14,200)                                          149 providers
Accounting clerks (22,400)                                                       117 providers
Gardeners (10,000)                                                                    88 providers
Nursing support and personal care workers (22,000)                85 providers
Electricians (58,900)                                                                    77 providers
Real estate sales agents (13,700)                                                74 providers
Drillers, miners and shot firers (22,800)                                       56 providers
Plumbers (26,000)                                                                        51 providers
Carpenters and joiners (20,800)                                                    40 providers
Architectural, building and surveying technicians (9700)              23 providers

Source: training.gov.au, based on key entry-level qualifications for each occupation. Source of job growth projections: DEEWR. Truck drivers have been excluded because there is no vocational qualification for this occupation.