Training vital to Tasmania’s future growth

Tasmania’s future economic success depends on funding — and thinking about — vocational education and training the same as university degrees, business leaders say.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott. Picture: GARY RAMAGE

EDUCATION reform is critical to ensuring Tasmania’s economy continues to grow at the fastest rate in a decade, the nation’s top business body says.

The Business Council of Australia is launching its “Strong Australia” campaign in Hobart this week, focused on driving private investment by cutting energy costs, boosting infrastructure and education and attracting skilled workers.

It is also aimed at highlighting the role of small business as a driver of economic growth.

“There are more than 36,500 small businesses powering the Tasmanian economy and these enterprises are responsible for employing almost half of Tasmania’s total private sector workforce,” Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott writes in today’s Mercury.

She says that a flexible approach to education is the key to future prosperity.

“It is critical that Australians of all ages, anywhere in the nation, have access to quality skills and training throughout their careers to keep pace with this period of transition,” she said.

“We must remove the cultural bias where vocational education and training is viewed as second-class compared to university. It is not.

“We are advocating for one information system across vocational, education and training and higher education, and one funding system that removes the perverted incentives for everyone to go to university.

“Nowhere is this more important than a state like Tasmania. “We also want to establish a lifelong skills account that will allow people to access a variety of modules and certificates so they can adapt and stay in the workforce.”

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TAFE Tasmania and the University of Tasmania last year flagged the creation of a “single entry point” for post-secondary education as part of a push for greater flexibility for students seeking a combination of academic and trade skills.

The BCA pointed to Tasmania’s tourism industry one area that Tasmania demonstrated world-class performance.

More than 1.3 million visitors came to Tasmania in the year ending September 2018 and spent $2.41 billion.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the state was a national leader in tourism. “The stellar performance of Tasmanian tourism shows what a strong economic driver the sector can be,” he said.

“The state is a magnet for visitors for a reason, and Qantas and Jetstar have added more flights across Tasmania over the last few years to help that boom continue.

TCCI chief executive Michael Bailey said tourism, as well as our booming food and wine, showed the depth of the high-end brand Tasmania had developed over many years.

Incat chairman Robert Clifford said the success of his business was in part a reflection of a growing awareness around the world of the state’s many strengths.