ANTA abolished

November 8 2004 - On October 22, Prime Minister Howard announced that the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) will be abolished next year. The statement was part of his recommendations to the Governor-General for appointments to the fourth Howard Ministry:

"The Hon Gary Hardgrave MP will be appointed to the new position of Minister for Vocational and Technical Education to oversight the implementation of the Government’s election commitments in the area of skills training including the establishment of 24 new technical colleges. He will work directly with the Government’s industry partners, private and public training providers, and the states and territories in funding and delivery of vocational education. From July 2005 the Australian National Training Authority will be abolished and its responsibilities taken into the department, bringing about significant administrative savings. A Ministerial Council on Vocational Education will be established to ensure continued harmonisation of a national system of standards, assessment and accreditation, with goals agreed in a Commonwealth-State Funding Agreement."

Paul Byrne, the interim Chief Executive of ANTA said:

"The Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) and the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) are working to achieve a smooth transition of ANTA’s responsibilities to the department for both clients and staff.

"We are all committed to the world-leading, industry-led national vocational education and training system developed over the past 12 years and our focus is to maintain the continuous improvement of the national training framework. The skills and experience of ANTA staff have made a major contribution to the success of the national system and will continue to be valuable to this ongoing work.

"DEST and ANTA are both focused on building the skills of individual Australians to support our ongoing economic prosperity and future as a socially-inclusive nation. Until new arrangements are in place, it will be ‘business as usual’. All stakeholders and ANTA Committees will continue to be supported to our usual high standard. "

ACTU President Sharan Burrow condemned the decision:

"The decision by Prime Minister Howard to abolish ANTA is devastating and will affect nationally consistent training standards and result in confusion across the vocational education and training sectors.

"The decision also puts at risk the portability of qualifications across the nation. A corner stone of the VET system has been the national portability of qualifications which has assured young people that their qualifications would be recognised across the country.

"Australia's vocational education and training system is held in high regard across the world because of its capacity to span the states and territories and because at its best it represents the full range of industry and government partners.

"This is an atrocious decision by the Howard Government which will allow the skills crisis to deepen further.

"In July 2004 ACCI released their annual survey of investor confidence and found for the first time that the number one constraint for investment was the availability of suitable qualified employees.

"ANTA has played a critical in role in establishing a national vocational education and training sector which has delivered qualifications to more than 1.7million Australian's of all ages.

"There is no doubt that Australian workers and young workers in particular will suffer if their qualifications are narrowed and recognition of their education and training is restricted to their immediate employer," said Sharan Burrow, ACTU President.