Report on Government Services 2025

The VET system provides training for entry level jobs through to highly technical occupations, but also provides training for non-employment related reasons. Nationally in 2023, the main reason qualification completers participated in VET was for:

• employment related reasons (75.1% in total VET and 76.1% in government-funded VET)¹
• personal development (13.2% in total VET and 12.0% in government-funded VET)
• pathways to further study (11.7% in total VET and 11.9% in government-funded VET) (NCVER 2023).

To achieve these aims, a student may choose to complete a single subject/unit of competency, module, skill set or VET qualification. VET qualifications range from Certificate I level to Graduate Diploma level, as determined by the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).

1. Total VET refers to nationally recognised vocational education and training activity delivered by Australian registered training organisations (RTOs) to students who undertook nationally recognised VET on a government funded or fee-for-service basis. All data for non-nationally recognised training and delivery from non-registered training providers has been excluded from reporting of total VET activity in this report. Locate Footnote 1 above

VET is an area of shared responsibility between interlinked government, industry and individual stakeholders (figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1 VET roles and responsibilities

Federal governance arrangements

For the reporting period 2023-24, government roles and responsibilities were outlined in the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development and the National Skills Agreement , and are summarised below:

• The Australian Government provides financial support to state and territory governments to sustain national training systems and provides specific incentives, interventions and assistance for national priority areas.
• State and territory governments manage VET delivery within their jurisdiction (including the effective operation of the training market).
• The Australian Government and state and territory governments work together to progress and implement national policy priorities. Up to May 2020, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Industry and Skills Council had responsibility for skills development and national training arrangements. In May 2020, COAG was replaced by a new National Federal Reform Council (NFRC) centred around the National Cabinet. In June 2020, National Cabinet announced the formation of six National Cabinet Reform Committees, including the Skills National Cabinet Reform Committee (Skills Committee).
• In late 2022, following a Review of Ministerial Councils conducted by First Secretaries, National Cabinet renamed the Committee the Skills and Workforce Ministerial Council, acknowledging the strong linkages between skills and workforce policy matters.

The Skills and Workforce Ministerial Council was established to provide a forum for national cooperation and stewardship across the VET system. The scope of the Council includes strategic policy planning, performance evaluation, cross-sectoral alignment and the interaction between VET and broader workforce issues.

As of 2025, there are two active agreements between the Australian Government and state and territory governments relating to Skills and Workforce Development. The first is the Fee-Free Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Skills Agreement, which runs until mid-2027 and delivers fee-free places at TAFE institutes in agreed qualification areas for priority equity groups. The second is the five-year National Skills Agreement that commenced on 1 January 2024 and delivers on the nationally shared vision and principles for the VET sector.

Industry engagement arrangements

JSCs are not-for-profit companies owned and led by industry with a strategic leadership role to identify, forecast and respond to the current and emerging skills needs and workforce challenges. There are ten JSCs encompassing all industry sectors that form a national network to strengthen tripartite leadership in the VET system, bringing all parties to the table to find solutions to skills and workforce challenges. Employer organisations and unions work together on JSCs governance (board composition, membership structures) and operational arrangements (strategic taskforces, sub-committees and technical committees).

JSCs have four core functions:

• Workforce planning – creating a consistent, strategic approach to addressing skill gaps in their industry sector
• Training product development – developing training products in line with standards set by Skills Ministers to improve quality, responsiveness and speed to market
• Implementation, promotion and monitoring – partnering with RTOs to align workforce planning and training products with career advice and training delivery
• Industry stewardship – providing intelligence on workforce issues affecting industry and advice on national VET system policies.

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations undertakes compliance assessments of training packages developed by JSCs against the standards set by Skills Ministers.

Regulation of VET

ASQA is the national regulator for VET. ASQA accredits courses and regulates RTOs to ensure the nationally approved Standards for RTOs 2015 (the Standards) are met. ASQA has jurisdiction over all RTOs, except for those that are regulated by the Victorian and Western Australian state regulators. Nationally, ASQA regulated 3,938 RTOs as at 30 June 2024 (ASQA 2024).

As at 30 June 2024, VRQA regulated 127 RTOs delivering training to domestic students in Victoria only or in Victoria and Western Australia (VRQA unpublished). The TAC regulates 167 RTOs delivering training to domestic students in Western Australia and Victoria (TAC unpublished). VRQA and TAC use the Standards as a baseline for regulating RTOs, but also measure provider compliance against other regulatory frameworks, for example the VRQA Guidelines for VET or Western Australia's Vocational Education and Training Act 1996.

Registered Training Organisations

RTOs are those training providers registered by ASQA, VRQA or TAC to deliver VET services, including:

• government VET providers – such as TAFE institutes, agricultural colleges and multi-sector education institutions
• community education providers – such as adult and community education providers
• other registered providers – such as private training businesses, industry and community bodies with an RTO arm, employers that have RTO status to train their own staff, Group Training Organisations (GTOs) or Apprenticeship Network Providers that also deliver VET services.

Nationally recognised training

Nationally recognised training leads to vocational qualifications and credentials that are recognised across Australia. It consists of the following components:

• Training packages specify the knowledge and skills (known as competencies) required by individuals to perform effectively in the workplace. Training packages detail how units of competency can be packaged into nationally recognised qualifications that align to the AQF.
• Accredited qualifications refer to nationally recognised courses that lead to a qualification outcome not specified in a national training package.
• Accredited courses have been assessed by a VET regulator as compliant with the Standards for VET Accredited Courses 2021.
• Training package skill sets are defined as single units of competency, or combinations of units of competency from an endorsed training package, which link to a licensing or regulatory requirement, or a defined industry need.
• Units of competency and accredited modules define the skills and knowledge to operate effectively in a workplace context. They are the smallest study components that can be assessed and recognised. Where a student enrols in a unit or module not part of one of the categories above, they are reported as ‘subjects not delivered as part of a nationally recognised program’.

All nationally recognised training is listed on the National Training Register and only RTOs can deliver nationally recognised training and issue nationally recognised qualifications or statements of attainment on the full or partial completion of training. Apprenticeships or traineeships combine employment and competency-based training, including both formal nationally recognised training and on-the-job training.

Figure 5.2 outlines the major funding flows within the VET system.

Figure 5.2 Major funding flows within the VET system

Government recurrent expenditure

The 2025 RoGS uses a different scope and treatment of VET expenditure data compared to previous editions of the RoGS. In this report, government recurrent expenditure refers to Australian Government and state and territory government expenditure that is directly related to the provision of VET services and delivered to the community by, or on behalf of, the government. This includes:

• VET delivery funding – funding provided to RTOs that directly delivers a training outcome. This includes funding for subsidised training and further subsidies targeted at supporting access and recognising additional delivery costs.
• System administration and governance – funding of costs associated with supporting the state/territory and national VET system.

Nationally in 2023, total government real recurrent expenditure, including user cost of capital was $8.1 billion – an increase from $7.7 billion in 2022 (figure 5.3).

Total government real recurrent expenditure per person aged 15–64 years, excluding user cost of capital, was $405 in 2023 (table 5A.2).

Total government funding of VET

There are several funding flows within the VET system outside the scope of RoGS government recurrent expenditure (see figure 5.2).

The Australian Government provides funding to state and territory governments through payments under Federation Funding Agreements. Nationally in 2023, the Australian Government provided around $2.1 billion to state and territory governments, with the majority provided through ongoing specific purpose payments ($1.6 billion) and the remainder from National Partnership Agreement funding ($476.1 million) (table 5A.3). This funding flow indirectly contributes to state and territory government real recurrent expenditure on VET services.

Government recurrent funding captures the funds provided by each jurisdiction to cover their training portfolio costs and relevant VET programs. Along with VET delivery funding and system administration and governance, this includes:

• Employer assistance – funding that incentivises and supports employers to engage in VET, including subsidies, incentives, grants and other payments, and tax exemptions
• Student assistance – funding that supports students with non-tuition costs associated with undertaking VET, including loans and grants or subsidies.

Nationally in 2023, government recurrent funding totalled $8.3 billion – a decrease from $8.8 billion in 2022 (table 5A.3). Total government appropriations and real recurrent program funding for VET, inclusive of Australian Government transfers to the states and territories, totalled $10.4 billion in 2023 – down from $11.2 billion in 2022.

Allocation of funding

Nationally in 2023, $3.7 billion of VET funding was allocated through a competitive basis – an increase from $3.4 billion in 2022 (table 5A.4). The mechanisms for contestable allocation of funds include open competitive tendering, limited competitive tendering and eligible grants, user choice and entitlement funding (refer to ‘Explanatory material’ tab for definitions).

Government VET delivery funding is provided to a mixture of government RTOs (including TAFEs), private RTOs, other RTOs and community education providers. Nationally in 2023, government VET delivery funding paid to non-TAFE providers totalled nearly $1.5 billion – around 24% of total VET delivery funding and a 3.6% real increase from 2022 (table 5A.5).

Students

Nationally in 2023, over 5 million students were enrolled in VET (total VET students) (figure 5.4). Around 2.1 million students were enrolled in qualifications, with the largest number of these students enrolled in Certificate level III or IV qualifications (over 1.4 million), followed by Certificate level I or II (436,300), and Diploma or above (393,000) qualifications. Other students were enrolled in subjects not delivered as part of a nationally recognised program (almost 3.5 million) and in training package skill sets and accredited courses (227,100).

Nationally in 2023, over 1.2 million students were enrolled in government-funded VET (figure 5.4). Almost 1.1 million students were enrolled in government-funded qualifications, with the largest number of these students enrolled in Certificate level III or IV qualifications (802,000), followed by Certificate level I or II (192,400) and Diploma or above (142,500) qualifications. Other students were enrolled in other forms of government-funded nationally recognised and non-nationally recognised training.

Data on participation in total and government-funded VET by people aged 15–64 years in selected equity groups is available in tables 5A.8–9. Population data for all people and selected equity groups aged 15–64 years used to calculate rates is available in table 5A.10.

Training providers

Nationally in 2023, there were 3,607 registered VET training organisations delivering nationally recognised training in Australia (table 5A.11), of which 1,285 delivered nationally recognised government-funded VET through state and territory training departments (NCVER, unpublished). There were 1,481 VET providers delivering government-funded nationally recognised, locally developed and non-nationally recognised training, at 34,879 locations in Australia (table 5A.12).

‘Barriers to participation in VET by selected equity group’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that the national training system is provided in an equitable manner.

‘Barriers to participation in VET by selected equity group’ is defined as the proportion of the population aged 15–64 years from selected equity groups who reported facing barriers to accessing or completing VET courses. For this report, the selected equity groups are:

• people from remote and very remote areas
• people from low socio-economic areas. A low socio-economic area is defined to be people residing in an area with a Socio-economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage of the lowest quintile.

Data is not available for reporting against this measure for other selected equity groups.

Data for barriers to accessing courses by remoteness and SEIFA quintiles is collected from the Survey of Work-Related Training and Adult Learning (WRTAL), 2020-21. Participants were asked whether there were any occasions in the past 12 months where they had wanted to do a qualification at bachelor degree level or above, or below bachelor level, but had not been able to, and if so, what were the reasons they were not able to.

Similar proportions of people in selected equity groups reporting that they encounter barriers to accessing or completing VET courses relative to people not from these selected equity groups is desirable.

In 2020-21, the proportion of people who wanted to participate in any (or more) formal study below bachelor degree level in the last 12 months but could not was highest in major cities (2.7%) and lowest in outer regional and remote areas (0.4%). Results across SEIFA quintiles were fairly constant ranging from 0.7% in both the lowest and highest quintiles to 0.9% in the third quintile (figure 5.5).

‘Barriers to participation in VET’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to create a national training system that is accessible to all working age Australians.

'Barriers to participation in VET’ is defined as the proportion of the population aged 15–64 years who reported facing barriers to accessing or completing VET courses.

Data for barriers to accessing courses is collected from the Survey of Work-Related Training and Adult Learning (WRTAL), 2020-21. Participants were asked whether there were any occasions in the past 12 months where they had wanted to undertake a qualification at bachelor degree level or above, or below bachelor level, but had not been able to, and if so, the reasons they were not able to.

A lower proportion of people reporting that they encounter barriers to accessing or completing VET courses is desirable.

Nationally in 2020-21, 5.5% of people wanted to participate in any (or more) formal study in the last 12 months but could not. The proportion was higher for barriers to enrolment in a qualification (or more qualifications) below bachelor degree level (3.8%), than for enrolment in a qualification (or more qualifications) at bachelor degree level or above (2.3%) (figure 5.6).

The main barriers to participation in any (or more) formal study in the last 12 months include too much work / no time (1.5%) and financial reasons (1.3%) (table 5A.13)

‘Students who achieve main reason for training’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to create a national training system that meets the needs of students, employers and industries.

‘Students who achieve main reason for training’ is defined as the proportion of government‑funded VET qualification completers who reported that the training 'fully' or 'partly' helped them achieve their main reason for training.

This measure relates to the activities of government‑funded VET activity only.

Data is collected from the annual national Student Outcomes Survey for qualification completers aged 18 years and over. Survey data for a year (for example, 2023) refers to the cohort of students that graduated the year before (for example, 2022).

A high or increasing proportion of students whose training helped them achieve their main reason for training is desirable.

Nationally in 2023, 88.2% of government‑funded 2022 VET qualification completers reported that training 'fully' or 'partly' helped achieve their main reason for training (figure 5.7). The proportion was higher for people in remote and very remote areas (93.6%) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (89.4%) and lower for people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged (87.6%) and people with disability (82.6%).

‘Employer satisfaction with VET’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to create a national training system that meets the needs of students, employers and industries.

‘Employer satisfaction with VET’ is defined as the proportion of employers who engaged in an aspect of VET, and who were satisfied with all forms of VET engagement.

‘Engagement with VET’ includes if the employer had employees undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship, or had arranged or provided their employees with nationally recognised training, or had employees with formal vocational qualifications as a requirement of their job.

This measure relates to total VET activity².

Data is collected from the biennial Survey of Employers’ Use and Views of the VET system and represents the responses of employers with at least one employee and their training experiences in the 12 months prior to the survey.

A high or increasing proportion of employers who are satisfied with VET in meeting the skill needs of their workforce is desirable.

Nationally in 2023, 56.8% of Australian employers were engaged with VET (table 5A.15), of which 66.4% were satisfied with all forms of VET engagement (down from 72.9% in 2015) (figure 5.8). By type of training engaged in, satisfaction with apprenticeships or traineeships had the largest decrease by 8.5 percentage points (from 81.7% in 2015 to 73.2% in 2023) (figure 5.8).

2. As employers engaging with government-funded VET engagement cannot be determined from the survey. Locate Footnote 2 above

‘Student satisfaction with quality of training’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to create a national training system that is high quality.

‘Student satisfaction with quality of training’ is defined as the proportion of government‑funded VET qualification completers who reported being satisfied with the overall quality of training.

This measure relates to government‑funded VET activity only.

Data is collected from the annual national Student Outcomes Survey for qualification completers aged 18 years and over. Survey data for a year (for example, 2023) refers to the cohort of students that graduated the year before (for example, 2022). Qualification completers satisfied with their training include those who ‘Strongly agree’ or ‘Agree’ with the relevant questionnaire item.

A high or increasing proportion of qualification completers satisfied with their training is desirable.

Nationally in 2023, 89.1% of all government‑funded 2022 VET qualification completers indicated that they were satisfied with the overall quality of their training (figure 5.9). The proportion was higher for people in remote and very remote areas (93.3%), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (91.6%) and people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged (90.4%) and lower for people with disability (86.8%).

Satisfaction with instructors (87.0%) was lower than satisfaction with assessment (89.2%) (table 5A.17).

‘Service quality’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to create a national training system that is high quality.

‘Service quality’ is defined as providers that were subject to a compliance audit resulting in an adverse decision, as a proportion of regulated providers.

The definition of adverse decisions includes registration cancellation, registration suspension, enforceable undertaking, partial registration cancellation or suspension, and shortened registration (refer to 'Key terms' in the 'Explanatory material' tab for more details).

Providers that were subject to a compliance audit, as a proportion of regulated providers is also presented as contextual information in figure 5.10. The definition of compliance audits includes a limited subset of all regulatory activity (refer to 'Key terms' in the 'Explanatory material' tab for more details).

Data for this indicator is provided by ASQA, VRQA and TAC.

Although ASQA is the national regulator and regulates the majority of the RTOs in Australia, it only has partial coverage for regulating VET training providers in Victoria and Western Australia. Caution is required when comparing ASQA results from these jurisdictions. While data is broken down by jurisdiction, ASQA does not consider these boundaries when undertaking its duties. Training providers in Victoria and Western Australia not covered by ASQA are regulated by VRQA and TAC, respectively (refer to 'Key terms' in the 'Explanatory material' tab for more details).

A lower or decreasing proportion of providers subject to a compliance audit resulting in an adverse decision is desirable. Caution is required when interpreting the results across different regulators. Although the regulators use the Standards as a baseline for measuring provider compliance, each regulator has unique regulatory frameworks, audit types and legislative responsibilities.

In 2023-24, 10.8% of providers regulated by ASQA were subject to a compliance audit and 1.5% were subject to a compliance audit resulting in an adverse decision – up from 1.3% in 2022-23 (figure 5.10). For providers regulated by VRQA in 2023-24, 0.8% were subject to a compliance audit resulting in an adverse decision, which is the same as the proportion subject to a compliance audit – both were 0.7% in 2022-23. In 2023-24, 20.4% of providers regulated by TAC were subject to a compliance audit. Zero providers were subject to a compliance audit resulting in an adverse decision, which is the same as in 2022-23.

‘Workforce sustainability’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide sustainable VET services.

VET workforce sustainability relates to the capacity of the VET workforce to meet current and projected future service demand. These measures are not a substitute for a full workforce analysis that allows for training, migration, changing patterns of work and expected future demand. They can, however, indicate that further attention should be given to workforce planning for VET services.

This indicator is currently under development for reporting in the future.

‘Government recurrent expenditure per annual hour’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that the national training system is provided in an efficient manner.

'Government recurrent expenditure per annual hour’ is defined as government recurrent expenditure (including user cost of capital) divided by government‑funded weighted annual hours (for further information on expenditure data, refer to 'Interpreting efficiency data' in the 'Explanatory material' tab).

This measure relates to government‑funded VET activity. If a training provider receives government funding to deliver a VET course, then all the training hours associated with that course are classified as government-funded training hours, regardless of the total amount of government funding received.

Lower or decreasing unit costs can indicate efficient delivery of VET services.

'Government recurrent expenditure per annual hour' should be interpreted carefully because low or decreasing unit costs do not necessarily reflect improved efficiency. The factors that have the greatest impact on efficiency include:

• training related factors, such as class sizes, teaching salaries, teaching hours per full-time equivalent staff member and differences in the length of training programs
• differences across jurisdictions, including socio-demographic composition, administrative scale, and dispersion and scale of service delivery
• VET policies and practices, including the level of fees and charges paid by students.

Nationally in 2023, government recurrent expenditure per annual hour was $21.17/hour, largely unchanged from 2022 (figure 5.11). This measure is underpinned by $7.4 billion in state and territory government real recurrent expenditure, which increased by 5.6% from 2022 (table 5A.1), and 347.1 million hours of government funded annual hours (course mix adjusted), which increased by 5.7% from 2022 (table 5A.19).

‘Student employment and further study outcomes’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that the VET system deliver a productive and highly skilled workforce through enabling all working age Australians to develop and use the skills required to participate effectively in the labour market and contribute to Australia’s economic future.

‘Student employment and further study outcomes’ is defined by two measures – the proportion of total and government‑funded VET qualification completers aged 20–64 years:

• employed and/or in further study after training
• who improved their employment status after training

  ‘Improved employment status’ is at least one of:

  • employment status changing from not employed before training to employed either full‑time or part‑time after training. ‘Not employed’ is defined as unemployed, not in the labour force, or not employed (no further information)
  • employed at a higher skill level after training
  • received a job‑related benefit after completing their training, including got a job or changed job, set up or expanded their own business, got a promotion, gained extra skills for their job, increased earnings, kept current job or other job‑related benefits.

Both measures are also disaggregated by selected equity group (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people in remote and very remote areas, people with disability and people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged).

Survey data for a year (for example, 2023) refers to the cohort of students that graduated the year before (for example, 2022).

Holding other factors constant, higher or increasing proportions indicate positive employment or further study outcomes after training.

Comparison of labour market outcomes should also account for the general economic conditions in each jurisdiction.

Nationally in 2023, 89.9% of 20–64 year old total VET qualification completers from 2022 were employed and/or continued on to further study after training (figure 5.12a) – up from 89.1% in 2022. The proportion was higher for people from remote and very remote areas (91.9%) and lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (88.0%), people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged (86.2%) and people with disability (80.4%) (table 5A.20).

For government‑funded VET qualification completers, 88.9% were employed and/or continued on to further study in 2023 (lower than the proportion for total VET qualification completers) – up from 87.5% in 2022. The proportion was higher for people from remote and very remote areas (91.3%) and lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (86.8%), people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged (85.0%) and people with disability (80.5%) (table 5A.21).

Nationally in 2023, 73.7% of total VET qualification completers aged 20–64 years from 2022 improved their employment status after training (figure 5.12b) – up from 71.4% in 2022. The proportion was higher for people from remote and very remote areas (78.8%), slightly lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (72.7%) and lower for people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged (69.4%) and people with disability (57.2%) (table 5A.22).

For government‑funded qualification completers, 72.3% had improved employment status in 2023 (lower than the proportion for total VET qualification completers) – up from 69.8% in 2022. The proportion was higher for people from remote and very remote areas (78.3%), slightly lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (71.3%) and lower for people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged (66.9%) and people with disability (56.1%) (table 5A.23).

In 2023, for both total VET and government‑funded qualification completers, the proportion of all people who improved their employment status after training was lower for those completing a Certificate I or II qualification (60.6% and 51.1%, respectively), compared with those completing a Certificate III or IV qualification (75.1% and 74.4%, respectively) or a Diploma and above qualification (75.8% and 75.1%, respectively) (tables 5A.22–23).

By type of improved employment status for both total VET and government-funded qualification completers (figure 5.12b), among all people, the proportion was highest for those receiving a job‑related benefit (85.6% and 86.4%, respectively), followed by employed after training (who were not employed before training) (56.2% and 55.1%, respectively) and employed at a higher skill level after training (17.6% and 21.2%, respectively) (tables 5A.22–23).

‘Student completions and qualifications’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that the VET system deliver a productive and highly skilled workforce through enabling all working age Australians to develop and use the skills required to effectively participate in the labour market and contribute to Australia’s economic future.

‘Student completions and qualifications’ is defined as the number of total and government‑funded VET qualifications completed each year by students aged 15–64 years, per 1,000 people aged 15–64 years. Data is disaggregated by AQF level and by selected equity group (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from remote and very remote areas, people with disability and people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged).

Qualification completions data is ‘preliminary’ for 2023 and ‘final’ for earlier years.

A higher or increasing rate of completed qualifications increases the national pool of skilled people in Australia. However, this measure needs to be interpreted with care as the rate of qualification completions:

• by selected equity group (other than for remoteness) depends on obtaining accurate responses to self‑identification questions at the time of enrolment, which may vary across jurisdictions. A large unknown (or not stated) response could mean that the completion rate for the selected equity group is understated
• uses a different data source for the numerator and denominator, which can affect comparability.

Nationally in 2023, 785,700 qualifications were completed by total VET students aged 15–⁠⁠64 years (table 5A.24) – equivalent to 45.4 qualifications per 1,000 people aged 15–64 years (figure 5.13). The rate was higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (47.6) and people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged (46.1), and lower for people from remote and very remote areas (43.4). The rate for people with disability was 15.0 in 2022. The number of qualifications completed by total VET students increased by 2.9% from 2019 to 2023 (table 5A.24).

Nationally in 2023, 322,800 qualifications were completed by government‑funded VET students aged 15–⁠⁠64 years – equivalent to 18.7 qualifications per 1,000 people aged 15–64 years (table 5A.25). The rate was higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (31.0), people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged (24.0) and people in remote and very remote areas (23.1). The rate for people with disability was 10.9 in 2022. The number of government‑funded VET qualification completions decreased 4.1% from 2019 to 2023 (table 5A.25).

By qualification level, the rate of total and government-funded VET qualifications completed per 1,000 people aged 15−64 years in 2023 was highest for Certificate III or IV (26.9 and 12.1, respectively), followed by Certificate I or II (11.3 and 4.6, respectively) and Diploma and above (7.3 and 2.0, respectively) (figure 5.13).

Of the 785,700 VET qualifications completed by total VET students in 2023, 59.1% were for Certificate III or IV, 24.8% for Certificate I or II and 16.1% for Diploma and above (table 5A.24). For the 322,800 VET qualifications completed by government‑funded VET students, there was a greater concentration at Certificate level III or IV (64.6%), followed by 24.8% for Certificate I or II and 10.6% for Diploma and above (table 5A.25).

‘Students who improved education status’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that the VET system deliver a productive and highly skilled workforce through enabling all working age Australians to develop and use the skills required to effectively participate in the labour market and contribute to Australia’s economic future.

'Students who improved education status’ is defined as the proportion of total and government‑funded VET qualifications completed by people aged 20–64 years which were at a higher education level than their previous highest education level. Data is disaggregated by selected equity groups (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from remote and very remote areas, people with disability and people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged).

Higher or increasing proportions of students with improved education status after training indicate that the skill levels of the working age population are increasing.

Of all total VET qualification completers aged 20–64 years that completed an AQF qualification nationally in 2023, 43.1% did so with a higher qualification than their previous highest AQF qualification (figure 5.14). The proportion was higher for all four selected equity groups – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (56.1%), people from remote and very remote areas (49.0%), people with disability (46.6%) and people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged (44.7%) (table 5A.26).

Nationally, for government-funded VET qualification completers aged 20–64 years that completed an AQF qualification in 2023, 52.9% did so with a higher qualification than their previous highest AQF qualification. The proportion was higher for people from remote and very remote areas (59.1%), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (58.3%) and people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged (53.4%) and lower for people with disability (47.8%) (table 5A.27).

For total VET qualifications completed at a Certificate III or above in 2023, 47.0% were at a higher education level – lower than the proportion for government-funded completions (57.6%) (tables 5A.28-29).

In 2023, 13.0% of total VET enrolments by people aged 20–64 years were completed at a higher education level – equal to the proportion for government‑funded VET enrolments (13.0%) (tables 5A.26-27).

‘Skill utilisation’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that the VET system deliver a productive and highly skilled workforce through enabling all working age Australians to develop and use the skills required to effectively participate in the labour market and contribute to Australia’s economic future.

'Skill utilisation’ is defined as the proportion of people aged 15–64 years who completed their highest VET qualification (AQF Certificate levels I to IV, Diploma and Advanced Diploma) in the last five years, that are working in the field of the highest VET qualification or not working in the same field and the qualification is relevant to their current job.

A high or increasing proportion of people who were either working in the field of their highest VET qualification or the qualification was relevant to their current job is desirable.

Nationally in 2022-23, 78.1% of people aged 15–64 years that completed their highest VET qualification in the last five years were either working in the field of that qualification or not working in the same field and the qualification was relevant to their current job. This proportion is lower than 2018-19 (79.8%) (figure 5.15).

Nationally in 2022-23, 65.9% were working in the field of the highest VET qualification and 12.3% were not working in the same field but the qualification is relevant to their current job (table 5A.30).

Comparability of cost estimates

Government recurrent expenditure is calculated using data prepared by the Australian Government and state and territory governments under the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS) Funding Standard for the NCVER National VET Funding Collection. Data is prepared annually on an accrual basis.

Government recurrent expenditure for a given jurisdiction is deemed as being equivalent to:

• VET delivery funding; plus
• System administration and governance funding; minus
• state and territory payroll tax expenses (where applicable)

Expenditure is also increased by the user cost of capital (estimated as 8% of the value of total physical non‑current assets owned by government RTOs).

Payroll tax payments by government‑owned RTOs are deducted from the total to ensure a consistent treatment across jurisdictions.

Government recurrent expenditure for VET may be affected by the movement of TAFE institutes between government and non‑government sectors. User cost of capital should be interpreted carefully. Differences in some input costs (for example, land values) can affect reported costs across jurisdictions without necessarily reflecting the efficiency of service delivery. The value of land is presented separately from the value of other assets to allow users assessing the results to consider any differences in land values across jurisdictions. The basis for the 8% capital charge is discussed in section 1.

All VET expenditure and funding data for years prior to 2023 is adjusted to real dollars (2023 dollars) using the gross domestic product (GDP) chain price index (table 5A.31). Section 2 provides for more information on adjusting financial data to real dollars.

Comparability of efficiency data

To promote comparability of the data across states and territories, as well as comparability between the financial and activity data, annual hours are adjusted by the course mix weight when calculating the efficiency indicator.

Australian Government recurrent expenditure and weighted annual hours are excluded from the efficiency indicator. This is due to the small number of weighted annual hours in foundation skills programs administered by the Australian Government and difficulties in separating them from the annual hours related to state and territory government recurrent expenditure.