How Do We Fix a Broken System? The discussion no one seems to want to have There has been an elephant sitting in the VET room for a very long time: the system by which we develop, attract and retain the trainers and assessors upon whom the quality of Australian

Sucking Seed…. This article has been a long time in the making, as I wanted to provide something positive, so here is my VET perspective. Warning: bad joke incoming. What do great VET trainers and assessors, and birds have in common? They all want to succeed—suck seed. But what does

Is Clustering the Key to Unlocking RTO Productivity… or Just an Inconvenient Truth? Designing training unit by unit is a bit like teaching someone to drive by only ever letting them sit in a parked car—technically correct, but not especially useful when they hit the road. For a sector under

Turning Trainer Capability into a Strategic Advantage for RTOs After more than thirteen years working across the VET sector in training delivery, assessment, validation, compliance, quality improvement and industry engagement, one belief has become very clear to me: “Trainer capability” is not simply something to be managed through documents and

Empowering the Frontline: Ways senior VET leaders can support their educators re-engage disengaged learners Vocational Education and Training (VET) educators are increasingly reporting learner disengagement as a major hurdle that they regularly face. Supporting these educators is not just a management task, it is a win-win-win for the VET educator,

Navigating Change as an Everyday RTO: What It’s Really Been Like When we started our RTO – Advance You (46378), we wanted to improve how pest management training was delivered to our industry with a focus on compliance, risk management, environmental protection and judicious chemical application. As pest control business

Let’s sprinkle some sparkle! I have a new muse. If you have been watching coverage of Milano Cortina 2026 (this year’s Winter Olympics), you’ll have seen that awards ceremonies are announced in French, English and Italian. I have announced at several international sporting events, including at the Sydney 2000 Olympics,

The Art and Science of Facilitating RPL – Why recognition is a craft; not a checkbox Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is one of the most misunderstood and, at times, unfairly feared practices in the Australian VET sector. On one side, it is framed as a legitimate, learner-centred pathway that

The Zen of VET: a Compliance Strategy It’s a new year, and some of us have already undertaken the annual cleansing ritual. We’ve scrubbed the BBQ, donated the old clothes, and maybe even tackled that “junk drawer” we’ve been avoiding since 2022. Others? They quietly close the door and promise

VET – Reflecting a world of change As 2025 has now drawn to a close, and 2026 has commenced, I find myself looking back over a year of change in Vocational Education and Training (VET).  There are regulatory changes with the new Standards and the new Training Package Organising Framework,

Who Moved the Cheese… and Why Are We Still Waiting at the Station? After decades in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector, one of the most noticeable shifts has not been regulatory (though there’s plenty of that), but cultural. Somewhere along the way, innovation dulled and genuine engagement with

Will current conditions see the end of training outside of a workplace? The convergence of the 2025 Standards for RTOs, AI’s rapid escalation, and industry’s demand for genuinely job-ready graduates puts the sector at a crossroads we can no longer sidestep. One of the great things about VET is its