ACE Vic » Policy Update

COAG Ministerial Declaration on ACE

Sally — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:17:19 +0000

First Some History:

In 1997, MCEETYA (the Ministerial Council for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs) released the National Policy on Adult and Community Education to provide a framework for government activity to recognise and support adult community education. In July 2001, Ministers asked the Adult Community Education Taskforce to review this policy to ensure that the ACE sector is well placed to maximise its contribution to the national education and training effort.

The taskforce developed a Ministerial Declaration on Adult Community Education, which was endorsed by State, Territory and Commonwealth ministers at the 13th MCEETYA meeting in July 2002.

The 2002 Ministerial Declaration on ACE was reviewed in 2007. ACEVic

provided a response to this review on behalf of its members.

2008 COAG Declaration on ACE

This new statement supercedes the previous 2002 Declaration. It is designed to inform the policies and actions of all Australian State and Territory governments and the Commonwealth Government. A full copy of the Declaration is available here.

ACE is a unique field in that it sits in both the education and training and the community sectors. It is concerned with not just supporting individuals with skill development, but with empowering and developing communities. ACEVic values the recognition in the Declaration of this dual role. The Declaration identifies that ACE contributes to COAG’s productivity and workforce skills agendas and also to the Federal Government’s Social Inclusion policy.

The Declaration identifies the unique opportunties for ACE to deliver vocational education and training to individuals, while at the same time acknowledging the important role of ACE in building community capacity and encouraging social cohesion.

ACE varies widely from state to state with Victoria frequently acknowledged as the leader in fostering its development. Despite different approaches, the COAG Declaration indicates a shared view of its value and potential amongst all Australian governments, which bodes well for the future development of the sector.

ACE Futures Forums

Sally — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:13:14 +0000

During October, ACEVic and the ANHLC ACE Issues Group conducted a consultation process to gather feedback from the field about what they would like to see in the upcoming Ministerial Statement on ACE. The result is the following statement:

ACE builds the skills, knowledge and abilities of Victorian communities by providing

Informal learning opportunities alongside formal learning pathways,
Welcoming and accepting environments,
Pedagogy that is flexible and learner-focussed,
Programs driven by local needs,
A diverse range of organisations which each reflect, nurture and are involved with their local communities,
Interpersonal connections to build better and stronger communities,
Awareness of diversity, and promotion of harmony and connectedness,
Entry level computer education to those who would otherwise be left behind in the digital revolution,
Personalised attention so that learners feel valued and are not lost in the system.

ACE is build on a set of values and practices that encompass:

Reinvesting skills, knowledge and money in local communities,
Being in it for the long haul: an ongoing presence in specific localities reflecting a commitment to ensure all members have the opportunity to reach their potential,
Connection to a broad range of social and community services and supports,
Holistic application of adult learning practices,
Commitment to all members of a community particularly the most disadvantaged and marginalised,
Strong return on investment of resources.

The unique features of ACE that need to be maintained in the new funding and policy environment are:

Registration as an ACE provider with the ACFE Board should be confined to those organisations which have a commitment to place based and driven community development,
Registration as an ACE provider with the ACFE Board should be confined to those organisations who are community owned, managed and operated,
Government policy should support collaboration, complementarity and partnership to meet local needs,
Providers should be supported to maintain our flexibility and responsiveness alongside high quality standards,
Government statements and policy should reflect ACE as a relevant, recognised and respected partner in the training system,
The special significance of ACE in remote & rural communities should be protected because there will be devastating effects on those communities if local ACE providers are lost.

Representatives from ACEVic and ANHLC met with Minister Allan on the 3rd December 2007 to brief her on the statement.

ACEVic Position on Securing a Job for Your Future: Skills for Victoria

Sally — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:17:04 +0000

The Victorian Government’s Review of the vocational education and training system has now been announced. This is one of the most radical shake-ups of funding to hit the sector in a long time. Please read ACEVic’s response to the package as well as our media release.

response-to-skills-for-victoria

media-release-skills-reform

Review of the Language, Literacy and Numeracy Program

Sally — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:46:39 +0000

ACEVic recently prepared a response to the Discussion Paper on the Language, Literacy and Numeracy program. While only a small percentage of ACEVic members are involved in the delivery of this program, in earlier incarnations, this was a major source of activity for many providers. The introduction of price based competitive tendering, and the huge size of the regions covered by the program, has meant that less and less ACE providers have taken part in a program which is closely aligned to our core business of providing training to educationally disadvantaged people. Read our submission below.

acevic-response-to-the-llnp-review

Securing our future economic prosperity: Discussion paper on skills reform

Sally — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:15:54 +0000

ACEVic was recently invited by the Minister for Skills and Workforce Participation, Jacinta Allan, to respond to the Securing our economic future: discussion paper on skills reform. Our response is below.

acevic-response1

In addition many members of ACEVic contributed individual responses. There were a number of common themes across the member submissions. These were:

ACE providers are confident of their ability to thrive in a more open market, but only where competition is around capacity to attract learners and achieve outcomes, not where competition means a price based “race to the bottom” as has occurred in federally funded adult education.
Many adults presenting for ACE programs don’t fit priority learner groups but are nonetheless seriously educationally disadvantaged and in need of intensive support. Some examples cited include learners with an undiagnosed mental illness and learners with quals achieved in other countries and in other languages.
ACE providers are struggling to attract and retain teachers under the current funding regime.

We look forward to hearing the outcomes of the review.