VET Workforce Project

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VET Workforce Project

The VET Workforce Project is a Commonwealth funded initiative being led by the ten Job and Skills Councils with the aim to build and support a secure and sustainable VET workforce.

Latest update
Latest update Trainer ToolBox Launched 2 June 2026
Resources 5 Downloads
About the project

Project overview

The vocational education and training (VET) workforce plays a critical role in addressing skills shortages and supporting the evolving needs of Australia’s Transport Supply Chain (TSC) industries, including Aviation, Maritime, Rail, and Transport and Logistics.

As demand for skilled workers continues to increase across the economy, pressure on the VET sector has intensified, making it more difficult to attract and retain experienced professionals – particularly those who teach, train, and assess industry capability.

In response, the Australian Government, in partnership with Jobs and Skills Australia, developed the VET Workforce Blueprint to support a high-quality, sustainable national workforce.

Building on this foundation, Industry Skills Australia (ISA) is delivering this targeted project focused on vocational education providers within the transport sectors.

Why this matters

Building a secure and sustainable VET workforce

The project aims to strengthen workforce capacity and sustainability by improving understanding of industry-specific VET roles, addressing workforce challenges through RTO led solutions, and supporting attraction pathways and workforce pipelines across the TSC industries.

The ISA VET Workforce Study found:

* The TSC VET workforce is ageing, predominantly male, and less diverse than both the broader VET sector and the general Australian workforce.
* There is a significant shortage of qualified Teach, Train and Assess professionals in regional, rural and remote areas.
* The cost and complexity of the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE) is discouraging potential entrants.
* Ongoing digital transformation and rapid technological change are increasing the time and cost required for trainers and assessors to maintain vocational currency and professional competence.

What the project will do

Deliver practical initiatives to strengthen the TSC VET workforce

Stream 1 delivered the Supply Chain VET Workforce Study.

Stream 2 built on the outcomes of the Study by further investigating and validating the key challenges and issues identified.

Stream 3 has now commenced, translating the research and recommendations from Streams 1 and 2 into action.

This work has resulted in three RTO led initiatives:

* Trainer ToolBox
* ADF Instructor Recognition
* Implementation Support

Project

This project will produce

1 Transport Supply Chain VET Workforce Study (Stream 1)
2 Trainer ToolBox
3 ADF Instructor Recognition Initiative
4 Implementation Support Resources
Project timeline

Latest updates

General updates

Trainer ToolBox Launched

Industry Skills Australia (ISA) has launched a pilot initiative, the Trainer ToolBox, a FREE comprehensive online hub offering a wealth of digital professional development resources for the Transport Supply Chain industries (TSC) VET workforce.

The Trainer ToolBox is a standalone repository of freely available resources, developed in response to input from TSC Trainers and Assessors.

Content is focused on:

  • Assessment design
  • Digital tools and artificial intelligence
  • Facilitation skills
  • Instructional design
  • Language, literacy, numeracy and digital (LLND) capability
  • Online training delivery
  • Student engagement and support

Trainer ToolBox

The Trainer ToolBox will be a stand-alone online hub designed to support the professional development for skills and knowledge in training and assessment of VET Trainers and Assessors.

It will provide access to digital resources identified by the TSC VET Workforce, including:

* Interactive training modules
* Videos and webinars
* Live discussion forums

ADF Instructor Recognition

The ADF Instructor Recognition initiative involves mapping the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Instructor Course to the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40122).

The aim is to develop a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) toolkit that creates a streamlined entry pathway into TSC VET Trainer and Assessor roles for ADF veterans.

Implementation Support

Implementation Support focuses on developing and delivering training and guidance to TSC RTOs, VET Trainers, and Assessors.

This support will assist with:

  • Training package implementation
  • Transition to updated qualifications and units