Landmark documents

The term 'landmark', as used for this collection, refers to documents considered by history and authoritative commentary to have influenced the development of the VET system, providing vision and/or leading to significant reforms or widespread cultural/attitudinal change. Worth noting are two eras where the sector underwent significant and widespread change. The first, likened to a 'golden age' and initiated by the 1974 Kangan Committee report, saw technical and further education (TAFE) expand and develop as a sector of education in its own right over a 15-year period. The second was ushered in with a series of reports from the Hon John Dawkins, Minister for Employment, Education and Training (1987-1991), which initiated major changes within a National Training Reform Agenda (mid-1980s to early 1990s), including the introduction of competency-based training.

The timeline below shows a set of national VET landmark documents and their areas of influence and impact, denoted by the thematic icons. A brief summary of each document is provided and all titles are linked to the documents in VOCEDplus. A collection of historical overviews explaining the impact and influence of these documents is nearing completion and the thematic icons are hyperlinked to the available overviews. Other key Australian documents are available on the Special collections page and the History of VET page provides additional related resources.