Vocational Voices

Steve Davis interviews presenters from the 34th National VET Research Conference 'No Frills', held on 9 - 11 July 2025 on the Gold Coast.

In part two of this two-part series, we shift the focus to th…

Steve Davis interviews a group of presenters from the 34th National VET Research Conference 'No Frills', held on 9 - 11 July 2025 on the Gold Coast.

In part one of this two part series, the discussio…

Steve Davis interviews a diverse group of presenters from the 33rd National VET Research Conference ‘No Frills,’ held on 10-12 July 2024 in Perth.

With a spotlight on how VET partnerships are driving…

Australia is on the journey to reducing carbon emissions, so what does this mean for the automotive industry?

Various sources indicate that electric vehicle and hybrid vehicle uptake is increasing …

Steve Davis, Simon Walker, Joanne Payne, Tabatha Griffin, Tom Karmel, Jenny Dodd, Hinemoa Priest, Melanie Kyle, Erica Smith, Olivija Komadina, David Longley, Christina Scott-Young, Michael Bassham, J…

In this episode, we discuss the vital role of partnerships in the VET sector. These partnerships help connect training with the skills that industries need. Simultaneously, they build the capacity an…

The concept of “meaningful work” is something that’s been regularly discussed by vocational education and training (VET) researchers for many years. But what does it mean and what are the pathways fo…

In the past few years, the VET sector has faced rapid socioeconomic, demographic and technological change. When unforeseen events such as COVID-19 emerged, the sector quickly adapted by upskilling wo…

Is the time right for change and "to be bold and think big, and challenge the way we think about tertiary education" in Australia?

In this episode, we explore potential reforms to universities, their…

Making sure the VET sector serves regional, rural and remote Australia remains an ongoing policy priority.

In this episode, we talk about the challenges that RTOs face when delivering training in reg…

In 2022, we invited expert vocational voices from the VET sector to share their views, stories, experiences and insights on a range of hot topics.

‘Best of 2022’ is a roundup of the most interesting …

Aside from the health and economic impacts, the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected Australia’s VET sector. The full scale of these effects, however, has just started to e…

Join host Steve Davis for some handpicked highlights from three panel discussions at the 31st National VET Research Conference ‘No Frills’ held in July 2022.

The conference theme was VET's role in t…

Both vocational education and training (VET) and higher education (HE) offer the skills, knowledge and qualifications needed to equip students to progress their career and lifelong learning. 

But giv…

Participation in higher education by school leavers has increased significantly in the last decade. VET participation has lagged by comparison. Are students headed for university accorded higher stat…

Steve Davis, Simon Walker, Linda Simon, Martin Powell, Kira Clarke, Joanne Waugh, Bryan Palmer, Professor John Buchanan, Megan Lilly, Dr Kaye Bowman, Michael Hartman, Dr Martha Kinsman, Professor Ste…

Steve Davis interviews a collection of presenters from three panel discussions at the 30th National VET Research Conference 'No Frills', held on 7-9 July 2021.

Topics covered in the lively discussion…

Short-course training, often referred to as 'micro-credentials', is seen as an increasingly important form of training, particularly as governments respond to the social and economic effects of the C…

Youth unemployment post-COVID is an all-hands-on-deck challenge. For young people who have lost work or have been looking for work, post-COVID recovery is going to be a fraught time if Australia does…

Should we be concerned about the quality of VET teaching? Recent research suggests there are key issues affecting the quality of VET teaching that need to be addressed. These include entry level requ…