A Study of the Penetration of Competency‐based Training in Australia

ABSTRACT In 1990, Australian Federal and State Ministers responsible for vocational education and training (VET) established a framework for the implementation of competency‐based training (CBT) in Australia. A target of substantial implementation by the end of 1993 was set. Charles Sturt University's Group for Research in Employment and Training was subsequently commissioned by the Department of Employment, Education and Training to assess the penetration of CBT in TAFE and non‐TAFE settings in 1994. It was found that the implementation was slower than anticipated and that this was particularly true in the TAFE (government‐funded technical college) sector. The data suggested, however, that CBT was becoming more common, and that the gap between TAFE and non‐TAFE providers was closing. There was considerable disagreement among providers about what constituted CBT practice. Certain features often seen as elements of CBT, including workplace assessment and the availability of assessment on demand, were scarcely used at all. To describe the implementation of CBT, a model of ‘essential’ and ‘associated’ elements of CBT is proposed, which adapts Elam's (1971) model of ‘essential’ and ‘implied’ elements.