UA is committed to enhancing opportunities for lifelong learning and enabling Australians to engage in education that develops skills for their chosen professions, occupations and interests. Universities play a pivotal role in delivering skills and responding to workforce needs nationwide.

The proposed NST, which will replace the Australian Skills Classification, has the potential to facilitate Australian-specific learner-focussed improvements across the education sector and provide benefits to employees, industry and governments. In developing an NST, Jobs and Skills Australia should focus on one group of stakeholders at a time, over a 10-year period, to ensure a strong foundation with relevant benchmarks for the taxonomy’s success. The success of an NST will be measured through its applicability to learner- and employee-focussed programs, rather than it being used as a taxonomy
of skills alone. Accordingly, measures to benchmark the success of an NST should be embedded in future education initiatives that consider a skills component.

JSA must clearly identify what gap in recruiting, establishing, and fostering workforce talent for Australia’s largely SME economy the NST will fill. This gap will inform the purpose that drives many
of the development decisions the discussion paperseeks answers to. Identifying this response to need will be essential in developing a NST that stands the test of time and provides benefit to the nation.

Many of the questions in the discussion paper are technical and individual providers may be better placed to answer. In this paper, UA provides three key recommendations for consideration of the
objective and broad considerations for an NST. First that it takes a learner-focussed approach to skills development, second it is based in principles of interoperability, integration, and accessibility,
and third it is developed and implemented with a long-term vision.

Critically, an NST must clearly articulate its relevance for various stakeholders (including schools, learners, employers, employees and government agencies), which may require different versions/platforms to enable accessibility and functionality.

Recommendation

1. The taxonomy puts learners at the centre of skills development and acts as a facilitator for important changes that improve education opportunity.
2. The taxonomy is interoperable, integrative, and accessible taxonomy such that it gives learners, workers, and employers an understanding of the skills they have and need in a format that is most
   appropriate to their needs.
3. The taxonomy has a long-term vision with a staged implementation plan that incorporates ongoing input from across the sector to remain relevant to the evolving nature of education and skills development.
4. JSA prioritises the implementation of the Australian Qualifications Framework reforms to underpin the NST.