How did the Australian VET system get here?

In 2009, the Commonwealth developed a National Partnership Agreement for Voational Education and Training (VET) that proposed the introduction of competitive funding arrangements into training.
This agreement did not proceed because of State reluctance and ACTU pressure not to extend the recent reforms by the Brumby Government in Victorian VET into the other States. The exposure of TAFEs to competition, notably from community, private and employer-operated registered training organisations (RTOs) was strongly resisted. More...