Competency-based training Australian style: how it exposes VET to risk

Drawing on twenty-five years of research and practice in competency-based training in Australia by the author, the paper shows how competency-based training (CBT) lays the VET system open to poor quality and unethical practice, even to corruption. There has been ongoing controversy about CBT in Australia since its widespread adoption in the early 1990s. While CBT has brought benefits, it has also brought problems. Many of the problems foreseen by commentators at the time of its introduction have been realised, but unforeseen problems have arisen. The research question for the paper is 'How does CBT as it is practised in Australia expose the VET sector to risk?' The paper analyses a number of key features in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia which are attributable to the adoption of competency-based training. These include: the nature of Training Packages; the lack of prescription of delivery mode or delivery hours; whether competency-based training is compatible with on-line learning; the nature of competency-based assessment and recognition of prior learning; and CBT's alignment with funding systems.