VET spending at record levels – NCVER

State and territory government expenditure on vocational education and training (VET) totalled $10.9 billion in 2022, according to the latest data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).

This expenditure was an increase of $0.4 billion or 4.1 percent from 2021.

NCVER’s Government funding of VET 2022 report found that the main expenditure was for VET delivery which totalled $5.5 billion in 2022, an increase of $87.8 million from 2021.

In the same period, employer assistance expenditure also increased by $290.6 million or 7.8 percent to $4.0 billion.

Between 2020 and 2022, government expenditure on VET increased by $3.3 billion – a rise of 44.3 percent.

Employer assistance expenditure increased significantly in the same period, rising by $2.6 billion or 175.8 percent.

NCVER Managing Director Simon Walker said: “The growth in employer assistance expenditure between 2020 and 2022, which includes the Australian Government’s Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program, coincided with a significant rise in the number of apprentices and trainees in training throughout that same period.”

This rise was reported in NCVER’s Apprentices and Trainees 2022: December quarter publication.

With the gradual phasing out of Covid-19 support programmes, government expenditure is expected to decline in future years.

Image: NCVER/VET Delivery expenditure, Employer assistance expenditure and Total Governments’ Expenditure on VET, 2018 – 2022 ($ billion). Source: Government funding of VET: data tables – table 4.