Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) provides play, leisure, care and education for significant numbers of Australian children. As government has become increasingly involved in the regulation of OSHC, the sector has become increasingly professionalised. OSHC practitioners are active participants in quality improvement processes and increasingly…

The adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2006 and, in particular, Article 24 was a landmark in the struggle of people with disability for recognition of their fundamental human rights, including their right to education. As a legally binding treaty under international law, imposing…

Despite decades of dependence on sessional teaching staff, universities in Australia and internationally still find it difficult to support the teaching work of this large, casual workforce. A significant consequence of casually-employed teaching staff is risk; sessional academics' professional identity is compromised, quality assurance of…

Teacher effectiveness has a powerful impact on student performance and a teacher evaluation process that supports professional growth can be a key lever for improving teaching quality. The purpose of this study was to examine teacher perspectives on the use of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, when used as part of their…

This paper reviews the nature and implementation of the Australian VET FEE-HELP (VFH) policy initiative: a scheme introduced in 2008 to extend income-contingent loans to the vocational education and training (VET) sector in Australia. We argue that the implementation of the scheme has been seriously flawed, leading to a range of…

Collaboration with stakeholders throughout Asia and the Pacific is increasingly important to develop quality and relevant lifelong learning systems. Technical planning tools like qualifications frameworks aim to promote transparency around expected learning outcomes, yet education and training providers in many countries struggle to deliver on…

Enterprising students who understand the work environment are considered more employable. It is accepted that higher-education has a responsibility to produce career-ready-graduates. Practicum experience provides a critical role in this preparation. This study describes the development and implementation of the WIL instrument and WIL experience to…

In 2012, a new assessment and rating process for Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) services was introduced, using a new National Quality Standard (NQS). The NQS assessment and rating process has similarities to observational assessment systems used in educational research, and involves similar strategies for upholding…

The "Disability Standards for Education 2005" (the Standards) are subordinate legislation to the "Disability Discrimination Act 1992" (the DDA). They do not create new obligations, but seek to clarify education providers' responsibilities under the DDA and ensure that students with disability can access and participate in…

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare developed a national data standards strategy and implementation plan to enhance the comparability, quality and coherence of information across the Australian education and training sectors, including early childhood education, school education, vocational education and training (VET) and higher…

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare key elements of the actions that states in the USA and Australia took to implement the Common Core State Standards or Phase One of the Australian Curriculum, and what processes and products they used to facilitate implementation of these innovations. A rubric adapted from a diagnostic tool,…

At the request of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Industry Skills Council (ISC), and the Skills Senior Officials Network (SSON), a National Training Product Reform Group, comprising representatives from all of the jurisdictions, considered the longer-term reform of training products. This exercise, conducted during 2016, aimed to…

This article presents an Australian perspective on the issue of standards-based education and the place of students of English as an additional language (EAL) who are working within mainstream schools. Beginning with an overview of the various standards documents that impact the lives of teachers and their students in mainstream Australian…

This research overview summarizes the work undertaken by Kaye Bowman and Suzy McKenna in exploring jurisdictional approaches to the implementation of student entitlements to vocational skills training, a key reform initiative in the National Partnership Agreement on Skills Reform (NPASR) of 2012-16. The overview is a condensed summary of three…

Hand hygiene is the primary measure in hospitals to reduce the spread of infections, with nurses experiencing the greatest frequency of patient contact. The "5 critical moments" of hand hygiene initiative has been implemented in hospitals across Australia, accompanied by awareness-raising, staff training and auditing. The aim of this…