Hipkins ChrisEDUCATION (VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING REFORM) AMENDMENT BILLThird ReadingHon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): I move That the Education (Vocational Education and Training Reform) Amendment Bill be now read a third time. Today is a very big day for vocational education and training in New Zealand. Today is the day we start to bring our vocational education and training systems back together where we create a unified nationally consistent system of vocational education and training that will meet the needs of New Zealanders. It will meet the needs of New Zealand employers. It will ensure that we can plug the very serious skill shortages that we have in New Zealand and that we can rise to the challenges of the future.This bill is about creating a new system that's easy to understand that's easy to navigate that's responsive to the needs of learners and employers and that's flexible enough to keep changing and evolving as the needs of New Zealanders continue to change and evolve.We want to ensure that every New Zealander regardless of where they are has access to the education and training and skill development opportunities that they need to thrive in the workplace and that they need to thrive in their lives.It is important that we take a long-term perspective when we are considering these matters. The bill has designed a new system that will ensure the long-term skill needs of the country are identified and are planned for. This bill takes into consideration the significantly changing nature of work both here and around the world and it responds to the fact that many current employees—increasing numbers of employees—are going to need access to upskilling opportunities and retraining opportunities throughout their working lives.To touch on the main things that this bill does: first it establishes workforce development councils that will give industry greater leadership across vocational education and training. Workforce development councils will replace existing industry training organisations (ITOs). They will pick up the ITOs' standard-setting role but the key difference is that standard-setting role won't be limited only to on-the-job training but will apply to off-the-job training as well. One of the persistent concerns that we have heard from industry—and it wouldn't be just our Government; it would be every Government over the last 20 or 30 years—is that businesses are not satisfied that the training that's delivered off the job is meeting the needs that they have on the job. This bill through the establishment of workforce development councils puts industry and employers in the driving seat of determining what their skill needs are and ensuring that the system delivers them.It ensures a much more comprehensive and robust and viable and strong network of training delivery up and down the country both on the job and off the job by bringing together the 16 existing institutes of technology and polytechnics and the supporting on-job training functions of industry training organisations. New Zealand has been unique in the world in trying to treat those things as two completely separate systems. Most other systems have a very strong connection between the training that's delivered off the job and the training that's delivered on the job and that is something that we are seeking to re-establish through these reforms.The bill establishes a new regulatory framework for vocational education and training and has transition measures in place that start from 1 April when this bill comes into force. I want to focus on something that hasn't been focused on much in this debate and I'm going to focus on it because it answers many of the questions and concerns that members and others have raised and that is in Schedule 3 the bill inserts a new charter into the law for the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (NZIST). The NZIST—which is the working name—is the organisation that brings together our polytechs and the supporting functions from the existing ITOs.The charter sets out what that institution must do and how it must operate. For example it requires the organisation to offer in each region a mix of education and training including on-the-job face-to-face and distance learning that's accessible to the learners of that region and that meets the needs of learners industries and communities. This bill is about ensuring that regions get access to the education and the training that they need. It requires them to operate in a manner that ensures that its regional representatives are empowered to make decisions about delivery and the operations that are informed by local relationships and to make decisions to meet the needs of their communities. The talk that this is taking power away from the regions is simply not true.The bill requires in the charter for the NZIST to ensure that international learners are attracted to train and study in the regions throughout New Zealand. This is actually a stronger provision than what we have now where the bulk of our international students are attracted into Auckland. This bill changes the law and it requires the network of polytechs the NZIST to ensure that they are going other places in the country so that the regions also get their share of international students.It requires them to ensure that there's collaboration across the national network. It requires them to maintain a high-quality coherent network of infrastructure that meets regional skill needs. So this idea that somehow regions are going to be asset stripped is wrong. The charter protects against that. It says that the NZIST must operate in a way that allows it to empower students and staff on academic non-academic and wellbeing matters and matters relating to the organisation's practices and services. This is about ensuring that those who are affected by these reforms are empowered by the reforms. It requires them to develop meaningful partnerships including with Māori and Pacific communities with small employers—that's in the law: small employers; they've got to have relationships with small employers—with local government with iwi with hapū and so on.It ensures that the organisation is expanding industry training on-job training into smaller employers where we know that they want to train but they currently don't feel they get enough support to train. By bringing a more supportive network together we can give smaller employers more support to take on apprentices and industry trainees and that is something that they have been asking for for some time and we are going to deliver it.It requires them to align education and training delivery to support the unique social and economic goals of local communities. This is about making sure that what's being delivered is responsive to local communities because despite the best efforts of those involved in the sector at the moment that hasn't always been the case. You don't have to visit too many chambers of commerce or industry or business groups to know that. Businesses are crying out for change and the Government is delivering that.Inclusivity and equity are core principles for the NZIST. Again that's set out in the charter. Equitable access to learning opportunities for all learners—again it's set out in the charter. Culturally responsive practices—it's set out in the charter. A collaborative working relationship with schools wānanga and other tertiary education organisations—again it is set out in the charter. But I want to focus particularly on one aspect that is so often missed when we're talking about this and that is the importance of the new system ensuring seamless transitions. At the moment if someone is engaged in off-the-job training through a polytech or an institute of technology and they get a job in that field they often find they lose the recognition of the learning that they have already done because they don't complete the qualificational programme that they were enrolled in and often those providers then get penalised for that through the funding system. The system has to work around people's lives. People will move in and out of training that's happening on the job and training that's happening off the job. That's the nature of the current labour market and the education and training system has to move seamlessly around that and adapt and evolve to that. The charter ensures that will happen. That can't happen at the moment because the on-job training system and the off-the-job training system are treated as if they are completely separate when fundamentally they are not. They are delivering the skills that are needed in the workplace and they have to operate hand in glove. I want to thank all those who are involved in the sector for their goodwill towards these reforms. The changes are only just starting. This change journey as it gets under way will gather a head of steam and I want to particularly acknowledge many of those who were initially opposed to the reforms and who are now committed to making them happen and making them a reality. This Government is absolutely committed to putting trade training and vocational education and training back on the map. This bill is a huge leap forward from where we have been. It complements the work we are doing to encourage more young New Zealanders into trades and vocational education and training to turn around the decline in that area that we have seen over the last decade to ensure that businesses have access to the skilled workers that we know that they need to thrive and to ensure that those workers have the skills that they need to thrive in the workplace to earn good healthy incomes and to have a high standard of living. These reforms are going to deliver those things. I commend this bill to the House.