Queensland User Choice Program Policy 2006-09
The User Choice program was implemented in Queensland in 1997 within the context of the national User Choice policy. The success of the Queensland program has made our state one of Australia's most competitive training markets, offering clients diversity and choice in selecting registered training organisations to provide both User Choice government-funded training and private fee-for-service training.
One of the key challenges faced by the Queensland Department of Employment and Training in providing the User Choice program is the ability to balance client choice of registered training organisations with the need to ensure a high quality, viable training market within the level of public funding available. This is a particularly important challenge considering that the current demand for User Choice funding significantly exceeds the available budget, despite annual budget increases of at least 10 per cent over each of the last few years.
The User Choice Program Policy 2006-2009 [PDF 88kb] has been reformed to address the apprenticeship training demand issue and grow the capacity of quality training providers delivering apprenticeship and traineeship training in Queensland. Key features of the 2006-09 User Choice Program include:
- Targeting funding to meet current and future trade skills needs and support government's economic, employment and social priorities;
- Engaging and leveraging with industry to facilitate partnerships with businesses and training providers and to leverage industry contributions towards the cost of skilling;
- Encouraging partnerships between providers in order to increase Queensland 's training capacity;
- Supporting expansion in priority areas where demand is not being met by current suppliers;
- Removing barriers for private entry into the User Choice market in priority areas by streamlining purchasing, payment and contract administration methods; and
- An improved pricing structure that more truly reflects the cost of delivering flexible, innovative training and takes into account assessment and other service activities related to delivering apprenticeship and traineeship training.
Contact Apprenticeships info 1800 210 210 or Training Queensland 1300 369 935
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