3.1 Deliver stronger foundation skills for more Victorians

Foundation skills including language, literacy, numeracy, and digital skills are critical for people to participate in work and in society.

The need for these skills extends to hands-on trade occupations in construction, and patient-focused roles in the care economy. For example, carpenters need to have strong literacy skills to understand and implement occupational health and safety regulations at work. Moreover, nurses and ageing and disability carers need digital skills to use digital tools for reporting and patient records management.

Low levels of foundation skills create issues for learners, workers and employers alike

Around one in four Victorians have low levels of foundation skills.¹⁵

Learners with low levels of foundation skills often struggle to complete their education and training. They can find it difficult to understand course content and undertake placements.

Workers with low levels of foundation skills can find it difficult to obtain secure work, have limited development opportunities and face periods of unemployment or underemployment.¹⁶

Employers report that workers with low levels of foundation skills can need extra support in the workplace to complete documents, implement safe practices, and work and communicate within a team.¹⁷

Victoria’s skills system supports learners to develop their foundation skills

Victoria’s Adult, Community and Further Education (ACFE) sector delivers foundation skills to the broadest section of the community to develop their skills and confidence to pursue further education and employment. The sector supports many educationally disadvantaged Victorians who may include disengaged young people, people without Year 12 or higher qualifications, unemployed people, and low-skilled and vulnerable workers.¹⁸ In 2023, the ACFE sector supported more than 28,000 Victorians through 229 contracted Learn Local providers, including adult education institutions.¹⁹

In accredited vocational education and training, the Victorian Government added the Literacy and Numeracy Support (LN Support) program to the Free TAFE list. This program provides wrap around literacy and numeracy supports for learners across all TAFE courses, and supports better outcomes for students, including completions. Since 2023, the program has supported more than 3,500 people in Victoria.²⁰

Through the Training Needs List funded under Skills First, many foundation skills courses and skill sets are offered to Victorians. The Victorian TAFE Network also offers additional supports to learners to strengthen their foundation skills, including career coaches and advisors.

Opportunities exist to deliver strong foundation skills to more Victorians

Skills reforms underway present opportunities to increase the delivery of foundation skills. These include:

• the NSA’s $19 million commitment to Victoria to deliver more foundation skills training under the NSA initiative, Ensuring Access to Foundation Skills.²¹
• national VET qualification reform²² that will pilot new models of foundation skills qualifications to build equity and productivity.²³