At the leading edge: Enacting VET in the Northern Territory

The creation and maintenance of the Australian National Training System is a joint effort of state, territory and federal governments. The ethnographic application of the concept of ‘enactment’ supports the argument that the Northern Territory of Australia (NT) has been uniquely placed to take advantage of a clear separation of Vocational Education and Training
(VET) policy development and delivery. It can be argued that this has enabled some leading edge initiatives in VET. This has been made possible by the coincidental yet parallel development of state-type government in the NT and creation of the national VET system. An examination of the extensive VET documentary record, confirmed by interviews with key policy participants, demonstrates that the ability to deal with multiple versions of VET provides significant policy freedom. Policy leadership allowed the NT to be the first jurisdiction to recognise skills-based rather than time-served on-the-job training, the creation of genuine dual sector training organisations and removing duplication of federal and state apprenticeship services.