Strategic directions of the Adult, Community and Further Education Board

With a focus on adult literacy, numeracy, employability and digital skills training, the Ministerial Statement sets out the agenda for adult education in Victoria from 2020 to 2025. 

Adult community education plays an important role in Victoria’s broader education sector. Victoria leads Australia in providing accessible and tailored lifelong learning opportunities for adult learners seeking to develop the skills they need for work and further study, and to participate fully in the Victorian community.

This Ministerial Statement aims to fulfil the Victorian Government’s commitment to uniting the adult community education sector with a focus on learners and to build recognition of the distinct and invaluable role the sector plays.

It establishes a reform agenda for the 6 years (2020 to 2025), focusing the Adult, Community and Further Education (ACFE) Board and the adult community education sector on:

• adult literacy
• numeracy
• employability
• digital skills training.

It also identifies a strengthened role for the sector in:

• supporting students to enter and successfully complete TAFE and university courses
• upskilling and reskilling low-skilled workers who may be vulnerable to becoming unemployed as work changes.

The Ministerial Statement on the Future of Adult Community Education in Victoria 2020–25 is the first Victorian Government statement on adult community education since that made by the Hon Lynne Kosky as Minister for Education and Training in 2004.

Download the Ministerial Statement on the Future of Adult Community Education in Victoria 2020–25:

The Adult, Community and Further Education Board leads the adult community and further education in Victoria and oversees Victorian Government funding to the Learn Local sector. This strategy establishes a blueprint for the Board and the Learn Local sector for the 6 years from 2020 to 2025.

It has been developed based on extensive stakeholder consultation, a scan of the operating environment (including Victorian Government policy directions) and a review of relevant research literature and the Adult, Community and Further Education Board Strategy 2016–19.

The strategy is a primary means to implement the Ministerial Statement on the Future of Adult Community Education in Victoria 2020–25. The Ministerial Statement establishes priority directions for policy, and this strategy aligns closely with those directions.

To fulfil the Board’s statutory roles and functions under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006, the strategy responds to trends and challenges in the Learn Local sector. This includes changing:

• learner needs
• modes of skills acquisition
• place-based models
• industry and the nature of work
• policy and regulatory at the state and federal government levels
• society.

Above all, it reflects the right of people to access core education and training.