Review of Australian Education Qualifications Framework

The Australian government today announced a review Australia’s education qualifications framework. This will be headed by Professor Peter Noonan, Victoria University. A Contextual Research for the Australian Qualifications Framework Review paper has been prepared by PhillipsKPA. The paper compares the AQF with other nations qualifications frameworks. One positive finding was more employer engagement in accreditation, than in Europe. A point against the AQF is regulation of the use of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and micro-credentials. The authors suggest removing administrative detail from the AQF where this is covered by regulation and legislation elsewhere.

Less usefully, the authors suggest moving to "credit points" as a measure of the volume of learning rather than years of study. Apart from helping international comparisons, this would make no practical difference, as the notional years can easily be converted to notional hours.