SAGE is co-designing a dedicated accreditation program, purpose-built for the TAFE sector.
This multi-year project aims to foster workplace cultures and learning environments that attract, retain and progress underrepresented groups – including women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disabilities, culturally and racially marginalised individuals, and LGBTQIA+people.
This will be achieved by embedding systemic gender equity, diversity and inclusion (GEDI) practices into everyday structures, decisions, and accountabilities.
Skills shortages across Australia deepen as gender segregation in training and employment persists, with shortages most pronounced in male-dominated occupations.
For many people, these barriers are compounded by race, disability, or First Nations identity, where multiple layers of disadvantage intersect, making equitable participation even harder to achieve.
TAFEs are uniquely positioned to drive change, but to do so they need a framework that reflects how they operate, who their learners are, and the local communities and industries they serve.
The program will include an awards pathway co-designed with sector leaders and practitioners, piloted, refined and rolled out nationally. Critically, the program will be tailored for the unique environments, complexities and challenges of the TAFE sector, because no two institutions are the same, and a one-size-fits-all approach won’t drive real change.
