This document is an analysis of how policy has interacted with vocational education and training (VET) in Australia, with a particular focus on the period since the 1980s.

It is accompanied by a timeline which sets out key policy documents that shaped the development of the VET system and by a list of Australian Prime Ministers and Labour Ministers (1940 to present), and Education Ministers and Industrial Relations Ministers (1960 to present). See http://www.ncver.edu.au/resources/timeline/overview.html (500).