The intention of this project was to see whether VET in Australia could be divided into initial and continuing vocational education and training (IVET and CVET) as it is in some other countries in order to provide better information to inform VET policy in terms of teaching and learning and also funding. For this project, in addition to a review of international literature, views were sought from various experts on TVET in Australia. The key finding is that the application of the IVET/CVET dichotomy is problematic in the Australian VET context and instead a classification matrix of learners and learning is provided.

This report covers the following:

• a brief overview of key aspects of IVET and CVET internationally (with a focus on Europe) and commentary on the Australian context
• an outline of the context of the Australian VET system and the features pertinent to the IVET/CVET distinction
• a summary of expert views in relation to six questions on the distinction between IVET and CVET.