In some State/Territories "Whole of Government standards" are being developed for use by all agencies in the particular State/Territory jurisdiction. The standards proposed in this report are not mandatory standards and individual States/Territories may therefore be generally constrained to adopt the mandated standards of their State/Territory. Without adequate involvement, the standards adopted may result in VET users having to use systems whose functionalities and default settings are at variance with the needs and standards of the VET sector.
The VET Sector therefore needs to be proactive in influencing their central agencies and fully represented in negotiations covering Whole Of Government IT strategies. Since many Whole of Government strategies are still in the formative stages, there is a window of opportunity for the VET sector to contribute to the debate on the basis of industry wide standards agreed via the processes in this project. There may also be an opportunity for the VET Sector to put its position to the Online Government Council, perhaps via the Ministerial Council, as an example of an initiative demonstrating cooperation between the States/Territories in the important field of education.
Last modified on June 28, 1999