Innovative practices: review of Victoria's LLENs activities and their outcomes

Aligning skill supply with skill demand is a challenge, which education and training providers are trying to address. The notion that education and training providers can simply provide skills and qualifications, without considering the demand for and use of these skills, is no longer credible (Buchanan et al. 2010). This complexity requires proactive and innovative education and training practices that involve a wide range of actors (e.g. employers, industry associations, unions). It also requires a co-ordinated approach, with regional development actors and agencies assisting with regeneration and job stimulus to align education and employment pathways. This more inclusive approach to skill considerations needs to account for current and future demands within the labour market (particularly the need for replacement workers) and the education and training market, as well as how skills are being used and sourced. In this regard, the Victorian Local Learning and Employment Networks provide an insightful case study to consider long standing initiatives involving students, teachers, employers, training providers and support workers that are designed to connect people to training and employment from a position embedded within regional communities.