RP3022: Policy impediments and incentives for effective education and training (final report)

This report presents the research findings and advice framework from the Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living (CRC LCL) Research Project (RP) 3022, Policy impediments and incentives to effective education and training. The aim of this report is to create awareness about the incentives and impediments to Australian education policies aligned to sustainability, energy efficiency and low carbon living in continuing education and training targeted at trades and professionals practicing in the built environment. As most often referred to, engagement in continuing professional development (CPD) is typically beyond a primary qualification such as a Certificate III or a bachelors degree in the built environment. The CPD policies investigated as part of this research offer insights from the perspective of government, industry and vocational education policies and associated programs. Section 2 reports on the analysis of the qualitative data gathered from desktop research, interviews and a focus group. This analysis identified a number of policy incentives encouraging engagement in CPD and impediments that discourage engagement. The analysis concluded that impediments or disincentives are stronger in comparison to the incentives for engagement in CPD.