Jenny Lambert, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (ACCI) Director of Employment, Education and Training, said: "Under the new model for developing training packages, control will lie with industry reference committees. Skills service organisations will play an important role in supporting industry reference committees by facilitating consultation with stakeholders and providing secretariat services.
"It is important that the transition from the current Industry Skills Councils to skills service organisations is smooth. The transition arrangements will need to ensure that occupational skills standards are maintained and that industry confidence in the training package development process does not suffer. There is considerable technical knowledge in the Industry Skills Council network that should be tapped.
"Industry has long been concerned about the quality of training products and outcomes, so we have welcomed the Abbott Government's more stringent regulation of the vocational education and training sector in order to improve training delivery.
"The assistant minister's announcement will enhance the role of industry reference committees in developing training packages, putting industry in the driver's seat. This will improve outcomes for Australia's more than 4000 registered training organisations and 3 million VET students.
"We encourage suitable organisations to consider putting themselves forward to operate as skills service organisations."
