2008 Ministerial Declaration on Adult Community Education

In July 2002, State Territory and Australian Government Ministers with responsibility for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, endorsed a Ministerial Declaration on Adult Community Education (ACE). This statement recognised the importance of ACE in providing pathways to further education and training for 'second chance' learners.

The commitments and values expressed in the 2002 Ministerial Declaration, particularly concerning the value of ACE in developing social capital, building community capacity, encouraging social participation and enhancing social cohesion, are reaffirmed by this statement. The new Declaration on Adult Community Education extends acknowledgement of the value of ACE beyond these areas to its potential to respond to changed industrial, demographic and technological circumstances, and encourages a collaborative approach to ACE to allow the sector to make a greater contribution to supporting the Council of Australian Governments' (COAG) productivity agenda for skills and workforce development.

It also identifies ACE as a key player in the response to the Australian Government Social Inclusion policy agenda. Despite widely differing approaches to the definition and implementation of ACE, the responsible Ministers share a common appreciation of the value of ACE, and seek to work together to optimise the existing strengths of the sector to make a greater contribution towards achieving objectives of the COAG agenda and to address potential barriers facing the sector in this regard.

This Declaration acknowledges adult community education as a significant contributor to education and training provision and demonstrates the commitment of Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers to work collaboratively to maximise positive outcomes from this sector in Australia.

For the full TEXT of the Ministerial Declaration on Adult and Community Education click here - 2008 Ministerial Declaration on ACE ( 1.5 MB)

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