Skills Education

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This Natter

Day: Friday 21 March 2025

Time: 1pm AEST (Qld time)

Topic: Lessons from Australia's National Microcredential Framework

The rise of digital credentials has transformed the way we recognise and verify learning achievements and the authors acknowledge the regenerative power of credentials and their potential for multiple and varied use cases across a variety of sectors, including education. In March 2022, the Australian Government launched the National Microcredential Framework (NMCF) against a backdrop of unprecedented disruption in the education sector and indeed society. In Australia the COVID pandemic response saw education from K-12 through to tertiary transition to remote digital learning and a ban on international students coming to Australia.

Prior to the NMCF, there had been an increasing focus on short courses to help people skill up and this trend grew over the lockdown as part of the global in online learning. During the pandemic, many education providers saw short courses as a possible revenue alternative to offset increased costs and a reduction in international student revenue. The NMCF was a strategic response to addressing skills shortages in key sectors, to enable closer collaboration between education and industry as well as to bring coherence and recognition of microcredentials across industries and education sectors.

After two years, the impact of the NMCF is still emerging and our shared experience across the Higher Ed and EdTech sectors shows a growing impact on the Australian education and training landscape. The framework has encouraged innovation in credential design and delivery and fostered collaboration between education providers and industry partners. There has also been an increased focus on employability and skills recognition across government, the education sector, and employers.

The breadth of definition provided for in the NMCF of a microcredential and the minimum standards have proved a very useful tool in developing shared benchmarks, meta data and quality standards of what a microcredential is. The NMCF has started to facilitate standardisation and interoperability, although this is still nascent and the NCMF has also signalled to the sector that Microcredentials are here to stay.

After releasing the NMCF, subsequent related government initiatives such as the National Microcredentials Marketplace, MicroCred Seeker and several funding rounds for the development of micro-credentials were also enabled.

On the challenge front, the NMCF and subsequent initiatives have unintentionally channelled many of the conversations in particular directions with a focus on them as an educational product. However, to design, build and deliver microcredentials also requires deep thinking about associated policy, standards and platform strategies. The definition of a microcredential and the minimum standards, whilst useful, have put the focus purely on the teaching and learning elements. This has constrained exploration of alternative models such as opportunities to recognise alternative forms of learning and how to create stackable learner centric evidence which builds pathways into credit, or drive an equity strategy.

The conversation around digital identity and other digital credentials has also become divorced as has the end-to-end technical infrastructure. The ecosystem which spans from issuer to consumer is seldom taken into consideration even though it is maturing at a far greater speed than most Higher Ed providers realise.

Scaling up and sustaining digital credential initiatives requires a multifaceted approach. Our experience in Australia highlights the importance of effective standards, collaboration, and innovation in credential design and delivery. It has also highlighted the challenges around sustaining investment and funding. Everyone wants microcredentials but wants someone else to pay for them.

By exploring the impact, opportunities, and challenges of Australia's National Microcredential Framework, this presentation hopes to share valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and industry leaders seeking to scale up and sustain digital credential initiatives, ultimately enhancing learner outcomes and workforce development.

The session is scheduled to run for approximately 45 minutes with audience Q&A.

Panel presenters:

Wendy Palmer, Bethany Pridmore, Margo Griffith

As a Community Matters discussion, this is a special event for Education Matters and RPL Matters members.

Natters are a benefit of Education Matters membership. 

Live Meet Ups are a benefit of RPL Matters membership.

This occasion, the live session is open to members from both communities. While the event will be recorded, to see the recording you must be an Education Matters or RPL Matters membership subscriber.