Tax Institute debuts new tax education system
The professional body’s new ‘Tax Academy’ aims to educate tax professionals and close the skills gap.
The Tax Institute announced the release of its latest microcredentials training and education offering, ‘Tax Academy’, at a panel event on Tuesday.
Tax Academy was designed to be a flexible way of learning to accelerate professional skills so talented practitioners could enter the workforce or specialise in tax in a way that employers look for, according to the institute.
The panel facilitated an in-depth discussion about the platform and the benefits it was expected to provide.
The panel speakers were David Koch, Scott Treatt, Deb Friel, Tracey Francis and Anthony Marvello, all of whom expressed the significance of the new platform for tax education.
Tax Academy was developed following institute research that revealed 72 per cent of tax professionals felt ‘underprepared’ by their university degrees for their current roles.
Eighty-two per cent of respondents said they felt new professionals who had entered the workplace were underprepared for a career in tax.
Tax Institute CEO Scott Treatt said he wanted the new platform to transform the tax education space.
“It’s about bringing those practical skills to the forefront to make graduates workforce ready,” he said.
“It’s crucial to be able to ensure that they are workforce ready, because tax changes so rapidly, and they need to grasp how quickly it’s shifting, how quickly it’s changing.”
“It’s crucial to be able to meet that need, get that skill set efficiently and be able to easily upskill.”
The Institute said Tax Academy would be delivered via an online platform and would set professionals up with the opportunity to learn and develop essential tax skills and knowledge.
The units were created with flexibility in mind and would allow learners to start and pause as it suited their schedule and levels of prior knowledge.
CQUniversity professional development manager, Deb Friel, said microcredentials were increasingly important based on the flexibility they provided learners.
“Microcredentials engage the learners, it’s so easy to study, it’s dynamic, and they are incentivised because they achieve something much quicker than if they were to undertake a degree,” she said.
“You need microcredentials as part of that co-curricular upskilling, which industry is loving because they get graduates and current employees who are eager to learn.”
According to the institute, each unit would take approximately 10 hours to complete, would not require additional resources and would present learners with stimulus materials and assessments.
Friel said the modules would aid in closing the skills gap as there was a massive divide between what industry wanted from graduates and what higher education could provide.
“There is no doubt in my mind, we have seen in the last several years, the decline in higher education and the growth in vocational education and microcredentials.”
The Tax Institute executive general manager, Murray Cassar, said the education tool was released at a time when the industry needed it most.
“At the Tax Institute we are committed to bringing state-of-the-art training and upskilling programs to tax professionals at any stage of their career,” Cassar said.
“We are launching Tax Academy at a time when the industry is demanding quick and effective ways to upskill.”
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