Curtain Consulting is a Melbourne-based consultancy specialising in public policy and research since October 1993.  A particular strength of the consultancy is the combination of research and policy skills with experience in implementing workplace change. The consultancy works with a network of other consultants with complementary skills.

Curtain Consulting has worked in close association with a high profile national consultancy group that specialises in public policy analysis, and three university-based research centres: the National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University; Centre for the Economics of Education and Training, Monash University and the Institute for Science & Technology Policy, Murdoch University.

Clients include international agencies (United Nations, International Labour Organisation and the European Union), overseas governments (UK Department for Education & Employment), the Australian Government (Departments of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, AusAID) and state government departments (Victoria, Queensland and WA), the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), employer bodies (Business Council of Australia, Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry), enterprises (Resolve Facilities Management Pty Ltd, Crown Casino, Farley Cutting Systems Pty Ltd, Mitre 10) and non-profit foundations and agencies (Adult Multicultural Education Services Victoria, Dusseldorp Skills Forum, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, The Victorian Deaf Society, and the Big Brother Big Sister Program). 

Particular areas of expertise include:                   

·                                             Workplace change

·                                             International comparisons of public policy

·                                             Program evaluation

·                                             Skill formation policy and practice

·                                             Labour market analysis

Principal Consultant

The principal of Curtain Consulting is Dr Richard Curtain. Prior to establishing Curtain Consulting in 1993, Richard held appointments at the National Key Centre in Industrial Relations, Graduate School of Management, Monash University (Associate Professor), the Bureau of Labour Market Research (Principal Project Officer) and The Australian National University (Postdoctoral Fellow).  He has a doctorate from The Australian National University (1981). He has also held the position of Manager, Workplace Reform in the Public Transport Corporation of Victoria (1992-3).

Richard has specialised in research-based public policy analysis with a strong emphasis on identifying international best practice. He has extensive experience in consulting and contract-based research on issues relating to, for example, the skill formation strategies of enterprises, issues related to apprentices and trainees and the cost effectiveness of online learning. He has published widely on the theoretical and practical aspects of the workplace of the future, skill formation in Australia, Japan, USA and UK and issues related to public policy development, implementation and evaluation.

He is a Professional Associate of the National Institute for Goverance, University of Canberra, a Research Associate of the National Institute of Labour Studies at Flinders University, a member of the Education and Training Statistics Advisory Group of the Australian Bureau of Statistics and ·the 'Experts Panel', Victorian Qualifications Authority.  Recently, he has been made a Research Fellow of the Centre of Applied Social Research and Policy Studies at the Dili Institute of Technology.

With Professor Meredith Edwards, he has initiated the Australian Public Policy Research Network - www.apprn.org   

Current and Recent Projects

Keynote address 'Promoting youth income generation opportunities through information and communication technologies (ICT): best practices in Asia and the Pacific – a 2003 update'. Information Society Malaysia 2003 Meeting, Melaka, Malaysia, June 21-24.

Preparation of an analytical report on the relationship between information and communication technology and development for AusAID.

Co organiser with Professor Meredith Edwards of the conference Facing the Future: Involving Stalekholders and Citizens in Developing Public Policy,   APPRN  and  the  National  Institute  of  Governance,  University  of Canberra, Canberra - 23-24 April 2003

Survey of IT employers in relation to attitudes and practice concenring structured workplacements for secondary schools, as part of a project for the National Information Technology & Telecommunications Industry Training Advisory Body

Preparation of a keynote paper on using information and communciation technology to generate employment opportunities for young people in low and middle income countries for the Youth Employment Summit. Alexandria, Egypt.

Review of future products and services for AMES Consulting, the workplace training arn of the Adult Multicultural Education Services Victoria.

Business review of AMES Consulting, the workplace training arn of the Adult Multicultural Education Services Victoria.

What's happening to young people in Gippsland East?: an environmental scan of key performance measures relating to young people and their use of local education, training and employment options. Commissioned by the Gippsland East Local Learning & Employment Network, Victoria.

Survey of 220 coordinators of school industry partnerships in association with Suzanne Moore Consultancy for the Enterprise and Career Education Foundation www.ecef.com.au

Preparation of the third report on How Young People Are Faring for the Dusseldorp Skills Forum. www.dsf.org.au 

Commissioned by the ILO Asia Pacific Region to carry out a Thematic Study on Promoting youth employment through information and communication technology (ICT): Best practices in Asia and the Pacific, Regional Meeting on Youth Employment in Asia and the Pacific, February 2002

Major contributor to a report to SkillsNet Association Co-operative Ltd, a community-based umbrella group in regional Victoria, to identify Best Practice in E-Commerce training. Report entitled e-Barriers e-Benefits e-Business Bridging the Digital Divide for Small and Medium Enterprises (July 2001)

Rapporteur for a workshop organised by the Brotherhood of St Laurence on its proposed inquiry into future directions for Australia

Preparation of a background paper on “Empowering youth in an era of globalisation” for the UN Secretary General’s report on the World Youth Forum http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/

Development and promotion of a proposal for an online policy research network to work through the National Institute for Governance, University of Canberra http://governance.canberra.edu.au/  

Author of a survey of the concept of entitlement to post compulsory education in Europe and the United States and an outline of policy implications for Australia for NCVER and the Australian National Training Authority

Report to National Centre for Vocational Education Research on the cost effectiveness of online line in the Australia vocational education and training sector based on six case studies in three states.  The report is entitled Online Delivery in the VET Sector: Improving Cost Effectiveness (November 2001)

Seminar presentation to Centre for the Economics of Education and Training, Monash University 7 June, 2001 entitled: Lifelong learning: sounds good but what does it mean? The presentation outlines policies to put LLL into practice with particular reference to the older worker, and the changes needed to existing institutions to enable individuals, regardless of age, more capacity to influence what and how they learn.

Proposal for a learners' agency: commentary on Adult Learning for Adult Learning Australia promoting lifelong learning  http://www.ala.asn.au  

Identification of appropriate performance outcome measures for the Big Brother Big Sister (mentoring) Program.

With the National Institute of Labour Studies, undertaken a national survey of non-completing apprentices and trainees and their employers to identify the causes of non-completion and to develop appropriate policy responses.

Keynote speaker on 'Barriers to training for older workers' to CEDA seminar on Australia's Ageing Workforce, 20 March 2001.

Invited paper 2001 'Mutual Obligation and the Young Unemployed: Policy and Practice in Australia compared with the UK', Australian Academy of Social Sciences Workshop on Mutual Obligations and Welfare States in Transition in Australia, the US and the UK, Sydney University February 22-23. 

Keynote speaker to Institute of Public Administration (ACT) Seminar: Partnering For Policy, 31 October, 2000, Canberra. The seminar addressed the issues related the engagement of consultants to conduct public policy research projects.  Specific attention was given to identifying some of the pitfalls in the client/consultant relationship and how to avoid them?

Consultant to the Review of Post Compulsory Education and Training Pathways in Victoria.

Preparation of a case study of user choice arrangements in vocational education and training in Australia for the European Social Fund and the Irish Government.

Contributor to an international comparative study for the UK Government of technical and further education including policy objectives, costs and sources of funding qualification structures/curricula, quality assurance, links between technical and further education and schools, staffing/teaching resources and the use of information and communication technology as a delivery mechanism for training.

Author of An Entitlement to Post Compulsory Education: International Practice and Policy Implications for Australia for the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), Adelaide.

Author of an overview of key research findings on the changing nature of work for the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), Adelaide.

Provided an analysis of Australian policies in relation to the employment of persons with disabilities as part of an international benchmarking study for the European Commission.

Team member for a project on the labour market of the future for the Western Australian Department of Employment and Training.

Development of a research design for a proposed international study of 'soft skills' by World Skills – the organiser of the International Youth Skills Competition.

Invited paper for a seminar on Skill, Training and Labour Flexibility - Year 2000 and Beyond, Graduate School of Management, University of Newcastle.  Title of paper: “identifying different types of flexible workers and their training needs”.

Prepared a report on mutual obligation arrangements in Australia compared to similar arrangements operating in the UK and the USA;

Member of external review of the Commonwealth Government-funded General Practitioners Training Program of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners;

Commissioned by the Western Australian State Training Board, in association with the Institute for Science & Technology Policy at Murdoch University, to develop public policy options on the role of the resources development sector in addressing the issue of skills shortages;

Major contributor to Barriers to Training for Older Workers and Possible Policy Solutions commissioned by the Department of Education, Training & Youth Affairs

Prepared an analysis of performance indicators on young peoples' transition from education to work for the Dusseldorp Skills Forum, paper published at www.dsf.org.au

Major contributor to a Report by the Allen Consulting Group for the State Government of Victoria entitled: Australia on the Workplace in the Year 2010: Transition to a Global Knowledge Economy.  This study included the analysis of national survey data to identify the characteristics of high performance workplaces and the conduct of eight case studies of five large and three small leading edge enterprises in Australia

Sole author for a major report on Future Directions in Middle level Training & Further Education for the Office of Training & Further Education, Department of Education, Victoria;

With the Allen Consulting Group, developed a strategic assessment by industry sector of the potential to implement New Apprenticeships for the federal Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs;

With the Allen Consulting Group, reviewed the impact of the Federal Government’s budget decision to abolish incentive payments for large employers to take apprentices and trainees;

Completed a report entitled Meeting the Training Needs of Flexible Workers for the Canberra Institute of Technology on ANTA funding;

Completed a Report for the Economic Planning Advisory Commission (EPAC) on Cost effective training arrangements for child care workers;

Working with workplaces to develop and implement skills-based job structures;

Carried out an analysis of the use of key competencies in on-the-job training in five industries; and

Analysed skill formation arrangements in twelve, small to medium sized, leading edge exporters for the Dusseldorp Skills Forum (Sydney)

2003

'What Role for Citizens in Developing and Implementing Public Policy?' Facing the Future Conference, forthcoming in Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration

2003

'Connecting up the World' Article for Focus: The Magazine of Australia's Overseas Aid Program

2002

The role of area-based partnerships in achieving outcomes in policy: coordination: Local Learning and Employment Networks in Victoria', Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration No 105, December, pp 50-55.'

2002

'Tackling the Knowledge Divide: A Post-Summit Analysis', Youth Employment Summit web iste, September 30 2002, http://www.youthemploymentsummit.org/

2002

Generating youth employment through information and communication technologies: best practice examples and strategies, paper for the Youth Employment Summit, Alexandria, Egypt

http://www.youthemploymentsummit.org/summit/bgpapers.html  

2002

What's happening to young people in Gippsland East?: an environmental scan commissioned by the Gippsland East Local Learning & Employment Network, Victoria.

2002

Online delivery in the vocational education and training sector: Improving cost effectiveness, National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Adelaide, http://www.ncver.edu.au/research/proj/nr0F04.pdf

2001

With Mark Cully, 'New Apprenticeships: An Unheralded Labour Market Program', Australian Bulletin of Labour, Vol 27, No 3, September., p 294-215.

2001

How Young People are Faring 2001: key indicators, Dusseldorp Skills Forum, Sydney www.dsf.org.au

2001

'Youth and employment: a public policy perspective', Development Bulletin, Development Studies Network, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, No 55, August.

2001

An entitlement to Post Compulsory Education: International Practice and Policy Implications for Australia, Report for the National Centre for Vocational Education Research, http://www.ncver.edu.au/research/proj/nr9040.pdf

2001

Lifelong learning: good idea but what does it mean? CEDA Bulletin, June, http://www.ceda.com.au/CEDA%20BulletinF.htm

2001

Mutual Obligation and the Young Unemployed: Policy and Practice in Australia compared with the UK', Invited paper, Australian Academy of Social Sciences Workshop on Mutual Obligations and Welfare States in Transition in Australia, the US and the UK, Sydney University February 22-23. 

2001

Barriers to Training for Older Workers and Possible Policy Solutions a study conducted in association with the National Institute of Labour Studies at Flinders University commissioned by the Department of Education, Training & Youth Affairs see http://www.detya.gov.au/iae/documents/olderworkers/olderworkers.htm

2001

'Good public policy: how does Australia fare?', Agenda: a Journal Policy Analysis and Reform Vol 8, No 1, 2001, pages 33-44

2001

'Flexible workers and access to training' International Journal of Employment Studies, Vol 9, No 1, April

2000

'Backround paper: identifying the basis for a youth employment strategy aimed at transition and developing economies', United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Social Policy and Development, New York. http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/youthemployment/1-curtain.pdf

2000

'A fresh approach to policy research: Canada's Policy Research Initiative', Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration, No 98, December, pp 50-53.

2000

Victorian school leavers: pathways and outcomes', Fine Print: a Journal of Adult English and Language Literacy Education, Vol 32, No 3, pp 15-18.

2000

'Towards Greater Transparency in Policy-making', Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration, No 96, June, pp 1-5.

2000

Mutual Obligation: Policy & Practice in Australia compared with the UK. Dusseldorp Skills Forum, Sydney  www.dsf.org.au

2000

With Mark Cully, Adriana VandenHeuvel and Mark Wooden, 'Participation in, and Barriers to Training: the Experience of Older Adults', Australian Journal on Ageing, Vol 19, No 4, November

2000

'The Workplace of the Future: Implications for Vocational Training', European Journal of Vocational Training, No 19, pp 29-37, March.

1999

Future Directions in Middle Level Training and Further Education: Research Report. Office of Training & Further Education, Department of Education, Victoria, April.

1999

With John Phillimore & Stephen Algie, Skill Requirements of Western Australia's Resources Development Sector: Examples of International Models, Report to the State Training Board of Western Australia. Institute for Sustainability & Technology Policy, Murdoch University.

1999

With Richard Sweet, Young people and work: a National Issues Forum Report Research Centre for Vocational Education & Training, University of Technology Sydney.

1998

The Workplace in the Year 2010: Transition to a Global Knowledge Economy. Allen Consulting Group Report to the Government of Victoria, submitted August 1998.

1999

Young People's Transition from Education to Work: Performance Indicators Dusseldorp Skills Forum web site, www.dsf.org.au

1998

'The Workplace of the Future: Insights from Futures Scenarios and Today’s High Performance Workplaces', Australian Bulletin of Labour, December.

1998

Strategic Analysis by Sector of the Potential for Take-up of New Apprenticeships. Allen Consulting Group Final Report to the Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs, December 1997

1997

'Using technician-level skills to overcome skill shortages in leading-edge exporters', Australian Vocational Education Review, Vol. 4, 1 1997.

1997

Options for Improved, Cost-effective Training in the Child Care Sector. Paper commissioned by the Economic Planning Advisory Commission, Canberra.

1996

Meeting the Training Needs of Flexible Workers. Canberra Institute of Technology, Canberra.

1996

With Richard Sweet, Towards A Modern Apprenticeship System: An Issues Paper. Prepared for the Minister of Schools, Vocational Education and Training. Dusseldorp Skills Forum, Sydney, April 1996.

1995

Skill Formation Strategies in Small, High Tech Exporters. Volumes One and Two. Dusseldorp Skills Forum, Sydney

1995

'Skill formation in Japan: the broader context and recent developments', Labour and Industry 6 (1) October: 67-88.

1995

With Corrine Boyles & Hisakazu Matsushige, Skill Formation in Japan: Overview and Case Studies. Monograph No 4, National Key Centre in Industrial Relations, Monash University

1995

'Employers and access to publicly funded training', The Australian Economic Review, 2/95.

1994

'The Australian Government's training reform agenda: is it working?', Journal of Asia Pacific Human Resource Management.

1993

'Implementing competency-based training in the workplace: a case study in workforce participation,' Journal of Asia Pacific Human Resource Management.

1993

'Shepparton Preserving Company (SPC): a case study in organisational change', in Patrickson M. and Bamber G. (eds) Case Studies in the Strategic Management of Organisational Change. Longman Cheshire.

1993

'New classifications for lower paid workers in the Public Sector, problems and prospects', Margaret Gardiner (ed) Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations in the Public Sector. Macmillan.

1993

'Japan's response to the recession: lessons for Australia?,' Australian Bulletin of Labour, September.

1993

Has the Apprenticeship System a Future?: the Impact of Labour Market Reform on Structured Entry level Training. Report commissioned by the Department of Employment, Education and Training, Canberra.

Unpublished Papers

Benchmarking School to Work Programs in the USA, Canada and Australia: A Proposal

Designing a Pay System for Teams