Framing the Policy Analysis of OECD and Australian VET Interaction: Two Heuristics of Policy Transfer

Abstract

This article considers the recent refurbishment of Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) policy and highlights the substantial, though unacknowledged, influence of OECD ideas thereupon. It claims that this case study strengthens policy transfer analysts' understanding of the role of international organizations in the policy transfer process. The article argues that the influence of the OECD can be articulated as a channel of policy transfer via two connected perspectives: first, the OECD's use of peer review mechanisms induces ideational competition and conformity between member states; and, second, by virtue of the OECD's expertise and resources in select policy areas, it operates as a form of epistemic community that privileges some policy options over others.