WORKING GROUP DRAFT – IN CONFIDENCE

Performance – linked to Objectives

Outputs

Equity – Access

• Barriers to participation in VET by selected equity group – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Access

• Barriers to participation in VET – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Appropriateness

• Students who achieve main reason for training – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Employer satisfaction with VET – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Quality

• Student satisfaction with quality of training – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Service quality – most recent data for all measures is either not comparable and/or not complete

Effectiveness – Sustainability

• Workforce sustainability – no data reported and/or no measures yet developed

Efficiency – Inputs per output unit

• Government recurrent expenditure per annual hour – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Outcomes

• Student employment and further study outcomes – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Student completions and qualifications – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Students who improved education status – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Skill utilisation – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Increase in income after VET – no data reported and/or no measures yet developed

A description of the comparability and completeness is provided under the Indicator results tab for each measure.

‘Barriers to participation in VET by selected equity group’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that the national training system is provided in an equitable manner.

‘Barriers to participation in VET by selected equity group’ is defined as the proportion of the population aged 15–64 years from selected equity groups who reported facing barriers to accessing or completing VET courses. For this report, the selected equity groups are:

• females
• remote and very remote areas
• quintile 1 (most disadvantaged). Socio-economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) quintiles are based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage. People residing in areas classified as quintile 1 are the most disadvantaged. 

Data is not available for reporting against this measure for other selected equity groups.

Data for barriers to accessing courses by remoteness and SEIFA quintiles is collected from the Survey of Work-Related Training and Adult Learning (WRTAL), 2020-21. Participants were asked whether there were any occasions in the past 12 months where they had wanted to do a qualification at bachelor degree level or above, or below bachelor level, but had not been able to, and if so, what were the reasons they were not able to.

Similar proportions of people in selected equity groups reporting that they encounter barriers to accessing or completing VET courses relative to people not from these selected equity groups is desirable.

In 2020-21, the proportion of people who wanted to participate in any (or more) formal study below bachelor degree level in the last 12 months but could not was highest in major cities (2.7%) and lowest in outer regional and remote areas (0.4%). More females (2.1%) reported facing barriers to participation compared to males (1.7%). Results across SEIFA quintiles were fairly constant ranging from 0.7% in both the lowest and highest quintiles to 0.9% in the third quintile (figure 5.5).

‘Barriers to participation in VET’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to create a national training system that is accessible to all working age Australians.

'Barriers to participation in VET’ is defined as the proportion of the population aged 15–64 years who reported facing barriers to accessing or completing VET courses.

Data for barriers to accessing courses is collected from the WRTAL 2020-21. Participants were asked whether there were any occasions in the past 12 months where they had wanted to undertake a qualification at bachelor degree level or above, or below bachelor level, but had not been able to, and if so, the reasons they were not able to.

A lower proportion of people reporting that they encounter barriers to accessing or completing VET courses is desirable.

Nationally in 2020-21, 5.5% of people wanted to participate in any (or more) formal study in the last 12 months but could not. The proportion was higher for barriers to enrolment in a qualification (or more qualifications) below bachelor degree level (3.8%), than for enrolment in a qualification (or more qualifications) at bachelor degree level or above (2.3%) (figure 5.6).

The main barriers to participation in any (or more) formal study in the last 12 months include too much work / no time (1.5%) and financial reasons (1.3%) (table 5A.15).

‘Students who achieve main reason for training’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to create a national training system that meets the needs of students, employers and industries.

‘Students who achieve main reason for training’ is defined as the proportion of government‑funded VET qualification completers aged 15–64 years who reported that the training 'fully' or 'partly' helped them achieve their main reason for training.

This measure relates to the activities of government‑funded VET activity only.

Data is collected from the annual national Student Outcomes Survey for qualification completers aged 15–64 years. Survey data for a year (for example, 2024) refers to the cohort of students that graduated the year before (for example, 2023). 

A high or increasing proportion of students whose training helped them achieve their main reason for training is desirable.

Nationally in 2024, 87.1% of government‑funded 2023 VET qualification completers aged 15–64 years reported that training 'fully' or 'partly' helped achieve their main reason for training (figure 5.7). The proportion was higher for people in remote and very remote areas (92.1%) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (89.1%), and lower for people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged, and for people with disability (86.9% and 81.1%, respectively). + Females

‘Employer satisfaction with VET’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to create a national training system that meets the needs of students, employers and industries.

‘Employer satisfaction with VET’ is defined as the proportion of employers who engaged in an aspect of VET, and who were satisfied with all forms of VET engagement.

‘Engagement with VET’ includes if the employer had employees undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship, or had arranged or provided their employees with nationally recognised training, or had employees with formal vocational qualifications as a requirement of their job.

This measure relates to total VET activity².

Data is collected from the biennial Survey of Employers’ Use and Views of the VET system and represents the responses of employers with at least one employee and their training experiences in the 12 months prior to the survey.

A high or increasing proportion of employers who are satisfied with VET in meeting the skill needs of their workforce is desirable.

Nationally in 2023, 56.8% of Australian employers were engaged with VET (table 5A.15), of which 66.4% were satisfied with all forms of VET engagement (down from 72.9% in 2015) (figure 5.8). By type of training engaged in, satisfaction with apprenticeships or traineeships had the largest decrease by 8.5 percentage points (from 81.7% in 2015 to 73.2% in 2023).

‘Student satisfaction with quality of training’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to create a national training system that is high quality.

‘Student satisfaction with quality of training’ is defined as the proportion of government‑funded VET qualification completers aged 15–64 years who reported being satisfied with the overall quality of training.

This measure relates to government‑funded VET activity only.

Data is collected from the annual national Student Outcomes Survey for qualification completers aged 15–64 years. Survey data for a year (for example, 2024) refers to the cohort of students that graduated the year before (for example, 2023). Qualification completers satisfied with their training include those who ‘Strongly agree’ or ‘Agree’ with the relevant questionnaire item.

A high or increasing proportion of qualification completers satisfied with their training is desirable.

Nationally in 2024, 89.3% of all government‑funded 2023 VET qualification completers aged 15–64 years indicated that they were satisfied with the overall quality of their training (figure 5.9). The proportion was higher for people in remote and very remote areas (95.0%), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (91.6%) and people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged (90.7%), and lower for people with disability (86.5%). + females

In 2024, 89.4% of government-funded 2023 VET qualification completers aged 15–64 years were satisfied with assessments, and 87.7% were satisfied with instructors (table 5A.19).

‘Service quality’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to create a national training system that is high quality.

‘Service quality’ is defined as providers that were subject to a compliance audit resulting in an adverse decision, as a proportion of regulated providers.

The definition of adverse decisions includes registration cancellation, registration suspension, enforceable undertaking, partial registration cancellation or suspension, and shortened registration (refer to 'Key terms' in the 'Explanatory material' tab for more details).

Providers that were subject to a compliance audit, as a proportion of regulated providers is also presented as contextual information in figure 5.10. The definition of compliance audits includes a limited subset of all regulatory activity (refer to 'Key terms' in the 'Explanatory material' tab for more details).

Data for this indicator is provided by ASQA, VRQA and TAC.

Although ASQA is the national regulator and regulates the majority of the RTOs in Australia, it only has partial coverage for regulating VET training providers in Victoria and Western Australia. Caution is required when comparing ASQA results from these jurisdictions. While data is broken down by jurisdiction, ASQA does not consider these boundaries when undertaking its duties. Training providers in Victoria and Western Australia not covered by ASQA are regulated by VRQA and TAC, respectively (refer to 'Key terms' in the 'Explanatory material' tab for more details).

A lower or decreasing proportion of providers subject to a compliance audit resulting in an adverse decision is desirable. Caution is required when interpreting the results across different regulators. Although the regulators use the Standards as a baseline for measuring provider compliance, each regulator has unique regulatory frameworks, audit types and legislative responsibilities.

In 2023-24, 10.8% of providers regulated by ASQA were subject to a compliance audit and 1.5% were subject to a compliance audit resulting in an adverse decision – up from 1.3% in 2022-23 (figure 5.10). For providers regulated by VRQA in 2023-24, 0.8% were subject to a compliance audit resulting in an adverse decision, which is the same as the proportion subject to a compliance audit – both were 0.7% in 2022-23. In 2023-24, 20.4% of providers regulated by TAC were subject to a compliance audit. Zero providers were subject to a compliance audit resulting in an adverse decision, which is the same as in 2022-23.

‘Workforce sustainability’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide sustainable VET services.

VET workforce sustainability relates to the capacity of the VET workforce to meet current and projected future service demand. These measures are not a substitute for a full workforce analysis that allows for training, migration, changing patterns of work and expected future demand. They can, however, indicate that further attention should be given to workforce planning for VET services.

There are limited data sources for accurately measuring the VET workforce. However, the VET Workforce Study (the Study) produced by Jobs and Skills Australia, has attempted to define, measure and categorise the VET workforce. The Study also reports on key demographic and employment characteristics of the VET workforce (JSA 2024). 

Data from the Study is presented in the snapshot below. Given data limitations, some of this analysis is illustrative only and underestimates the size of the VET workforce. Further details on the assumptions and methodology used are in the Study.

Snapshot of the VET workforce profile

The size of the VET workforce is estimated at around 111,000 and has been stable over the period 2017 to 2021 using data from the ABS Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA). Overall, the VET workforce has seen minimal growth (0.7%) over the decade to 2020–21 (figure 5.11). Between 2011–12 and 2017–18, the number of VET teachers decreased by 19.6%, and then rose slightly by 1.9% from 2017–18 to 2020–21.

Nationally, 48.5% of the estimated VET workforce[2] worked in teach, train, and assess roles, followed by administration and operations (29.0%) and leadership (12.8%) from the 2021 Census.

[Insert Figure 5.11]

Age group distribution 

Based on the 2021 Census, the average age of the VET workforce was 47.3 years, up from 46.0 years in the 2011 Census. In 2021, 46.5% of the VET workforce was aged 50 years and over (figure 5.12). Majority of the VET workforce are female (57.2%) and 74.8% are located in Major Cities. Around 62.2% are employed full-time, while 32.2% are employed part-time.

[Insert Figure 5.12]

Workforce demand 

Over the ten years to January 2024, online job advertisements for VET teachers doubled, compared to a 79.3% average growth across all occupations. Every state and the Australian Capital Territory experienced higher growth rates for VET teacher advertisements than their all-occupation average. In the Northern Territory, although VET teacher advertisements decreased over the ten-year period, there was an increase over the five years to 2023, surpassing the territory’s all-occupation average.[3]

In 2024, enrolment growth rates in several Certificate III qualifications were significantly above the average since 2018, these include: Early Childhood Education and Care (up 40%); Business (up 33%); Individual Support (up 26%) and Carpentry (up 20%). Given this increase, it is likely that new VET teacher, trainer and assessor jobs were created in these fields. 

The Study doesn’t include analysis on vacancy fill rates for industries. 

VET teacher occupation flows 

The Study found the proportion of VET teachers (based on the ANZSCO classification) remaining in the same occupation was between 85% and 88% over the eight-year period from 2011–12 to 2018–19 using PLIDA data. However, in eight of the nine reference years, the outflow rate of VET teachers leaving (as a proportion of the previous year’s total VET teacher workforce size) exceeded the inflow rate (figure 5.13). 

[Insert Figure 5.13]

Future VET workforce data collection 

The VET Workforce Blueprint (the Blueprint) identifies an opportunity for ', including developing a VET workforce data strategy to enable collection of VET workforce data (DEWR 2024). Outcomes from the Blueprint may provide opportunities to report on VET workforce sustainability indicators in the future. 

‘Government recurrent expenditure per annual hour’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that the national training system is provided in an efficient manner.

'Government recurrent expenditure per annual hour’ is defined as government recurrent expenditure (including user cost of capital) divided by government‑funded weighted annual hours (for further information on expenditure data, refer to 'Interpreting efficiency data' in the 'Explanatory material' tab).

This measure relates to government‑funded VET activity. If a training provider receives government funding to deliver a VET course, then all the training hours associated with that course are classified as government-funded training hours, regardless of the total amount of government funding received.

Lower or decreasing unit costs can indicate efficient delivery of VET services.

'Government recurrent expenditure per annual hour' should be interpreted carefully because low or decreasing unit costs do not necessarily reflect improved efficiency. The factors that have the greatest impact on efficiency include:

• training related factors, such as class sizes, teaching salaries, teaching hours per full-time equivalent staff member and differences in the length of training programs
• differences across jurisdictions, including socio-demographic composition, administrative scale, and dispersion and scale of service delivery
• VET policies and practices, including the level of fees and charges paid by students.

Nationally in 2023, government recurrent expenditure per annual hour was $21.17 per annual hour, largely unchanged from 2022 (figure 5.14). This measure is underpinned by $7.4 billion in state and territory government real recurrent expenditure, which increased by 5.6% from 2022 (table 5A.1), and 347.1 million hours of government funded annual hours (course mix adjusted), which increased by 5.7% from 2022 (table 5A.24).

‘Student employment and further study outcomes’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that the VET system deliver a productive and highly skilled workforce through enabling all working age Australians to develop and use the skills required to participate effectively in the labour market and contribute to Australia’s economic future.

‘Student employment and further study outcomes’ is defined by two measures – the proportion of total and government‑funded VET qualification completers aged 15–64 years:

• employed and/or in further study after training

• who improved their employment status after training

  ‘Improved employment status’ is at least one of:

  • employment status changing from not employed before training to employed either full‑time or part‑time after training. ‘Not employed’ is defined as unemployed, not in the labour force, or not employed (no further information)
  • employed at a higher skill level after training
  • received a job‑related benefit after completing their training, including got a job or changed job, set up or expanded their own business, got a promotion, gained extra skills for their job, increased earnings, kept current job or other job‑related benefits.

Both measures are also disaggregated by selected equity group (females, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people in remote and very remote areas, people with disability and people in SEIFA quintile 1 (most disadvantaged).

Survey data for a year (for example, 2024) refers to the cohort of students that graduated the year before (for example, 2023).

Holding other factors constant, higher or increasing proportions indicate positive employment or further study outcomes after training.

Comparison of labour market outcomes should also account for the general economic conditions in each jurisdiction.

Nationally in 2024, 88.5% of total VET qualification completers aged 15–64 years from 2023 were employed and/or continued on to further study after training (figure 5.12a), down from 89.9% in 2023. People from remote and very remote areas had a higher proportion (90.4%), while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (86.4%), those in SEIFA quintile 1 (84.6%) and people with disability (79.3%) had lower proportions (table 5A.25). + females

Nationally in 2024 for government‑funded VET qualification completers aged 15–64 years from 2023, 87.7% were employed and/or continued on to further study in 2024 (lower than the proportion for total VET qualification completers), down from 88.9% in 2023. The proportion was higher for people in remote and very remote areas (89.1%), and lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (85.3%), those in SEIFA quintile 1 (83.5%) and people with disability (79.7%) (table 5A.26). + females

Nationally in 2024, 71.5% of total VET qualification completers aged 15–64 years from 2023 improved their employment status after training (figure 5.15b) – down from 73.7% in 2023. The proportion was higher for people from remote and very remote areas (77.4%), and lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (69.6%), people in SEIFA quintile 1 (66.6%) and people with disability (53.6%) (table 5A.27). + females

For government‑funded 2023 VET qualification completers aged 15–64 years, 69.5% had improved employment status in 2024 (lower than the proportion for total VET qualification completers) – down from 72.3% in 2023. The proportion was higher for people from remote and very remote areas (78.0%), and lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (68.1%), people in SEIFA quintile 1 (64.0%) and people with disability (52.5%) (table 5A.28). + females

In 2024, for both total VET and government‑funded qualification completers aged 15–64 years, receiving a job-related benefit (or those employed after training) was the most common improved employment status (85.3% and 85.2%, respectively), followed by employed after training (of those not employed before training) (51.2% and 48.6%, respectively) (tables 5A.27–28).

‘Student completions and qualifications’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that the VET system deliver a productive and highly skilled workforce through enabling all working age Australians to develop and use the skills required to effectively participate in the labour market and contribute to Australia’s economic future.

‘Student completions and qualifications’ is defined as the number of total and government‑funded VET qualifications completed each year by students aged 15–64 years, per 1,000 people aged 15–64 years. Data is disaggregated by AQF level and by selected equity group (females, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from remote and very remote areas, people with disability and people in SEIFA quintile 1.

Qualification completions data is ‘preliminary’ for 2023 and ‘final’ for earlier years.

A higher or increasing rate of completed qualifications increases the national pool of skilled people in Australia. However, this measure needs to be interpreted with care as the rate of qualification completions:

• by selected equity group (other than for remoteness) depends on obtaining accurate responses to self‑identification questions at the time of enrolment, which may vary across jurisdictions. A large unknown (or not stated) response could mean that the completion rate for the selected equity group is understated
• uses a different data source for the numerator and denominator, which can affect comparability.

Nationally in 2023, 785,700 qualifications were completed by total VET students aged 15–⁠⁠64 years (table 5A.29) – equivalent to 45.4 qualifications per 1,000 people aged 15–64 years (figure 5.16). The rate was higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (47.6) and people in SEIFA quintile 1 (46.1), and lower for people from remote and very remote areas (43.4). The rate for people with disability was 15.0 in 2022. The number of qualifications completed by total VET students increased by 2.9% from 2019 to 2023 (table 5A.29). + females

Nationally in 2023, 322,800 qualifications were completed by government‑funded VET students aged 15–⁠⁠64 years (table 5A.30) – equivalent to 18.7 qualifications per 1,000 people aged 15–64 years (figure 5.16). The rate was higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (31.0), people in SEIFA quintile 1 – most disadvantaged (24.0) and people in remote and very remote areas (23.1). The rate for people with disability was 10.9 in 2022. The number of government‑funded VET qualification completions decreased 4.1% from 2019 to 2023 (table 5A.30). + females

Certificate III or IV was the most common VET qualification level completed for both total and government-funded VET students across all equity groups (figure 5.16).

‘Students who improved education status’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that the VET system deliver a productive and highly skilled workforce through enabling all working age Australians to develop and use the skills required to effectively participate in the labour market and contribute to Australia’s economic future.

'Students who improved education status’ is defined as the proportion of total and government‑funded VET qualifications completed by people aged 15–64 years which were at a higher education level than their previous highest education level. Data is disaggregated by selected equity groups (females, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from remote and very remote areas, people with disability and people in SEIFA quintile 1).

Higher or increasing proportions of students with improved education status after training indicate that the skill levels of the working age population are increasing.

Of all total VET qualification completers aged 15–64 years that completed an AQF qualification nationally in 2023, 43.1% did so with a higher qualification than their previous highest AQF qualification (figure 5.17). The proportion was higher for all selected equity groups (table 5A.31). + females

Nationally, for government-funded VET qualification completers aged 15–64 years that completed an AQF qualification in 2023, 52.9% did so with a higher qualification than their previous highest AQF qualification. The proportion was higher for people from remote and very remote areas (59.1%), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (58.3%), those in SEIFA quintile 1 (53.4%) and lower for people with disability (47.8%) (table 5A.32). + females

For total VET qualifications aged 15–64 years that completed a Certificate III or above in 2023, 47.0% were at a higher education level – lower than the proportion for government-funded completions (57.6%) (tables 5A.33-34).

‘Skill utilisation’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that the VET system deliver a productive and highly skilled workforce through enabling all working age Australians to develop and use the skills required to effectively participate in the labour market and contribute to Australia’s economic future.

'Skill utilisation’ is defined as the proportion of people aged 15–64 years who completed their highest VET qualification (AQF Certificate I to IV, Diploma and Advanced Diploma) in the last five years, that are working in the field of the highest VET qualification or not working in the same field and the qualification is relevant to their current job.

A high or increasing proportion of people who were either working in the field of their highest VET qualification or the qualification was relevant to their current job is desirable.

Nationally in 2022-23, 78.1% of people aged 15–64 years that completed their highest VET qualification in the last five years were either working in the field of that qualification or not working in the same field and the qualification was relevant to their current job. This proportion is lower than 2018-19 (79.8%) (figure 5.18).

Nationally in 2022-23, 65.9% were working in the field of the highest VET qualification and 12.3% were not working in the same field but the qualification is relevant to their current job (table 5A.35).

‘Increase in income after VET’ is an indicator of government’s objective that the VET system delivers a productive and highly skilled workforce through enabling all working age Australians to develop and use the skills required to effectively participate in the labour market and contribute to Australia’s economic future.

Higher or increasing incomes after training indicate that the working age population is more productive and skilled, reducing reliance on social welfare and contributing to overall economic growth. 

This indicator is currently under development for reporting in the future. 

Comparability of cost estimates

Government recurrent expenditure is calculated using data prepared by the Australian Government and state and territory governments under the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS) Funding Standard for the NCVER National VET Funding Collection. Data is prepared annually on an accrual basis.

Government recurrent expenditure for a given jurisdiction is deemed as being equivalent to:

• VET delivery funding; plus
• System administration and governance funding; minus
• state and territory payroll tax expenses (where applicable)

Expenditure is also increased by the user cost of capital (estimated as 8% of the value of total physical non‑current assets owned by government RTOs).

Payroll tax payments by government‑owned RTOs are deducted from the total to ensure a consistent treatment across jurisdictions.

Government recurrent expenditure for VET may be affected by the movement of TAFE institutes between government and non‑government sectors. User cost of capital should be interpreted carefully. Differences in some input costs (for example, land values) can affect reported costs across jurisdictions without necessarily reflecting the efficiency of service delivery. The value of land is presented separately from the value of other assets to allow users assessing the results to consider any differences in land values across jurisdictions. The basis for the 8% capital charge is discussed in section 1.

All VET expenditure and funding data for years prior to 2024 is adjusted to real dollars (2024 dollars) using the gross domestic product (GDP) chain price index (table 5A.36). Section 2 provides for more information on adjusting financial data to real dollars.

Comparability of efficiency data

To promote comparability of the data across states and territories, as well as comparability between the financial and activity data, annual hours are adjusted by the course mix weight when calculating the efficiency indicator.

Australian Government recurrent expenditure and weighted annual hours are excluded from the efficiency indicator. This is due to the small number of weighted annual hours in foundation skills programs administered by the Australian Government and difficulties in separating them from the annual hours related to state and territory government recurrent expenditure.

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2022, Work-Related Training and Learning, 2020-21, Australia.

ASQA (Australian Quality Skills Authority) 2025, ASQA Regulation Report 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025, https://www.asqa.gov.au/media/2628 (accessed 17 September 2025).

DEWR (Department of Employment and Workplace Relations) 2024, VET Workforce Blueprint, https://www.dewr.gov.au/vet-workforce-blueprint/resources/vet-workforce-blueprint (accessed 17 September 2025).

JSA (Jobs and Skills Australia) 2024. VET Workforce study 2024, https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/studies/vet-workforce-study (accessed 17 September 2025).

NCVER (National Centre for Vocational Education Research) 2024a, VET student outcomes 2024.

NCVER 2024b, Total VET activity (TVA) fact sheets: What are nationally recognised training and non-nationally recognised training? https://www.ncver.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0043/9689470/Fact-sheet_What-are-nationally-recognised-training-and-non-nationally-recognised-training.pdf (accessed 17 September 2025).