With a plethora of new federal government policies designed to address a range of emerging economic and social issues coming in to play, what are the likely impacts on providers of education and training? How best can institutions meet the diverse expectations of the policies relating to the training of mature age workers, disengaged youth and the disabled? Providing relevant learning pathways and appropriate support for this ever-expanding group of new learners will be a major challenge for all involved in post-compulsory education in Australia. This paper will provide an overview of recent research in the vocational education and training sector and provide some insights and options for actions to meet these new demands