Building an educated and skilled workforce

A $3 billion investment in skills and training initiatives over six years will deliver the skilled workers the economy needs and ensure more Australians can benefit from our growing prosperity.

Through the Building Australia’s Future Workforce package the Government is:

• placing industry at the heart of the training effort, with a new $558 million National Workforce Development Fund
• investing to meet the longer-term needs of the economy through a reform focused  National Partnership with States and Territories worth $1.75 billion over five years (from 2012-13) and
• reforming the apprenticeship system to make it modern and flexible including accelerated apprenticeships and mentoring support
• increasing workforce participation by giving disadvantaged Australians the skills they need to get a job.

Minister for Skills and Jobs, Senator Chris Evans, said unemployment is now at 4.9 per cent and 500,000 new jobs are expected to be created in the next two years. 

To help meet emerging skills needs, the Australian Government will work with industry and state governments to deliver 370,000 training opportunities over the next four years.

Read the full media release at:   http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Evans/Media/Releases/Pages/Article_110511_091701.aspx

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Supporting Apprentices to build Australia’s future

The Gillard Government will invest more than $200 million over four years to boost apprentice completion rates and provide enhanced mentoring services to support apprentices during their training.

Minister for Skills and Jobs, Senator Chris Evans, said the Government would work with industry to strengthen the apprenticeship system to meet critical skills needs as part of the Building Australia’s Future Workforce package

In this Budget the Government will provide:

1. $100 million to invest in initiatives to ensure that apprentices progress through training as they acquire the right skills at the right pace.

• Industry will be able to provide training customised to the needs of individual apprentices so they can move more quickly through their training and advance to the
  next level of learning and pay.
• Apprentices who have gained skills on-the-job will be able to have their skills recognised so they can gain higher qualifications quickly, provided quality requirements
  are met.
• Model clauses will be introduced into awards to enable apprentices who
  progress based on their skills to receive higher first and second year wages.

2. $101 million for a national mentoring apprenticeship program to improve workplace learning and help up to 40,000 apprentices complete their training.

"The Government will also help support school leavers considering an apprenticeship
through Apprenticeship Advisors to assist them in choosing their career path. There are around 448,000 Australians undertaking apprenticeships and traineeships but current attrition rates mean only around half of these students will complete their training and gain a qualification,” Senator Evans said.

"We need to lift the quality of apprenticeship training to retain more apprentices and we must adopt a more innovative and streamlined training system."

Senator Evans said the Government is committed to ensuring the Australian Apprenticeship system is simplified, streamlined and better targeted to meet the critical skills needs of the economy.

"We will continue to work with industry, training providers and the states and territories toward a simpler and nationally consistent system, providing relevant, quality training on and off the job,” he said.

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A dynamic new partnership with industry to train tomorrow’s workforce

The Gillard Government will put industry at the centre of efforts to address the nation’s skills shortages.

A new $558 million National Workforce Development Fund will be created to upskill Australia’s workforce over the next four years.

The Fund will create an estimated 130,000 training places tailored to industry needs over the next four years.

Industry will bid into the Fund to secure matched funding to train its current or prospective workforce, with small businesses receiving more assistance.

The Government will also provide $25 million for a National Workforce and Productivity Agency to administer the new Fund.  The new agency will work closely with industry to ensure the Fund delivers training outcomes that meet the needs of industry, workers and the economy.

Minister for Skills and Jobs, Senator Chris Evans, said construction and aged care would be priority sectors in 2011-12. Both of these sectors are at risk of experiencing skills shortages in the near future and are critical to our economy.

“Construction is the third largest sector and is experiencing strong growth as a result of the flow on effects of the mining boom,” Senator Evans said.

“Strong growth is also occurring in aged care, driven by our ageing population.’’
Following these sectors, the agency will provide advice to Government on further priority sectors for the National Workforce Development Fund.

Read the full media release at:
http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Evans/Media/Releases/Pages/Article_110510_190338.aspx

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Driving national reform to boost skills and productivity

The Gillard Government will work with states and territories to reform Australia’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) network.

States and territories will be asked to meet new benchmarks for improved quality, transparency and outcomes as a condition of funding, worth $7.2 billion in total over the next five years.

The Gillard Government will renegotiate the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development with the states and territories and introduce a National Partnership to reform the VET system.

The Government will also offer an additional amount of up to $1.75 billion from 2012-13 for jurisdictions that are prepared to sign up to a more ambitious reform of the performance and quality of their respective public training systems.

The Gillard Government’s vision for the VET sector is clear:

1. a system that is more efficient
<< aligning training effort with emerging skills, innovation and technology needs of fast growing sectors of the economy
<< builds stronger pathways so that more students can move between vocational education and training and higher education qualifications.

2. a system that delivers greater equity and economic mobility
<< increases training efforts at the Certificate III level and above and delivers higher level qualifications
<< lifts participation rates and the skills base of disadvantaged learners and regions.

3. a system driven by quality and transparency
<< rewards performance including improved completion rates and increases the proportion of students who have a proper assessment and recognition of skills prior to the commencement of training
<< is transparent about funding and the quality of outcomes
<< has quality benchmarks and lifts the quality of teaching and learning and the level of student and industry satisfaction with training providers.

Minister for Skills and Jobs, Senator Chris Evans, said the VET system must be able to respond to demands for skilled workers, if higher workforce participation rates were to be achieved.

Read the full media release at:
http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Evans/Media/Releases/Pages/Article_110510_190642.aspx

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For more information visit
www.deewr.gov.au/Department/Budget/Pages/1112FactSheets.aspx