Even after a federal budget boost, Australia won’t have enough skilled tradespeople to work on existing homes – let alone build the new homes being promised.
- Associate Professor, College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University
Labor’s proposal should help address some skills shortages in the sector. But it will be a long time before the benefits flow through to housing.
Australia is spending more on defence – but without money going to AI, cybersecurity and space technology our military risks being stuck in the past.
The government has proposed new incentives to attract apprentices to the construction sector, but this could divert talent from other key sectors of the economy.
The $12.6 billion agreement promises a new era of cooperation between governments, the vocational education and training sector, business and the community.
As part of the new employment white paper the federal government has announced it is thinking seriously about a national skills passport.
Vocational education and training is facing some big changes. The federal government is proposing a five-year National Skills Agreement with the states to start next year.
We hear the term ‘skills shortages’ all the time in media and policy debates. But what skills do we need, and more importantly, how do we get them?
To overcome serious shortages of workers, both highly skilled and low-skilled, the government will need to look to migration. But fostering home-grown skills is a better and more enduring solution.
Some in government and industry aim to fill Australia’s skills shortages with migration policies. But VET numbers are up, suggesting many Australians are re-skilling. We could encourage more of this.
While skilled migration can help fill short-term gaps, Australia needs a more sustainable, long-term approach to skills matching and development to make the most of the people who are already here.
Australia loses female talent at every stage of the STEM pipeline. A program in which educators and industry work together to help women gain in-demand skills is one piece in the puzzle.
There is a growing mismatch between what education and training provide and the skills needed in workplaces being reshaped by the digital economy. Advanced apprenticeships can help close the gap.
The Productivity Commission has released a report of its review of a national agreement on the skills workforce and the VET sector.
There is a significant gap between teenagers’ career knowledge and choices, and the reality of the rapidly changing nature of work.
Most Indigenous art works are produced in around 90 Indigenous art centres located in very remote regions. But there are staff and management issues, which can be solved by better VET programs.
Training providers and employers aren’t adapting fast enough to meet the skill needs thrown up by the fourth industrial revolution.
In April 2019, the government-commissioned Joyce review made 71 recommendations to reform the VET sector. Here’s what the report said, and what the government is doing about it.
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