- Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education
The Coalition Government continues to invest in Australia’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Apprenticeship sectors to support the skills needs of Australian job seekers, employers and industry.
Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education, Senator Michaelia Cash said today’s MYEFO statement along with the independent Expert Review of the VET system, underlines the Government’s strong commitment to the delivery of quality skills and training.
Minister Cash said the Government’s measures include:
- $5.4 million to support the work of WorldSkills Australia
- $3.9 million to the Tasmanian Government’s North-West Tasmania Job Ready Generation Package
- $750,000 to support the establishment of the Advanced Welding Training Centre in Caboolture (QLD)
"WorldSkills Australia is a respected organisation that works to provide opportunities for many thousands of Australians each year to benchmark their skills through regional, national and international competitions to ‘have a go’ at a range of trade and skill based careers through their Try’aSkill activities," Minister Cash said.
"Our funding commitment, approximately $1.2 million each year, will provide WorldSkills Australia with a sustainable funding base so they can focus on their great work to promote and build a skills culture in Australia, and help showcase excellence in Australian VET.
"Similarly, our commitment of $3.9 million to a joint project with the Tasmania Government will help generate more jobs and apprenticeship opportunities throughout north-western Tasmanian communities.
"This will support a range of new initiatives, including a job-match program to deliver training for around 160 school-based apprentices, the delivery of five mobile welding simulators for Burnie, the establishment of a new Apprenticeships Scholarships Pilot for priority industry sectors which will provide up to 200 scholarships, and an agriculture skills initiative for up around 150 workers in the sector.
"And a further $750,000 will help Weld Australia establish an Advanced Welding Training Centre in Caboolture, Queensland.
"This funding will enable Weld Australia to purchase ten state-of-the-art Augmented Reality Welding Simulators and deliver world-class training for new and existing workers – skills which will be vital in securing jobs in rolling stock, defence and infrastructure projects."
Minister Cash said projects like these provide real outcomes and strong pathways to jobs in areas of skills needs – which is particularly important in regional Australian communities.
"That’s why we’re also investing approximately $60 million to trial a wage subsidy incentive for employers in regional and rural communities to take on more apprentices," Minister Cash said.
"While a further $27.7 million will expand eligibility for the Support for Adult Australian Apprentices incentive and to encourage more employers to engage more adult apprentices aged 21-24 years."
Minister Cash said the MYEFO statement today also confirmed that the Australian Government would continue to manage tuition assurance arrangements throughout 2019, to ensure students are protected in the event of training provider closures.
Consultations for the Expert Review of the VET system are underway. The Government welcomes the enthusiasm and participation thus far and encourages all interested groups and individuals to make a submission before the 25 January 2019 closure date. The Review report will be delivered to Government in March 2019, prior to the 2019 Federal Budget.