Canberra to offer states 5 year skills agreement, $4.8 billion extra

Skills and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor has revealed the Commonwealth will offer the states and territories a new 5-year skills agreement that will come with an additional $4.8 billion in funding. Speaking ahead of Cabinet meeting tomorrow O’Connor told the Australasian VET Research Association Conference that he would announce the proposed agreement later today, boosting…

The National Skills Agreement needs time in the policy spotlight and it must include these 3 things

By Pi-Shen Seet, Edith Cowan University and Janice Jones, Flinders University Australia continues to grapple with acute skills shortages. Businesses are struggling to find workers with the skills they need. Meanwhile, workers struggle to get jobs because of the mismatch between available training and occupations. There is currently a high-profile debate about the university sector’s…

Federal and state skills ministers meet

Federal, State and Territory Skills and Training Ministers met in Brisbane last week to progress key skills sector reforms and vocational education workforce challenges, aimed at strengthening the quality of vocational education and training and tackling the nations skills shortages now and over the longer term. This an edited version of their communique. National Skills…

WA and Canberra sign skills agreement

The Australian and Western Australian Governments have signed a 12-month Skills Agreement to address the current skills shortage and deliver Fee Free TAFE and more vocational education places for Western Australians. The Agreement will inject more than $112 million into the Western Australian skills and training sector, and includes approximately 18,800 Fee Free TAFE and…

Australia’s skills ministers meet – and look to the future of VET

Federal and State and Territory Skills and Training Ministers met last week to progress a range of key vocational education and training reform and workforce matters. The Ministers issued a joint statement, below, which sets out their priorities and aspirations for vocational education and training. Skills Ministers’ Priorities Skills Ministers discussed the continued imperative for…

Free TAFE places announced for Victoria

The federal and Victorian Governments have inked a 12-month Skills Agreement which will inject more than $250 million into the Victorian skills and training sector to support access to more than 55,000 Fee-Free TAFE and vocational education and training (VET) places in 2023. The agreement also includes an Australian Government commitment of $4.2 million to…