VET News

Vocational Education and Training is at the Core of a Skills Planning Framework for Australia's Future

Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) and the ten Jobs and Skills Councils (JSCs) are two important steps in the portfolio of skills and training.  They are linked in a way that gives effective, organised, national, and sector-based planning for building skills that a modern economy needs.

The design and scope of JSA and the JSCs are based on extensive national consultations and have strong support from a wide range of stakeholders.  This includes employers, trade unions, peak bodies, State and Territory governments, vocational education providers and universities.  

Jobs and Skills Australia and the new Jobs and Skills Councils will work together, and the new councils will play a very important role in planning and setting goals for training and education.  This will ensure that workers have the skills they need to get good jobs and advvance in their careers, and that Australia has the skilled workers it needs for jobs now and in the future.

Current challenges  

Due to a lack of trained workers in many parts of the economy, Australia is facing one of its biggest economic problems in a long time.  These challenges are significantly urgent for Australian industries.

Australia has the second-highest lack of workers among OECD countries, according to OECD data. The Skills Priority List shows that the number of jobs in short supply nearly doubled from 2021 to 2022, going from 153 to 286.

In March 2022, the National Skills Commision said that in the next five years, 9 out of 10 new jobs would require education beyond high school, and half of those jobs would need specialised training.  In a quarterly report from Jobs and Skills Australia, it was found that 91 percent of all job growth from May 2022 to May 2023 was in jobs that require education beyond high school.

"Over half of this growth is in occupations that require vocational education and training pathways".

Skills planning framework for the future

To deal with skills problems, Australian industries need to be involved in a useful way and have the best skills planning framework possible.  Industries and experts are at the centre of how JSA and the JSCs are run and how they do their job.  They will work directly with industry sectors on the planning and training needed to meet instant, medium-term, and long-term skills needs. At the heart of this is tripartism, which means that employers, unions, and governments all work together.

To make changes to meet the country's needs for skills, the Commonwealth Government can't just work alone or with a few carefully chosen partners.  They know that the 'who' you ask has a lot to do with the answer you get.

"If voices are missing, solutions will be incomplete at best".

The government is committed to consultation and inclusion because it knows that better results come from listening to many different points of view.   Whether it's with employers, unions, educators, or States and Territories, they are building partnerships and putting in place the structure for inclusive, three-party governance.

For further information from Minister O'Connor about the JSA, the Jobs and Skills Councils, access his Media Centre Release here.

Date posted Sep 21, 2023