Federal government earmarks additional $41 million for net zero, AI and care economy graduates

More graduates with the skills to decarbonise the economy and care for the ageing population will be produced under the Albanese government’s training and education shake-up.

The Commonwealth will funnel an extra $41 million into measures aimed at training workers for the jobs of the future.

Priority areas include the low carbon transition, the care economy, and new technologies such as artificial intelligence.

Roughly $31 million in new funding, announced as part of the Employment White Paper released on Monday, will go towards fast-tracking new TAFE “centres of excellence”.

These centres, which will see industry, universities and governments join forces to solve complex challenges like decarbonisation, were already in the works but the extra funding will see six of them up and running sooner.

The other $10 million will go towards new degree apprenticeship qualifications and helping vocational education and training organisations deliver new bachelor-equivalent higher apprenticeships, independent of universities.

The government wants to double the number of people starting these higher apprenticeships, which typically combine on-the-job training with formal study to produce a higher-level qualification, within five years.

Skills and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor said the reforms would set the vocational education and training sector up for the next generation of workers.

“For the workers of the future it doesn’t necessarily have to be one or the other – TAFE or uni – it can be a combination of technical skills development and conceptual knowledge,” O’Connor said.

It was important for students to be able to move easily between vocational and higher education to meet the skills challenges facing the economy.

The employment white paper is the product of 12 months of work following last year’s jobs and skills summit.

The expansive document is expected to include a number of new policies.

A National Skills Passport has already been announced, and measures targeted at closing the gender pay gap are also anticipated.

The white paper will be released on a backdrop of extremely low unemployment and easing but ongoing labour shortages.

Unlocking spare capacity in the workforce will be a core feature of the report as the government looks to dismantle barriers stopping people from finding work or securing as many hours as they would like.

This article was first published by AAP.