Major national reforms underway as skills and workforce ministers discuss better funding models

Longer-term funding opportunities are on the table for the states and territories as part of a proposed five-year National Skills Agreement (NSA) to be nutted out this year.

On Friday, Australia’s skills and training ministers met to progress national skills reform efforts and vocational education workforce challenges.

Attending the meeting in Brisbane was federal minister for skills and training Brendan O’Connor, along with ministers Blair Boyer (South Australia), Felix Ellis (Tasmania), Dianne Farmer (Queensland), Paul Kirby (Northern Territory), Simone McGurk (Western Australia), Chris Steel (ACT), and Gayle Tierney (Victoria). NSW was represented by senior government officials.

In a communique published after the meeting, the ministers said the vision and guiding principles for the NSA — which was endorsed by the national cabinet last September — set the tone of their discussions.

“Skills ministers discussed reform opportunities under the proposed five-year NSA to be negotiated in 2023 and commence in January 2024,” the document read.

“The federal, states and territories are also working together on projects to be funded under the TAFE Technology Fund, investing in upgrading essential TAFE infrastructure.”

A 12-month skills agreement between the federal, state and territory governments has seen 180,000 Fee-Free TAFE and vocational education places offered to students since January 2023. Young people (aged 17-24), people with disabilities, and women studying in non-traditional fields have been prioritised for TAFE places.

TAFE courses being offered via the vocational program target national priority areas including the care sectors, digital and technology, tourism and hospitality, construction and agriculture.

That’s a wrap on the 1st Skills Ministerial Council for 2023. We’ll continue to work together to develop strategies & ensure we are providing the best skills & training for Australians. @GayleTierney @simonemcgurk @DiFarmerMP @felix_ellis PaulKirbyMP @BBoyerMP @ChrisSteelMLA pic.twitter.com/dgb9a1u4FG

— Brendan O'Connor (@BOConnorMP) February 25, 2023

Agreed priorities following last year’s jobs and skills summit also led the meeting agenda, canvassing the establishment of a permanent Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) to deliver data analysis and labour market insights. Consultations for the development of legislation for the agency are ongoing, in addition to working to figure out engagement protocols and operational elements of the body.

This year, the JSA will run a national study on adult literacy and numeracy, as well as work mapping the emerging workforce capacity needs for Australia’s transition to a clean energy economy.

“The clean energy study will support workforce planning to build a strong and vibrant clean energy sector and deliver energy transition and the transformation to a net zero economy by 2050,” the communique said.

“Skills ministers discussed the importance of their shared interest in JSA to ensure that analysis considers state and territory intelligence and serves the nation’s priorities.”

The ministers also discussed the creation of special industry engagement councils and an integrity framework to work with the VET sector to deliver better outcomes. The framework will be published on the DEWR website.

“Skills ministers agreed to convey to the JSCs the expectation that they ensure their boards recognise the need to reflect gender balance and the diversity of the Australian population, and that the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations review the Program Guidelines for JSCs related to governance (clause 9 of the guidelines) to reflect these expectations going forward,” the communique said.

“[They also] endorsed proposed changes to the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (NVETR) Act, to support timely updates to VET data arrangements in order to remain responsive to the needs of jurisdictions and data users.”

The ministers agreed that an update to the standards for registered training organisations would come into effect in 2025 to ensure consistent, high-quality training across the sector.

Also up for discussion was the way the commonwealth’s migration policy aligned with training delivery programs, with a review panel of the jobs and skills summit preparing a report due to be handed to the government later in the year.

A separate VET Workforce Blueprint will also be produced for the government by the second half of 2023.

After the meeting, the group toured TAFE South Bank’s new Robotics Lab and Cyber Security training facilities and enjoyed a lunch prepared by students.

This article was first published on The Mandarin.