Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills) Share this | Hansard source

When the Deputy Leader of the Opposition started to speak today she referred to apprentices that she had met recently. And I think that's great. We should all take the opportunity to meet with apprentices and acknowledge the work that they do. We should also—and I'm sure that we all do—acknowledge the great work that's done by so many Australians in a whole variety of jobs here, and congratulate them and thank them for what they do for this country.

I want particularly to take up the opportunity to speak about apprentices, given that it has been raised in the context of this debate by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, because this is where the coalition government is certainly making some very positive commitments—to make sure that we are skilling Australians for the jobs of the future. There are approximately 4.2 million students involved in VET across this nation. They are gaining the skills that they need to get a job or to upgrade their qualifications, or upskilling for a different job, if they so wish. That's about one in four Australians aged between 15 and 69 who are participating in the VET sector.

We recognise that we do have some issues here with skills shortages in a whole range of areas, and many of those skill shortages are in areas where apprentices, through becoming qualified tradespeople or by going through a traineeship, will actually fill those needs now and into the future. When I was first appointed into this role, the best part of two years ago now, I took the opportunity to speak with many of our apprentices and to get feedback from them. I spoke to our Australian Apprenticeships Ambassadors. For those who are in the chamber today, let me say that we have around 300 Australian Apprenticeships Ambassadors here in this country. What they are committed to is visiting schools and visiting community groups, doing everything that they can to promote what they have done with their careers and to highlight to young people the jobs that are available to them if they follow a vocational education path—particularly if they take a pathway that leads them from an apprenticeship through to a trade or a non-trade qualification. They are outstanding individuals.

There were a number of things that I took from the very first meeting that I had with those apprentices. Firstly, was their lack of understanding as to why more people are not interested in becoming an apprentice and becoming a tradesperson. They also indicated that one of the things we needed to do to change that was start a campaign where we were able to show what the jobs of the future were likely to be—to indicate, by using individuals who were currently qualified through the VET sector, the jobs that they were doing.

We talked to childcare workers. We talked to people who were in health care, disability services, aged care and a whole range of industry sectors—building, construction, hospitality and tourism. We talked to them about ways that we could put together a strategy to ensure that we had the skills for the future. Through all of that engagement about two years ago, we developed the Real Skills for Real Careers strategy. Real skills for real careers—this is what we are out there now promoting throughout the community. We have engaged with leading sports organisations—NRL, AFL SportsReady and Touch Football Australia—so that we can get into the hearts and minds of our young people, so that those who are heading into their final years at school have before them some real career opportunities. We want them to understand that, for some, university will provide them with the opportunity they need for the future, but, for many others, a pathway through vocational education, where they can study, learn on the job and earn while they are studying, is going to lead them to a very rewarding and fulfilling career.

This government is absolutely committed to meeting Australia's skills needs now and into the future. We are working with state and territory governments around this country to make sure that together, positively, collectively, we will increase the number of apprentices in training that we have in this country. And, through that, we will go a very long way to meeting the skills shortages that we face now and in the future. I can assure you that the coalition government is absolutely committed to meeting skills needs and making sure that we honour and respect those people who are following a vocational education pathway.

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