Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I present a supplementary explanatory memorandum to the bill and move the government amendment as circulated:

(1) Clause 9, page 4 (after line 16), at the end of paragraph (a), add:

(iv) issues relating to skills and training, and workforce needs, in regional, rural and remote Australia;

(v) pathways into VET and pathways between VET and higher education;

(vi) opportunities to improve employment, VET and higher education outcomes for cohorts of individuals that have historically experienced labour market disadvantage and exclusion;

Can I firstly indicate that, as the government made clear, this is an important piece of legislation. It was the first bill to be introduced into the parliament in this parliamentary term, and that's because we are looking to effectively respond to skills shortages across the economy and labour market and to do so in an effective manner. We believe that having a body such as Jobs and Skills Australia will provide that device, or will certainly contribute to a more precise understanding of labour shortages and skills requirements, and will more precisely anticipate the emerging areas of demand in a fast-changing economy. For that reason, we want to have this legislation enacted as soon as possible. It is the interim step, but it is an important piece of public policy, which responds to the needs of the workforce—of employers and workers of our labour market and economy.

I start by thanking the members for Indi, Kennedy and Goldstein; and Senators Faruqi and Barbara Pocock, on behalf of the Australian Greens, for their proposed amendments to the Jobs and skills Australia Bill 2022. We've had very significant engagement with members and senators who have a considered interest in these issues, and they sometimes come from different standpoints, but I think they all agree that we need to do better in terms of investing in skills and ensuring we invest in areas where there are skills shortages.

But we also need to provide more advice and better advice to government, employers and industry, generally, that will enable greater access to the labour market for people that miss out, whether it's workers in regional or remote Australia; whether it's women who have been locked out or limited in accessing the labour market; whether it's people with disability who have had great challenges in seeking to be just treated fairly when it comes to employment participation; whether it's First Nations people who have experienced entrenched disadvantage and discrimination historically—and that still exists today. We know we can do better. I'd also add to that list a very significant part of our society: the over-55s, a group of people who, again, have often been subject to discrimination.

The advice of this proposed body is to, yes, look generically at skills shortages and, indeed, to more precisely forecast areas of emerging demand when it comes to skills and labour. It's also looking to find solutions to impediments to employment for many, many Australians. I'd like to thank the previous senators and members that I mentioned. Through those discussions, they allowed me to move this amendment, which goes some way to expressing their concerns. I also think it's important to foreshadow that there'll be another engagement with this place and the other place, with more legislation to come so that we can finalise this body. We believe we need to move very rapidly to enact an interim body to supersede the National Skills Commission. We do think there's further work to be done, and I make this pledge to the opposition and to the crossbench: we will engage with them genuinely and fully in ensuring we get those reforms in place as well.

The government has accepted, effectively, the substance of these amendments, and they will be proposed as government amendments. The amendments recognise the distinct circumstances faced, as I said earlier, by people living in regional, rural and remote Australia and those that have historically experienced labour market disadvantage and exclusion. The revised explanatory memorandum notes that those more marginalised, whether by way of age, health, gender or background, are among the cohorts the body's analysis will assist. The revised explanatory materials will also clarify that, when consulting with other persons or bodies, these may include, for example, bodies representing the university sector; persons from regional, rural or remote Australia; First Nations persons; and recent migrants. This revised explanatory memorandum will be tabled in the Senate.

The amendments being moved will also ensure that, as the responsible minister and together with the Secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, I can be provided with advice by the JSA in relation to additional matters that will help to improve employment opportunities for individuals and strengthen Australia's economy. These important government amendments will add to the functions of Jobs and Skills Australia and its responsibility for providing advice on issues relating to skills and training and to workforce needs in regional, rural and remote Australia, pathways into VET and pathways between VET and higher education, opportunities to improve employment, and VET and higher education outcomes for cohorts that having story that historically experienced labour market disadvantage and exclusion.

This amendment also clarifies that the advice Jobs and Skills Australia develops from its analysis will allow consideration of governments and potentially industry to improve access to training and employment outcomes and clarifies that Jobs and Skills Summit Australia analysis will also ensure the experiences of priority cohorts are better understood in order to enable governments to develop targeted policy improvement to address access and equity in the jobs and skills system. (Extension of time granted) These amendments, together with the feedback received from over 55 submissions to the Senate committee inquiry into this bill and across the two day Jobs and Skills Summit, reinforce the importance of establishing Jobs and Skills Australia urgently so it can begin its important work in addressing the skills and workforce needs of the country.

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