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

I thank all of those who have contributed to this debate. Jobs and Skills Australia was established by this government late last year and has already begun important work needed to identify solutions to our skills and workforce challenges, and to build the workforce that Australia needs now and into the future.

Introducing the legislation in two stages, including this amendment bill, has allowed the government the time and opportunity to consult with key tripartite partners and stakeholders in state and territory governments, business and unions, and also training and education providers and civil society representatives. We've also had very constructive engagement with members of this place, in particular the crossbench, both the Greens here and in the Senate and indeed the member for Indi.

The Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill, introduced by the government in March, establishes the ongoing governance arrangements for Jobs and Skills Australia, and additional functions to ensure that it will play a critical role as the national body providing consistent data analysis and advice.

We know Australia is experiencing acute skills shortages. As Jobs and Skills Australia has informed us, the recruitment difficulty rate in December last year was 65 per cent—26 percentage points above the level recorded in January 2021. Recruitment difficulty across higher-skilled and lower-skilled, casual and non-casual vacancies has also been trending upwards. Meanwhile, the number of occupations in shortage doubled in 12 months from 153 occupations to 286, which really underlines the scale of the challenge. Yet many Australians continue to face significant disadvantage and exclusion in the labour market, finding it tough to find secure and meaningful employment. Some of these groups, like First Nations Australians; culturally and linguistically diverse Australians; those living in regional, rural and remote Australia; over-55s; women; people living with a disability; and youth face regular challenges to fully participate in the labour market because too often they are marginalised by way of age, health, gender or background.

Can I thank all of those who have contributed to this debate. There were a very significant number, which really speak to the importance of this statutory body and this legislation. I thank the members for Spence, Moreton, Blair, Hawke, Lyons, Higgins, Cunningham, Swan, Holt, Fraser, Kingsford Smith, Parramatta, Bennelong, Gilmore, Bruce, Werriwa and Chisholm, for the government; and, indeed, the opposition members for Farrer, Sturt, Hughes, Casey, Riverina, Nicholls and Fisher. In particular, can I thank the member for Indi for her contribution and engagement. I also want to note the contribution made by the member for Fowler.

This is an important debate. It is absolutely vital that we have comprehensive debates in this place over significant public policy to make sure we get it right. As a result of the engagement we've had and the contributions made in this place, we are better off. For that reason, I thank everyone who has been genuinely engaged. The majority of members in the House—those who support and will support this bill—agree that workers, employers, governments and the training and education sector must work together if we want to unlock the full potential of Australia's workforce and ensure Australians have the skills and training needed for jobs now and in the future, even when we come from different viewpoints. There is, however, not unanimity on this in this House. Later we will debate the amendments proposed by the opposition.

The opposition's amendments are designed, in the government's view, to undermine worker voices on Jobs and Skills Australia and thus undermine industry's voice on that body. Whereas stakeholders and the crossbench have worked with government to craft an amendment that strengthens small business and regional, rural and remote representation within JSA, the opposition have made it clear that, if their antiworker amendment is unsuccessful, they will vote against the bill. They're insisting on an amendment that would remove representatives of workers from this body, and, if that is not successful, they will vote against the bill in its entirety. I think it's very disappointing that the opposition is considering doing that. It would be fair to say that, when you're looking at training and education and when you're talking about skills and the labour market, it's only reasonable that we have employer bodies and unions that represent their constituencies. They most often come together with a common purpose to advise government and advise industry about what is needed. Unfortunately the opposition have chosen a very antiworker approach to this legislation with respect to their amendment.

I want to thank Senators Faruqi and Barbara Pocock from the Greens political party for their engagement on this bill and shared commitment to ensuring employment and training opportunities for those who have historically experienced labour market disadvantage and exclusion. This includes considering the role that lived experience will play in determining members of the ministerial advisory board. The effect of those consultations is reflected in the bill that was introduced to the parliament. I'd like also to thank Senator David Pocock for his engagement. Senator Pocock's interest in the role universities play in educating the skilled workforce we need is an interest shared with the Minister for Education and me, and it is also reflected in this bill.

Government amendments have been circulated, and I'll discuss those in more detail when the House considers them, but I also want to specifically thank the member for Indi in particular, as I said, for her constructive engagement, which is reflected in the government's amendments. In addressing the member for Indi, I also want to thank her staff for their engagement with my office and thank the department for the manner in which analysis related to regional, rural and remote Australia is strengthened by the amendments in this bill. I want to provide assurances that these amendments strengthen JSA's remit in this space, and I look forward to their analysis being made public and supporting policy development to support those areas. I want to again thank all members of the House who've contributed to this very important debate, and I hope we see its passage after the debate on the amendments.

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