Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on revitalising national planning in vocational education and training. Vocational education and training is a matter of national importance. Without it we cannot continue to grow and build our nation's skills and services which every Australian relies on, whether it be a mechanic to fix their car, a plumber to unclog their dunny or an early childhood educator to educate their children—that'll be hard to find. The jobs which require vocational education and training make up the backbone of our nation, and, until we came into government a little over a year ago, that backbone was struggling because the former government never had one and never understood how important vocational education and training is. Because they never understood it, they never respected it, and, as a result, our vocational education and training system was neglected and left crying out for help.

But I suppose this would happen when a government doesn't have anyone who's done a real day's work in their life—on their side, anyway. I stand here today as an example of the opportunities that vocational education and training can provide. When I was 15, I finished school and went to TAFE to become a fitter and turner.

An honourable member: Good on you!

Thank you. This gave me opportunities for good, secure employment for most of my life. I have done jobs that really do help to keep our country running, like working in the mines. I'm proud to be a tradie and I'm proud of my qualification that I was able to get because of vocational education and training.

I know that school isn't for everyone—and that's okay; school certainly wasn't for me—but that doesn't mean that you don't still have a lot to contribute to society. University is great, and we should be encouraging young people all around Australia to study at uni if that's what they want to do to achieve their dreams. But finishing school and going to uni isn't the dream for every young person. And this is a good thing, because at the end of the day our country would get by just fine if we had a shortage of students studying arts degrees. But, if we had a shortage of builders, mechanics or early childhood educators, like we have already started to see, our country would begin to struggle. We need people getting a trade or a diploma because it's these people who will build our country and help us keep it running.

My trade has given me opportunity after opportunity, and today I stand here in front of you all, in our nation's capital, as the member for Hunter. One thing that I have gained from having a trade is an understanding of everyday people and how important their jobs are. That is something that was clearly lacking in the former government, who left our vocational education and training system to crumble. We are a government that understands what the former, out-of-touch government did not. This is why we are desperately trying to revive a system that was stripped bare by those opposite. Right now, Australia has a lack of skilled workers, which has created one of our biggest economic challenges in decades. This is an issue that requires urgent action, and urgent action is what has been taken by this government through the commencement of two major initiatives that will improve the way in which skills are delivered to the labour market in the future.

The first initiative is Jobs and Skills Australia. The main role of Jobs and Skills Australia is to inform policy and provide independent advice to government on what the workforce needs right now as well as into the future. Jobs and Skills Australia looks at the whole of the economy, identifies where skill shortages exist currently and projects where they are likely to be in the future. They won't just focus on the 'where' of shortages; they will also focus on understanding why and how the shortages exist. The work done by Jobs and Skills Australia will be valuable to many who are important in the Australian workforce, including industries, training and education providers, and state and territory governments. Not only will Jobs and Skills Australia help in resolving the skill shortages we are currently facing, but it will be there to provide advice in order to prevent us from ever getting into this kind of situation again in the future.

Jobs and Skills Australia will also look at how we can improve education and employment outcomes for people who have historically experienced labour market disadvantage and exclusion. Some of these people may include those who are disadvantaged by age, health, gender, disability, culture, language and socioeconomic backgrounds. We in the Labor Party believe that, regardless of any of these factors, you should be able to gain meaningful skills and education and you should be able to put these skills to use and set yourself up for the rest of your life. This is good for those gaining new skills and it also helps us to respond to our current skills shortages.

The second major initiative is the creation of 10 industry-led jobs and skills councils. These councils, across a broad range of sectors, in all parts of our economy, will provide Australian industry sectors with a stronger, more strategic capacity to ensure training is relevant to their needs and that Australia's vocational education and training provision delivers skills that provide workers with opportunities for secure jobs and career progress. To put it simply, these councils are about making sure that the training provided through our VET programs provides businesses with well-trained and useful employees and sets them up for a career in the sector of their choice.

The jobs and skills councils will do this by working with educators and training providers to develop world-leading qualifications for workers and employers. They will draw on the best of industry knowledge and expertise of educators and will be critical in delivering the skills our workforce and economy need. They're already onto the job of addressing our skills shortage, with their first major task being to consult across their industry sectors to develop workforce plans that address both existing and emerging skills needs.

When we came into government, we knew we had a big job ahead of us. The previous government completely trashed our VET system, so much so that occupations on the skills shortage list jumped from 153 to 286. This is a national embarrassment. We are a country built by a highly skilled workforce. We have always punched above our weight on the world stage because of the quality of our skilled workforce. But now, according to the OECD, Australia is experiencing the second-most severe labour shortage in the developed world and if things don't change, our situation will only get worse. Projections are that nine out of every 10 new jobs over the next five years will need a post-school qualification. The choice is simple: either we get our act together and fix the VET system or we fall even further behind than we already are.

Common sense will tell you that when there is a skills shortage in a particular area, the way to fix it is to get more people trained with that skill. In order to train more people, this training and education needs to be accessible because people can't be something if they can't access the training. They need to be able to learn the necessary skills. We are making vocational education and training in the areas of skills shortages accessible by providing fee-free TAFE—and our fee-free TAFE is working. It's making a real difference. It's making sure Australians have the skills that our workforce needs. In the first six months, the target of 180,000 enrolments was absolutely smashed, with almost 215,000 Australians enrolling in a fee-free course. That means 215,000 people who are accessing skills and training in areas where skilled workers are needed. And this is just the start. We're making funding available for a further 300 fee-free TAFE positions starting in January next year.

I know that we are facing a big task in front of us when it comes to addressing skills shortages in Australia and I know that we have a long way to go. It took those opposite nine years to tear it down and smash it up, and it will be impossible to rebuild it overnight. But I'm proud to be a member of a government who put skills and vocational education and training at the forefront of our priorities, a government which will take real action to fix the issues that our country is facing. Honestly, tradies are cool. We need more tradies around Australia. We need lots more tradies. I'm absolutely so proud to be here as a tradesman who left school at 15. This is proof that trades can take you anywhere.

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