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

My question is to the minister for skills and training. Today is National TAFE Day, a day to celebrate the achievements of Australia's public TAFE system. Minister, how is the Albanese Labor government restoring TAFE to be the heart of Australia's vocational education and training system?

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

I thank the member for Hunter for his very important question. Today is National TAFE Day. I wish all the teachers, the trainers and the workforce of all the campuses across the country a very happy day because they do a great job looking after the many students.

TAFE is by far the largest post-secondary education provider of education and training in the country. It provides the skills needed, whether it is operative, trade or paraprofessional. These are the skills our economy requires, our labour market demands and employers are crying out for. They are the sorts of skills that workers need so that they can have secure work too. It is absolutely critical. These TAFE trainers and teachers are heroes in some ways because they provide opportunities for young people and others—existing workers who are accessing training. Most TAFE students combine work with study. That means they have to work sometimes in a very flexible way.

We have been visiting TAFE centres across the country. As I said yesterday, the Prime Minister in his first visit to Victoria after the election visited Holmesglen TAFE. In fact, the members for Chisholm and Higgins accompanied us. I was recently in the member for Bendigo's electorate when Bendigo TAFE convened a jobs and skills summit. I was with the member for Reid at TAFE Digital New South Wales in Strathfield. It really showed how critical it is to have online learning for regional New South Wales students. Without this, they would not get those skills. That was also a great opportunity. I was also accompanied by the member for Bennelong at Ryde TAFE, which is the largest hospitality training centre in the state—if not the country—providing the chefs and cooks that our economy needs.

I finish by saying I was with the member for Fraser at Victoria University, which is a dual sector provider, providing TAFE training and in this case cybersecurity training. We had a great visit there and saw students accessing the skills that are in huge demand in that area.

TAFE is absolutely vital for this country. We don't just attend TAFEs. I understand there weren't too many visits by the previous government's members. The reality is that we don't just attend TAFE; we invest in TAFE. That's why we've invested in 180,000 fee-free TAFE places for 2023. That is going to provide the skills that our labour market needs. It's going to make sure that the skill shortages are responded to so that our employers have the skill sets they need to be successful and of course what we need to grow the economy and improve productivity, which will mean a better country overall.