Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to rise to say a few words in relation to National Skills Week. My electorate of Bendigo is one of great diversity. We are home to Bendigo TAFE, to thriving businesses and to a university. We are growing when it comes to the need for local skills. Our unemployment rate is officially under three per cent. On a weekly basis, I meet employers and businesses who are saying that they struggle to attract people with the skills that they need.

That is where our government is making a difference. We are turning things around through our investment in TAFE, our investment in businesses and our investment in giving people opportunities: giving young people the opportunity to choose a career path that suits them, and giving people who wish to make a career change—many of whom didn't take up their passion when they left school because of poor advice or because there simply wasn't the opportunity—the opportunity to do so.

At a federal level, we are investing in making more pathways open for Australians to complete training and enter the workforce—or re-enter the workforce in many cases. We are delivering $10,000 to apprentices to become the carpenters, plumbers and sparkies that we need for construction. We are also making free TAFE permanent and creating paid prac placements for our nurses, as well as many other professions that are associated with higher education.

This year's National Skills Week theme is 'Explore All the Options', encouraging all Australians to think about a trade, to think about a new career or something that is more in the vocational space. It's important for us to acknowledge in this place that somewhere in the eighties or nineties we discouraged young people from thinking about a trade. Far too many of my schoolmates were encouraged to go to university because they were told they were bright—'too bright for a trade'. We now know that this thinking, this rhetoric, was wrong. Not only was it wrong for the young apprentices who went into the skills and trades; it was also wrong for those young people whose love of using their hands was denied, and they went into careers or into university quite often to drop out because it wasn't their thing.

Whilst our thinking has changed in schools and in communities, there's still a lot of work to do to encourage young people to consider a trade. In regional areas like mine, for many who are going into trades it's because they had a significant male role model in their life who was already in the trade. Far too often we hear about people going into a trade because it's their uncle's or their father's profession. This is great, and we do encourage it. But what about the young woman or the young male who doesn't have that significant male figure in their life? How do we encourage them to think about the trades?

We are starting to see a shift locally in that thinking, and I want to acknowledge Bendigo TAFE and the free TAFE course they are running in Castlemaine. It is for women and gender diverse people. It is the only course of its kind, and it is full. It is encouraging women of all ages to consider a career in construction. It is focused on the basic skills, cert II, but there are women in the course who are thinking about taking that next step into an apprenticeship. One particular woman I know dropped out of school because there wasn't a pathway for her to pursue a construction trade apprenticeship. We shouldn't have this in 2025. I'm so relieved that she could find a pathway through Bendigo TAFE, through this free TAFE course that's been run from Castlemaine.

We want to offer this kind of innovation, this kind of opportunity, to all women who might wish to change career or to think about a career in the trades—having that safe space where their teacher is a woman, their classmates are women and they're able to ask questions without feeling out of place; they are learning and will contribute towards meeting the skills requirements that we have.

National Skills Week is an opportunity for us to celebrate this, but it's also an opportunity to celebrate the success stories of VET and vocational education. It's an opportunity for us to recognise that nine out of 10 new jobs in the next decade will require a post-secondary qualification, with four of those requiring a VET qualification. It's also an opportunity for people like me to talk about the need to expand the VET in Schools program. In my part of the world we have one of the original trades training centres that were built under the former Rudd-Gillard government, but some of the equipment at Bendigo Senior Secondary is out of date. We've had significant advancements in technology since it was first built under the Rudd-Gillard government. It needs to be updated.

There's an opportunity for us at the federal level to partner with the state governments to ensure that these trade training centres have the equipment we need today. There's also an opportunity to expand into the health and community sectors with the VET in Schools program. We are finding that universities are looking to the students who have that VET qualification, that cert II that they achieved at school as part of their pathway and part of their resume, as well as their ATAR score.

At La Trobe's Bendigo campus we have the largest rural school of health in Australia for allied health. We have dentistry, physio, OT—all of the allied health professions. Only a few weeks ago, I was at the opening of the new dental school, which is the largest of its kind in Australia. It was opened by our premier, Jacinta Allan. For a number of the students that we met and spoke to, while they did achieve an ATAR, what also helped them with their early acceptance was the fact that they were able to pursue some vocational education certificates and training. They could demonstrate to the university that they had the skills but also the fundamentals, the bedside manner and the experience in a cert II that they achieved in health. Students who were going for placement in the medical and biomedicines fields were able to demonstrate that they could already do the basics of health care through the certificates that they had received at school. There's an opportunity through VET in school to encourage young people to think about a career in university or through TAFE which might not be a family occupation already. So let's think about how we can capture those young people who don't have that significant parent or relative in health or in trades encouraging them to think about a career.

Labor is delivering on skills and training, and this gives me a quick opportunity to talk about the pathways that we have established through TAFE and university. I was privileged to have the Minister for Skills and Training, the honourable Andrew Giles, in Bendigo to announce that nursing students would receive part of the Commonwealth prac placement payment. Students studying enrolled nursing not just at Bendigo TAFE but all around the country may qualify for this payment if they're required to do compulsory prac placement. The students that we met are astonishing. All of them identified themselves as early school leavers and were now at a point in their careers where they had chosen to go into nursing, men and women, who said to us quite boldly that they would not be at TAFE if it weren't for free TAFE. Now, with this prac placement payment on the table, they are now able to do their placement without fear of being able to put food on the table.

However, all these students identified that they were not going to stop at the end of their enrolled nursing course. All of them wanted to go on to become registered nurses and midwives and were on their pathway to study at La Trobe University just up the road. It's a demonstration of how we can have that alternative pathway into university, and it's working. National Skills Week is an opportunity to celebrate the successes but encourage that next generation of tradies and that next generation of health workers to think about a skill and to think about TAFE.

Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

National Skills Week is upon us, and it gives us an opportunity to talk about where we're up to with skills and training in this nation and where we need to go. I think there needs to be some serious thinking about the tracks we're on, and I think we have the opportunity to look overseas, which I'll talk about in a minute, to see what other countries have done and how successful they've been in skills training, particularly in vocational skills training.

The area I'm from is one of the greatest food manufacturing regions in not only Australia but the world, supplied by the Goulburn-Murray irrigation system. Water flows out across the fertile soils of the Goulburn and Murray valleys. A great deal of produce is grown, and a lot of that produce is processed. There are a number of food manufacturing companies, such as, from the fruit industry, the iconic SPC with its processed fruit products. While I've got the time to talk about this, everyone is welcome to come to my office and take the peach challenge. I know the member for Hunter has taken the peach challenge—

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

It is a remarkable business.

Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

where he correctly identified the high quality of the SPC product versus the—

Yes, I agree with the member for Hunter. The Chinese product was significantly inferior. We have Fonterra, which makes a huge amount of the mozzarella that goes across pizzas across South-East Asia and Australia. We have Kagome, which manufactures tomato products, and the iconic Furphy—Furphy Foundry and Furphy steel products, which have been making tanks since the late 1800s. The reason I mention all these businesses is they need the skills that will transform their businesses into the future.

We had a problem, and I think we still have the problem, although I see there are signs of improvement. Businesses were saying to me, 'We can't find the young people with the skills and training opportunities that are going to take our businesses forward,' and then I'd go over to the schools and the teachers were saying, 'The kids lack ambition, they don't see what opportunities there are for them, so they're going down a path we don't want them to go down, which is a part that young people find if they don't have hope and don't sense an opportunity.' In 2019 I applied for a Churchill fellowship to study this, and I was successful. I thank the Churchill Trust for trusting me with that great opportunity. I was to go to Europe to see what the Germans, the Fins, the Swedes and the British were doing about this very problem. How do we link educational institutions, whether they be primary, secondary or tertiary, with the business community? I think we need to do that better in Australia. Unfortunately, the pandemic came upon us and I wasn't able to travel until I was in this place in 2023, but I hope to apply what I learnt to this area of skills and to my shadow assistant ministry.

A couple of observations from what I saw in Germany are that the vocational educational training system is, in my view, far superior to what Australia has. Their vocational schools are better than our TAFE system. They've got better facilities, I think they have teachers who have more industry experience, and the whole system is geared up a bit better. My mantra in this place is, 'I don't think we need free TAFE, I think we need better TAFE,' and the industries are supporting me in that. In Germany—I'll use Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart as an example—they'll go out to the schools and say, 'Do you want an apprenticeships with Mercedes-Benz, because we need you into the future?' They've got a very futuristic way of looking at this. They don't think about the technologies that exist now, necessarily—they ask, 'What do we need in 2030, 2040, 2050 or 2060, and how can we train young people to have that mindset, knowing that things change all through those periods and you can't necessarily predict the future?' Once they get an apprentice, the apprentice will spend, in most cases, three days at Mercedes-Benz and they will do the practical work in a very good program. Then they'll spend two days in the technical school. The technical school will be explaining and teaching the young people the theoretical aspects of the practical stuff they've been doing in the business. That happens not just at Mercedes but all across Germany. Here's the reason that works so well: the curriculum is mainly devised by the chamber of commerce, not the government. We like the government to control everything in Australia; there, the business community have taken ownership of this. They've been allowed to take ownership of this and they have set the curriculum for the tech schools. It's a very good system.

After that, I went to Finland. What I was most impressed with in Finland, after discussing things with people in Helsinki in particular, was the Finnish attitude towards what they called the discipline of skills anticipation. The Finns set about asking, 'What skills are we going to need in 20 years, 30 years or 40 years, and how do we develop the pipeline?' The other interesting thing about Finland is, while I think there has been a culture in Australian where governments of all sides—but particularly Labor governments—have said, over a number of years: 'You've got to go to uni. We want more kids in uni. Uni's where it needs to be happening.' In Finland, the mix of where students go to after secondary school is 40 per cent to university, 40 per cent to vocational training and 20 per cent straight into the workforce. That has been the case since 2001. It hasn't changed, and they are happy with that because it suits their skills needs and they don't have an overload of people in certain areas of professional training. They've got a much more even spread, in terms of vocational education, university degrees and direct entry into the workforce.

I think we can look at these European examples and try to think about how we can do things better in Australia. I would like to talk about university, because it does provide skills and education. I'm an example of that—if people think I have any skills at all! I completed two university degrees: one in applied science in agriculture at Dookie college, which is the University of Melbourne's regional Victorian campus, and later an MBA at La Trobe University, primarily at the Shepparton campus. When I was at Dookie I was about 21 or 22, and I was 42 when I did the MBA.

The reason I mention this is that I think we've got to look at university in Australia as something that should be available for people when they need it. Not everyone wants to go to university straight out of school. There are great opportunities for people to retrain later in life, and we need university opportunities available where people need them. As the shadow assistant minister for regional education, I say that it's very important that while there will be opportunities for young people from regional areas to study in capital cities—that will continue and that's a good thing—we also need tertiary education opportunities available where people are in regional settings.

A great example of this is a fantastic program that the previous coalition government put forward and implemented called the Murray-Darling Medical Schools Network. That moved a lot of Commonwealth funded postgraduate medical degree places out of the sandstone universities, typically in Melbourne and Sydney, and into regional areas. An example is the University of Melbourne's school of rural health in Shepparton, over the road from the hospital, training young people in the medical profession. That training's not just a taster, as it used to be—and then people would go back to Melbourne. The whole four-year postgraduate degree is now in Shepparton. The first lots of those graduates will complete their studies this year, at the end of 2025, and I think what we'll see is that, because they have been living in a regional area for so long, they will stay and practise in a regional area. That is one of the great achievements of the previous coalition government, and I'd like to see it expanded into allied health so we can train more people in the regions.

In conclusion, National Skills Week is an opportunity for us to see where we're up to. I encourage the government—and I'll be doing this through a number of forums—to look overseas, look at why the Europeans have developed such a good manufacturing sector, and look at what they and the North Americans are doing to keep the skills coming through the pipeline for the technologies of the future.

Tom French (Moore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the importance of National Skills Week and to acknowledge the critical role skills, training and vocational education have in the lives of Australians, particularly in my electorate of Moore. This week is more than a celebration; it's a reminder of how deeply skills shape our economy, our communities and the dignity of work.

As someone who began working as an electrician before studying law, I understand firsthand the value of practical, hands-on skills. When you've stood on a job site at six in the morning and wired a switchboard or guided an apprentice, you appreciate what training really means. Vocational education opens doors, not just to employment but to lifelong opportunity and resilience.

In Moore, from Joondalup to Duncraig, Mullaloo to Ocean Reef, our communities rely on skilled workers. These are not abstract categories; they are apprentices on the tools in construction, hospitality staff serving in our cafes and restaurants, healthcare professionals caring for patients in our hospitals, and educators shaping young minds in our schools. Skills training underpins the prosperity of our region and provides the backbone of our local economy.

National Skills Week provides a moment to reaffirm our government's commitment to supporting training pathways that deliver real jobs closer to home. When skills are taught locally, people stay locally and communities thrive. This is particularly important in electorates like mine, where many residents both work and raise their families in the same suburbs they grew up in. We are fortunate to have the Joondalup Learning Precinct at the heart of Moore, bringing together Edith Cowan University, North Metropolitan TAFE and the Western Australia Police Academy. This precinct is a model of how education, training and professional development can coexist in one hub. These institutions are not just neighbours; they collaborate. One example is the Joondalup Learning Precinct Mentoring Program, which connects staff across all three institutions to share knowledge, strengthen relationships and support workplace performance. It is exactly this kind of joined-up thinking that ensures our education and training ecosystem keeps pace with the needs of students and employers.

North Metropolitan TAFE's Joondalup campuses deliver outstanding practical training. At the Kendrew Crescent campus, students enrol in cutting-edge programs including the recently completed $21.3 million electric vehicle training centre. This facility teaches maintenance of hybrid and electric vehicles with industry-standard tools and simulators, preparing students for the clean transport future that is already arriving in our suburbs.

Just minutes away, at the McLarty Avenue campus, a fully functional simulation hospital gives nursing and health students real-world experience in a hospital-like setting. Students practice not just clinical skills but teamwork, communication and crisis management—skills every patient and every family depend upon. These facilities prepare students for the evolving needs of employers in modern workplaces, ensuring graduates are job ready from day one.

At Edith Cowan University's Joondalup campus, students benefit from world-class infrastructure. A new health and wellness building, an award-winning library and hub, and even an on-campus outdoor cinema contribute to the vibrant student life. Situated in our learning precinct and accessible by public transport, ECU demonstrates that higher education is not just about lectures; it is about creating an environment where students and staff can collaborate, innovate and succeed.

And then there is the Western Australia Police Academy. Recruits there undergo a rigorous 28-week training program that blends theory with extensive practical skills, from physical preparedness and emergency response to criminal investigations and leadership development. The academy does not just produce police officers; it produces professionals trained to serve, protect and lead.

Skills are not built by institutions alone. I wish to acknowledge small businesses across Joondalup and Wanneroo that take on apprentices and trainees, often at great cost to their bottom line. But they have an eye on the future of their industries, and these businesses are classrooms in their own right. Community organisations also play a critical role. Groups such as Motion by the Ocean, Dadbury, North Beach Scout Group and the St Vincent de Paul Society lead, mentor and create environments where young people can learn responsibility and resilience. Parents, carers and students themselves also embody the spirit of National Skills Week when they embrace these opportunities and commit to building a better future through training.

This year's skills week aligns with the Albanese Labor government's record investment in vocational training. Through a partnership with the Cook government in WA, we are doubling the Strategic Industries Fund, positioning Western Australia to attract advanced manufacturing, defence and clean energy projects. These industries do not arrive without workers. Every renewable energy project needs electricians and engineers. Every advanced manufacturer needs fitters, machinists and technicians. Every hospital expansion needs nurses, aged-care workers and allied health professionals.

Our government is making training more accessible through fee-free TAFE and VET places. Already, thousands of Western Australians have taken up these spaces—people who might otherwise have been priced out of training. By removing cost barriers, we are opening doors to those who want to skill up, change careers or return to the workforce. We're also strengthening pathways between schools and training providers, ensuring that young people can transition smoothly into apprenticeships and traineeships. A student in year 11 today can step directly into a VET course tomorrow and into secure work the year after. These are not abstract policies. They are real investments that will help the people of Moore secure good jobs and help local businesses find the skilled workforce they need.

Skills matter because they give individuals agency over their lives. A trade certificate, a nursing diploma or a hospitality qualification is not just a piece of paper. It is security, mobility and dignity. Skills matter because they strengthen families. When a parent has stable work, children benefit from security and opportunity. When a young person gains a trade, they gain independence and pride. Skills matter because they strengthen businesses. Small businesses in Moore tell me repeatedly that access to trained staff is the difference between expanding and stagnating, between taking on another apprentice and turning down contracts. Skills matter because they strengthen our economy. Australia cannot compete on low wages. We compete on quality, on safety and on the excellence of our people. That means investing in training is not an optional extra. It is a national necessity.

National Skills Week reminds us that investing in people, their training and their future is the strongest way to strengthen our communities. From Joondalup to Mullaloo and Duncraig to Ocean Reef, the people of Moore are living proof that when skills are built locally opportunity grows locally. I am proud to stand with my colleagues in supporting vocational education and training, and I am committed to ensuring that the people of Moore have every opportunity to build the skills that they need for today's jobs and tomorrow's industry.

Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to mark National Skills Week, an important time to recognise the vital role that vocational education and training plays in shaping the future of our country. This year's theme, 'Explore ALL the options', reminds us that education isn't a one-size-fits-all journey. It's about offering real pathways—multiple flexible and rewarding options for Australians to skill or reskill; to secure good, well-paid jobs; and to build careers that support their families, contribute to our economy and meet the changing needs of our society.

In Bonner I see firsthand the power of vocational education. From our local TAFE campus at Mount Gravatt, where students are studying everything from accounting to automotive, to apprentices gaining hands-on experience with some of Australia's most advanced employers—including Switch Box in Bonner, who Minister Giles and I visited back in July to chat with local electrical apprentices, our community is full of examples of skills based learning changing lives.

The Albanese government is proud to be putting TAFE back at the centre of Australia's VET system, right where it belongs, and we're backing that commitment with investment, with vision and with action. Across our TAFE campuses, we see a beautiful cross-section of Australia. This includes students from every background, staff with deep industry knowledge—just like my mum, who was a proud TAFE teacher for over 20 years in early childhood education—and facilities that are improving all the time to meet both learner aspirations and industry needs. Whether it's community services next to IT or auto mechanics next to agriculture, our TAFEs reflect the full spectrum of the Australian economy and its future.

The response to fee-free TAFE has been absolutely extraordinary. Australians are backing it in, and they're showing up in record numbers. That's why the Albanese government has legislated to make fee-free TAFE permanent, delivering 100,000 places every year from 2027. In my electorate of Bonner, fee-free TAFE is already making a real difference. A student studying accounting at the Mount Gravatt campus will save almost $5,000 a year under this policy. That is real money in people's pockets and a real investment in our local workforce.

I also recently visited the Tesla workshop in Mount Gravatt with the Minister for Skills and Training, Minister Giles, where we met Zahraa, one of just five female apprentices at Tesla nationally. Zahraa is not only excelling in her field; she's leading. She's helping to build Australia's clean energy future and she has also created a peer support network for other women navigating the challenges of trade apprenticeships. Zahraa is an absolute inspiration and she is a great example of how our New Energy Apprenticeships Program is supporting the next generation of skilled workers in the renewable energy sector. Programs like this are critical if we are going to meet the workforce demands of the decade ahead.

Nine out of 10 new jobs in the next 10 years will require some form of post-secondary education. Around half of those jobs will need a VET qualification, and many of those jobs will be in critical sectors, such as clean energy, housing construction, aged care, early childhood education and manufacturing. The Albanese government is focused on building that pipeline of skilled workers. We've already seen encouraging growth. There are now 50,000 more apprentices in training than there were before the pandemic. Construction apprentices are up 28 per cent, and women starting trade apprenticeships are up 32 per cent. These are great signs, but we know there is more to do.

That's why we've launched our Key Apprenticeship Program, including the new energy stream and housing construction stream. Already, more than 12,000 apprentices have signed up for clean energy pathways, and, in just one month, more than 1,200 new apprentices were approved under the housing construction stream, including carpenters, electricians and plumbers—workers we desperately need to help us build more homes for Australians. And we're supporting these students beyond just enrolment. We've increased the living-away-from-home allowance for the first time in more than 20 years. That payment hadn't been updated since 2003.

Bonner is also home to more than 59,000 VET students. Courses in engineering and health are amongst the most in demand, and it's no surprise. These are sectors that are offering meaningful work, long-term careers and vital services for our communities. We're backing these students and we're backing their futures through the $30 billion National Skills Agreement that we've struck with the states and territories. This agreement is transforming our VET system, investing in high-quality, accessible training and creating TAFE centres of excellence. It also supports the delivery of foundation skills, building Australians' literacy, numeracy and digital literacy. That's because we know that the road to meaningful employment starts with confidence, and sometimes that means going back to basics. Through our Skills for Education and Employment program and $77 million in new funding, we're expanding access to free English language, literacy and digital skills training. In a rapidly changing economy where AI, automation and digital tools are becoming the norm, these skills are not optional; they are foundational to future participation and prosperity.

We need to shift the national conversation around vocational education. This isn't second best to university; it's equal. And it must be seen as such if we are to meet the challenges and opportunities of the next decade. We also must acknowledge that learning doesn't stop at 18 or 21. More and more Australians are using fee-free TAFE to reskill later in life, starting new careers, new passions and new opportunities. Our government supports that. Whether it's formal training in classrooms or informal learning in the workplace, education should be lifelong and supported at every stage.

National Skills Week is a time to celebrate the value of hands-on learning and the diversity of pathways Australians can take to success. It's time to recognise the students, teachers, employers and institutions like TAFE that are lifting up our communities and driving our economy forward. It's time to reaffirm our commitment to making vocational education more accessible, more inclusive and more respected. The Albanese government is proud to be leading that charge, and I'm proud as the member for Bonner to stand here today and say that we are backing Australians with the skills for the jobs of the future.

Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Happy National Skills Week. This week is about celebrating the power of skills and training to change lives, open doors and build stronger communities across our nations. The 2025 theme is 'Explore All the Options', and that's exactly what the Albanese government and our Minister for Skills and Training are supporting—options, opportunities and pathways for every Australian to build their future and contribute to our economy.

In my electorate of Corangamite in Victoria, I have seen firsthand the difference TAFE and apprenticeships make. They give people a start, help workers retrain and upskill, and ensure local businesses have the skilled workers we need to thrive. At Gordon TAFE in my region, many lives are transformed, thanks to the dedication of the staff and teachers who make it such a special place to learn and grow. I recently visited the Gordon with our minister, Minister Giles. We met with nursing students who are preparing to enter vital roles in aged care, showing the important pathways that vocational education provides for both young people and mature-aged learners. There are so many fantastic local stories at the Gordon. Will, from Torquay, is one of them. While still at school, Will began a school based apprenticeship. He continued his studies, earned an income and learned his trade alongside his dad. Today, Will is in his second year of his apprenticeship and setting himself up for a strong future in the construction industry. Will's story shows what is possible when learning is accessible, affordable and respected.

That is why the Albanese government is backing in our VET sector: it gives people opportunity, skills and a profession and contributes to a better future for our region and the nation. It's why we've made free TAFE permanent, guaranteeing at least 100,000 fee-free places every year from 2027, because cost should not be a barrier to training. Through free TAFE, we are extending opportunities by removing the barriers of cost, gender, location or background that too often keep people out. With $1.5 billion committed to free TAFE and VET places, we are ensuring vocational education is available to Australians at every stage of life. Since free TAFE was introduced, more than 650,000 Australians have enrolled, and 170 courses have already been completed. The impact is enormous, with over 84,000 VET participants aged 45 54—it's interesting that those VET participants are stepping in at an older age—along with 40,000 who are aged over 55. We also know that women comprise 62 per cent of free TAFE enrolments.

We are also backing in apprentices. We're making available pre-apprenticeship courses through free TAFE because evidence shows that it boosts completion rates. Our Key Apprenticeship Program in energy and housing has been designed with course completions in mind too—a $10,000 incentive paid in instalments, recognising the importance of cost-of-living support across the whole of an apprenticeship. In its first month alone, the housing stream of this program saw almost 1,300 apprentice sign-ups, with the top three occupations being carpenters, electricians and plumbers—all essential to building the homes Australia needs.

We do recognise that this is a monumental task. When the Albanese government was elected in 2022, Australia faced the worst skills shortage in 50 years. So meeting this challenge must be a high priority for our minister. We know that nine out of 10 new jobs will require post-year-12 training, and around half of these will come through a vocational pathway. That's why the Albanese government is committed to transforming the VET sector—restoring it to its rightful place alongside universities as a foundation for rewarding, well-paid employment. It's why we're supporting VET. It's about individuals, about addressing skills shortages and about building a strong, productive and prosperous economy.

As part of our work to make this a reality, our government signed the groundbreaking National Skills Agreement with states and territories in 2023. This historic deal unlocks up to $34 billion in joint investment to strengthen and modernise vocational education and training, with TAFE at its centre. As part of this agreement, 12 TAFE Centres of Excellence are being established to deliver the skills our economy urgently needs. These centres are taking shape in areas including housing and construction, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, electric vehicles and heavy industry. They give Australians the opportunity to gain skills in areas where they can make a real difference to our communities and to our nation.

Strong foundation skills—literacy, numeracy, digital capability and the ability to adapt to technologies like AI—are critical to ensuring that everyone can participate fully in work, education and the broader community. In December 2024, in partnership with states and territories, we finalised the National Foundation Skills Strategy 2025-2035. This sets out a vision for adult learners to access quality training that builds confidence, capability and lifelong opportunity.

In closing, I'd like to say that my region has always been built on skills—from the workshops in Marshall and Moolap, to the care workers supporting our ageing communities, to the tradies building homes in Armstrong Creek and Mount Duneed. These are the people who keep our region strong. These are the people who will continue to make our nation so special.

National Skills Week is a reminder that learning never stops, that opportunity must always be available and that respect for every pathway is fundamental to fairness. It is a week to celebrate the people making this possible: our apprentices, trainees, TAFE students and skilled workers. They are not only building their lives; they are building and caring for our communities.

The theme of this year's Skills Week, 'Explore ALL the options', captures the spirit of what our government is delivering. Every pathway, every course, every apprenticeship and every TAFE place is an opportunity to build a better life for individuals, families and communities. We're committed to continuing to provide Australians with these pathways and continuing to invest in our VET system, in TAFE Centres of Excellence, in free TAFE and in apprenticeships, so that every Australian has the chance to explore all the options, reach their potential and contribute to a stronger, fairer and more prosperous nation.

Skills mean fairness. Skills mean dignity. Skills bring opportunity. That is what this week is all about, that is what our government is delivering and that is what I will continue to fight for on behalf of the people of my electorate of Corangamite. Congratulations to all the staff and students at Gordon TAFE—enjoy this week and go well.

Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased today to speak during National Skills Week, an important occasion to raise the profile and status of skills and vocational learning, and to showcase attractive career opportunities for all Australians. As our Minister for Skills and Training shared this week, the Albanese government is working hard to put TAFE at the centre of our vocational education and training system.

At TAFE campuses across the country, you see students from every walk of life learning together and sharing their experiences. You see staff who love what they do, bringing their industry know-how and real passion for their students' futures. And you see facilities that just keep getting better, keeping pace with the dreams of learners and the needs of local industries.

I saw this in action recently at my local TAFE Queensland, at the Mount Gravatt campus, which is located in my electorate of Griffith. There, students in Brisbane's south are offered a convenient location to pursue their study goals. You can study conservation and ecosystem management, entrepreneurship and new business, horticulture, accounts administration, early childhood education and care, and so much more. Mount Gravatt is also TAFE Queensland's fashion studies hub. It offers a range of applied fashion design and millinery courses and hosts an annual Brisbane fashion parade where students showcase their designs.

Recently, I commissioned award-winning local TAFE Queensland student Ella Taylor to design and create my gown for last night's 2025 Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery Midwinter Ball. As I'm sure you're aware, the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery Midwinter Ball is an annual charity gala bringing together parliamentarians, journalists and community leaders to raise funds for important causes. Ella Taylor, who is studying a Diploma of Applied Fashion Design and Merchandising at TAFE Queensland's Mount Gravatt campus, in my electorate of Griffith, recently won gold at the WorldSkills Australia National Championships. Supported by the Australian government, WorldSkills Australia is a social enterprise that passionately believes skills drive the future of young people and of Australia. WorldSkills Australia is part of an international WorldSkills movement, and since 1981 they have been enabling young people to showcase their trade and skills both here and overseas at competitions. I'm really proud to advise that Ella was recently selected for the national training squad for WorldSkills Australia, and the final squad—the Skillaroos—will be announced in the near future. Those selected Skillaroos will be competing in the 48th WorldSkills Competition held in Shanghai, China, from 22 September to 27 September next year.

With a national stage like the midwinter ball, it was important to me to use it to highlight the incredible local talent we have in my community of Griffith. Working closely with her WorldSkills mentor, Carol Costa—an amazing woman—Ella brought the gown to life, blending her technical excellence and creative flair. It started as a pencil sketch. She then fitted me, measured me, cut out the materials, sewed the gown together and did a final fitting. So much work went into this gown. It is important to Ella that she promotes sustainability in fashion, so she and Carol chose to use dead stock for the gown. Dead stock is surplus material that otherwise would have been discarded. The use of this fabric in Ella's creation can be seen as part of sustainable practice because it diverts materials from landfill. Ella is not only an incredibly gifted designer but also an inspiring example of the pathways available through TAFE. As the local MP, I see it as part of my role to showcase and celebrate this.

I also commissioned a local high school student and emerging designer from Cannon Hill Anglican College, Gabe McLoughlin, to create a bespoke clutch purse to accompany the gown. Gabe chose to hand bead a Cooktown orchid, which is Queensland's floral emblem. I'm also proud to advise that some of Gabe's work has recently been selected to be included as a finalist in the Queer Here exhibition as part of Brisbane's pride festival at Griffith University Queensland College of Art and Design in South Bank, which is also in my electorate. Both Ella and Gabe are rising stars in design and fashion.

Having worked in the education sector for much of my career, most recently supporting First Nations young people to pursue their career ambitions through both vocational and university pathways, I am passionate about educational choice. This week, our minister for skills and training outlined three key priorities that will be his focus for this term as the skills and training minister in our Albanese Labor government. The first is equally valuing vocational education and training, the second is supporting lifelong learning, something I know everyone in this place is passionate about, and the third is strengthening the partnerships that we, the Australian government, have already established. I passionately believe that all of these are essential in continuing to build a skills system that is responsive to the needs of the people in my community of Griffith, of Australians and of our Australian economy and also to create a skills system that puts vocational education and training on an equal footing with university. It is very clear we need graduates from both sectors to meet the challenges we will face as Australians in the coming years.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Gabe McLoughlin and the wonderful art department at CHAC and also to thank Ella Taylor, her WorldSkills mentor Carol Costa and the fashion department at TAFE Queensland Mount Gravatt campus for all the work they put in. I was so proud last night to be able to showcase that at the ball.

Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a former TAFE teacher, the wife of a chippie and the mum of two apprentice tradies, I have always been a massive advocate for vocational education and training. Public education runs through my veins, and TAFE holds a special place in my heart. That's why, during National Skills Week, I am so pleased to say more than 5,000 people in my electorate of Gilmore have taken up the Albanese Labor government's free TAFE program. That's free training for the carpenters, electricians and tradies we desperately need to build new homes on the New South Wales South Coast. That's free training for the healthcare workers, social workers, aged-care workers and early childhood carers, ensuring our most vulnerable can get quality care when they need it.

We know that free TAFE is delivering the skills and training we need to grow the Australian economy and build a future made right here in Australia. Free TAFE is working to fill jobs in those crucial skill-shortage industries, and that is backed up by the numbers. There have been more than 650,000 enrolments in the government's free TAFE program and more than 170,000 free TAFE courses completed by Australians. That's just fantastic. What a successful program that is helping grow our economy and, importantly, provide affordable education to young people and people who want to upskill or retrain in new areas!

I know how gaining a TAFE qualification can change lives for the better. I've seen firsthand, both as a teacher and as a mum, how TAFE has opened doorways for young people and people of all ages in regional areas like my electorate of Gilmore on the New South Wales South Coast. Free TAFE is removing financial barriers to education and training for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Free TAFE is putting people in regional areas like Gilmore on a pathway to well-paid and secure employment. Free TAFE means no-one is left behind. Whether our kids or grandkids want to become tradies, childcare workers, nurses, computer programmers or even cybersecurity experts, TAFE provides that opportunity. Permanent free TAFE is providing a pipeline of skilled workers that Australia needs now and into the future to provide more housing right across Australia and to make homes more affordable to rent and buy. Free TAFE means more skilled people to build and install solar panels, to make buses and to construct roads.

In regional areas like Gilmore, so many kids want to finish school and gain an apprenticeship or train at their local TAFE campus. Many don't want to leave home or move to the city to find work or go to uni. They've grown up in small coastal towns, and often they want to work hard and follow in the footsteps of their parents, grandparents and siblings, whether that's working as a tradie, nurse or early educator. As a TAFE teacher, I have taught people that had never worked outside of their home before, and it was TAFE that started them on a pathway into courses such as aged care and community services. TAFE graduates are caring for our young children and our parents and grandparents in aged care. They're doing important skilled jobs. We need them, and I thank them.

It's so fabulous that the TAFE Certificate II in Aeroskills is providing our young people a pathway to an exciting career as an avionics maintainer to support defence industry jobs in Shoalhaven. We're a proud Navy town, home to HMAS Albatross, the Fleet Air Arm and HMAS Creswell, so it's really important that we have defence related TAFE courses on offer to give local students an entry into the industry. Defence and defence industry are our biggest employers, and this aeroskills course provides local students with an opportunity to fill in-demand roles such as aircraft maintenance engineers and aircraft line maintenance workers. The course, introduced at Nowra TAFE last year, is giving students an insight from industry-experienced teachers, through a mixture of theory and practical units, to ensure aircraft fly smoothly and safely. Students are gaining practical experience and developing specialist skills to give them an advantage in the job market. This includes working on real aircraft components on a variety of aircraft and working safely and sustainably in the industry. We already have industry-leading businesses employing and training young people in the Shoalhaven, and this is another opportunity for local students to take up exciting defence related careers without having to leave home.

I regularly visit my local TAFE campuses right across the electorate, to speak with students about how free TAFE is providing that bit of important financial relief for them and their families. I was thrilled to meet twins Najara and Harrisen, both motor mechanic apprentices who work for Batemans Bay Automotive Repairs. The siblings are looking forward to one day taking the helm of their family business. TAFE is providing them with the variety of skills needed to do just that.

I was very impressed to meet Robert Beattie, who has supervised an incredible 45 apprentice carpenters at Beach House Stairs at Batemans Bay. During a visit to his workshop with the Minister for Skills and Training, we chatted to apprentices Nathan, Nicholas and Brendan about how TAFE is helping them build the skills needed to meet gaps in the workforce. Seventeen-year-old Nathan comes from a family of tradies and said he is confident he will always have work. Our fee-free TAFE is helping regional kids like Nathan, Harrisen and Najara on a pathway to success.

Free TAFE is helping people from priority cohorts—young Australians, jobseekers and First Nations Australians—and it's really great to see six in 10 free TAFE places have been taken up by women, and one in three places have been in regional and remote parts of Australia such as Gilmore. I have been on the ground talking with employers and apprentices, and I can tell you free TAFE is working, which is why we've made it permanent. Importantly, I've also met people who have been out of the workforce for a while, to care for a family member or raise their children, and who have turned to TAFE to gain the skills required to re-enter the workforce.

Because of this government's commitment to vocational education, TAFE is booming on the South Coast. I really want to commend our wonderful TAFE teachers, employers and, of course, the students and apprentices who are embracing these opportunities. Free TAFE is an investment in our future and our people, ensuring all Australians, no matter their background, have the skills and capacity to contribute to a thriving economy. During National Skills Week, I encourage young people to recognise vocational education as a wonderful pathway to a good job and an exciting future.