Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

(1)

That the Senate notes that:

(a)

the Industry Skills Councils (ISCs) are independent, not for profit companies funded by the Federal Government to fulfil various skills and training-related policy and program responsibilities;

(b)

the Rudd Government has boosted public funding and scope for those ISCs significantly, including a:

(i)

$83.2 million funding boost in 2008-09 increasing operational funding for ISCs under the 2008-2011 funding agreement to $118.9 million,

(ii)

allocation of several hundred thousands of dollars in 2009 to the Construction and Property Services Industry Skills Council to develop the home insulation training package,

(iii)

$40 million funding allocation in 2010-11 for the Enterprise Based Productivity Places Program,

(iv)

$19.9 million funding allocation in 2010-11 for the Smarter Apprenticeships Program, and

(v)

$2.3 million funding allocation in 2010-11 to revise and rewrite training packages as part of the National Green Skills Agreement;

(c)

none of the funding is allocated by open competitive tender, with any competition limited to ISCs between each other for some of the government funding;

(d)

it is unclear whether those ISCs are sufficiently representative of respective sectors of Australian industry; and

(e)

nearly all the funding for ISCs is provided by the Federal Government, yet as ‘private companies’ they are not subject to the scrutiny of Senate estimates committees.

(2)

That the following matters be referred to the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee for inquiry and report by 30 September 2010:

(a)

the role and effectiveness of Industry Skills Councils (ISCs) in the operation of the national training system particularly as it relates to states and territories and rural and regional Australia;

(b)

accountability mechanisms in relation to Commonwealth funding for the general operation and specific projects and programs of each ISC;

(c)

corporate governance arrangements of ISCs;

(d)

Commonwealth Government processes to prioritise funding allocations across all ISCs;

(e)

ISC network arrangements and co-operative mechanisms implemented between relevant boards;

(f)

the accrual of accumulated surpluses from public funding over the life of each ISC’s operation and its use and purpose;

(g)

the effectiveness of each ISC in implementing specific training initiatives, for example the Skills for Sustainability initiative under the National Green Skills Agreement; and

(h)

any related matters.