Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. I'm still just as loud! COVID-19, as you know, has had an unprecedented impact on the labour market, but new research that's been released by the National Skills Commission on the Australian labour market shows that, while the impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented, there are signs of recovery and cause for optimism for all Australians. We have begun the long road to recovery. In fact, we've seen 648,500 jobs return to the labour market since May. That is a good thing. Jobs are also returning in industries and occupations that have been impacted by COVID-19, in particular by the restrictions and the shutdowns. What we're also seeing in regional Australia is that job advertisements have been increasing by 17.6 per cent.

The National Skills Commission report is critical to our understanding of the future of Australia's labour market. It not only shows where the new jobs will be created but it also reinforces the Morrison government's work to not only make skills and vocational education more flexible but also more relevant to actual labour market demand. In other words, we're actually training people to ensure that they have those skills to get into a job. Since the election, we, the coalition government, the Morrison government, have focused on improving Australia's vocational and education training system. In fact, in this year alone we will now invest almost $7 billion in vocational education and training. We'll make the changes to this sector to ensure that the training that Australians are undertaking is relevant and fit for purpose. As we emerge from the economic impact of COVID-19, the government will utilise the National Skills Commission, which of course we legislated, to further ensure that our skills sector is properly responding to actual labour market needs.