Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to rise to speak on the Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022, which comes hand-in-hand with the very successful Jobs and Skills Summit, which has been widely acknowledged as being a great meeting and opportunity place. This bill delivers on our commitment to establish Jobs and Skills Australia as a national partnership to drive VET education and strengthen workforce planning by working together with employers, unions and the training and education sector—the three cogs. Jobs and Skills Australia will provide advice on the skills and training needs of workers and employers now and in the future. The body under consideration, set up by this current bill, is intended to be an interim one, as I am sure the previous speaker might have known had he'd looked at the legislation. Thankfully he was able to veer close to it, but he managed to miss it. This interim organisation will only exist until a permanent model for the Jobs and Skills Australia can be established. This bill is a priority because we now know how critical the skills and labour shortages have become in many sectors of the economy.

As I'm sure all MPs have done, I've spoken to many employers in Moreton who are desperate for employees because they can't fill the skills shortages that they need to, especially in manufacturing. Every local manufacturer or business that I've met with has outlined the difficulties they're facing in finding new employees. Jeff and Ben Samuels from QMW, in Acacia Ridge, are acknowledged worldwide for their mining expertise, for their manufacturing and innovation, but, sadly, Jeff and Ben can't find apprentices to employ and train. Just down the road at Hi-Tech Tooling, also in Acacia Ridge, the demand for pharmaceutical and food production has nearly completely taken over from their traditional plastics markets for high-tech tooling, but Richard can't find experienced toolmakers and is very keen to take on more apprentices. Toolmaking is a very unique skill in Australia.

Employers tell me that they're willing to train new employees. This will take time and effort, and it's a huge investment, but they're struggling to find people to employ and train. When they can't find employees locally, some of the businesses try to source skilled workers from overseas, which, in itself, presents challenges due to the significant visa processing wait times—which I note the minister for immigration and citizenship is working to address. Deputy Speaker, I am sure, like all Australians, you're horrified to hear about that figure of one million unprocessed visas. What is very clear is that, after nearly 10 years of inaction, those 10 wasted years of a coalition government, it's crucial that we get a better understanding of the skills we need now and that we'll need in the future to drive a national skills policy.

This new body, the interim body, will replace the National Skills Commission, which was launched by the former coalition government back in mid-2020. Departmental staff supporting the National Skills Commission will be redeployed to Jobs and Skills Australia. Funding for the National Skills Commission will be transferred to Jobs and Skills Australia. The repeal of the National Skills Commissioner Act 2020 and the transfer of its staff and funding will pave the way for Jobs and Skills Australia to step into that national leadership role for the workforce, the labour market and skills advice.

Jobs and Skills Australia will be responsible for providing advice to government on our current, emerging and future labour market and workforce skills and training needs to improve employment opportunities and economic growth. This new body will have a wider remit to work in partnership with key stakeholders compared with the commission and will have a more strategic focus, because this is what Australia needs right now.

This bill presents the opportunity to ensure that the challenges of improving workforce productivity are approached in a considered way so that skills shortages can be addressed and wages increased sustainably. Jobs and Skills Australia will also provide a platform to make sure that expenditure on skills training delivers the outcomes required to support a growing economy. This is because Australia's skills funding framework is a confusing mix of direct and indirect investment from governments by way of employer payments, employee wage subsidies, student funding programs and student loan programs. This will not only ease confusion for employees and students but also ensure that taxpayer funds can be used efficiently and to the greatest effect.

Jobs and Skills Australia will also work closely with state and territory governments as well as industry, employers, unions and training providers to ensure a shared understanding of the key issues facing Australia's labour market. It will also examine the adequacy of the VET system in delivering these skills and making sure training and job opportunities are available to all Australians regardless of their background.

The advice of Jobs and Skills Australia will help ensure that the economy is not held back by these shortages. It will help guide a skills and training sector that will provide workers with choices and opportunities for secure employment because they have the right skills. It will mean that, in the future, local employers in my electorate, like QMW and Hi-Tech in Acacia Ridge, will not be held back by those skilled worker shortages. Jobs and Skills Australia will undertake the workforce forecasting, prepare capacity studies for new and emerging industries, and contribute to the planning for a pipeline of skilled workers.

The pandemic brought about and emphasised the shortage of skills and workers, especially with reduced skilled migration and that lack of support for temporary migrants workers during the COVID lockdowns. We all remember the former government telling those on temporary visas to 'go home' and the horrible damage that that did to our reputation in this part of the world. This shortage in skills and workers has highlighted how the absence of planning and the lack of a coordinated national response to skills and labour shortages over the last 10 years has contributed to the crisis facing some sectors. The Labor government aims to address this, as our Jobs and Skills Summit has demonstrated.

Many of the vital industries that rely on VET graduates are facing workforce shortages made worse by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the reduction in skilled migration. My local TAFE—SkillsTech at the Acacia Ridge campus—have for decades provided a trained workforce for local industry. They train painters, mechanics, truck mechanics, carpenters, bricklayers, tilers, hairdressers, plumbers, cooks, plasterers—and that's just the half of it. While their student numbers are increasing right now, even they have talked to me about the difficulty they have had in finding new apprentices and new students. The additional fee-free TAFE places announced last week will hopefully go a long way to incentivise new students to take up a course at TAFE.

Many Moreton residents are familiar with the skills and workforce shortages in critical areas such as aged care, disability care and child care. It is very obvious that urgent action is needed to address these skills shortages and to match participation and training with the types of skills that are in demand right now and those that will be in demand in the future.

Jobs and Skills Australia's advice to government will help inform policies and programs to ensure that Australia's training system delivers the skills and workers that industry needs. This will all be informed by stakeholder consultation, because, while there is urgent action required to address the skills shortages, action will require the best evidence and close collaboration across governments, industries and unions to make a significant difference.

We need to start as soon as possible. They'll do that capacity study and, once this legislation is passed and Jobs and Skills Australia is created, fund that $1.9 million for the additional resourcing required. It will undertake a transitions analysis and will inform further development of any training products, career pathways and other activities to best prepare us for the future.

Our government will do what we can to make sure that the White paper on full employment will be released next year so that we can prepare society for good jobs. It's in our DNA as a government to support the aspirations of all workers to find secure and meaningful work. We are the Labor party, it's in our DNA and I commend this legislation to the House.

See this speech in context