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

I rise to speak on the Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill 2023 and agree with some of the comments from the member for Riverina in that he pointed out that every industry, or nearly every industry, in every state, every city and every town is struggling for workers—in the city, in the bush and everywhere in between. The Albanese Labor government acted quickly, introducing a first tranche of legislation last year to start a process to meet these employment needs. This tranche established an interim Jobs and Skills Australia body in November, and Jobs and Skills Australia, or JSA, hit the ground running by providing independent advice on a range of current, emerging and future workforce skills and training issues. JSA also started work on a foundation skills study and worked in partnership with key stakeholders to begin its first capacity study on the clean-energy industry—a sector that has crucial national significance. That's why we got up and running early, and now this bill will finalise its establishment as a full statutory body.

Why was it done in two phases? To ensure that the stakeholder views were considered in the design of the permanent JSA and to support the government's commitment to tripartism. That is what we're debating with this bill—to establish the ongoing governance, structure and functions of JSA—so it is crucial that all members and senators have input. This has been informed by significant stakeholder engagement through the Jobs and Skills Summit, the Senate committee inquiry into the first bill, a discussion paper seeking public comment and bilateral and other targeted engagement. The new statutory body will continue to provide the strong, targeted and independent advice that it has since November.

As mentioned earlier, the new body will work hand in glove with state and territory governments, with business, with industry leaders, with unions and with education and training providers. These key partnerships will enable them to provide comprehensive advice to address the skills crisis in the country mentioned by earlier speakers and to build the skilled workforce that Australia needs for the future. Why is this important? Well, Australia currently has the second-highest labour-supply shortages across all of the OECD nations. A staggering three million Australians lack the fundamental skills required to participate in training and secure work. An estimated nine out of 10 new jobs will require post secondary-school education, with four of those requiring VET qualifications. Australia is currently experiencing skills shortages across many critical industries. I've had employers in my electorate office and, when I've visited them, in their factories explaining that to me. Of the top 20 occupations in demand, seven have a shortage that is primarily driven by a lack of people with the required skills. This reinforces the importance of our skills system in addressing these shortages.

The labour market also remains tight, with unemployment expected to remain below four per cent for the short term. That is obviously a good thing, but job advertisements over the last 12 months to January 2023 have increased by 4.5 per cent. So this tightness is causing challenges for the entire labour market and almost every employer. In December the recruitment difficulty rate for occupations was sitting at 65 per cent. This means that 65 per cent of recruiting employers reported having trouble hiring staff in their most recent recruitment round, so only seven in 20 haven't had troubles. The construction industry reported the highest recruitment difficulty, sitting at a staggering 80 per cent for the December quarter.

This is the same challenge facing many of our vital industries that rely on VET graduates. They're facing workforce shortages, a situation made worse by the pandemic and through the related reduction in migration. Urgent action is needed to address these skills shortages because it's basically a stick in the wheel when it comes to the productivity bicycle. We need to match training participation with the types of skills in demand now and with those that will be in demand in the future.

Underemployment is also a big issue facing our nation, our workers and businesses. Underemployment in February saw a slight decrease, but it is still sitting at 5.9 per cent. Underemployment can be characterised by circumstances where skills demands are mismatched to the types of skills held by workers and jobseekers; business affordability or requirements affect the availability of work for Australians; or employees are unable to take on additional work due to caring responsibilities. There are some opportunities in the current workforce to meet some of these demands, and it's important to remove these barriers so that those who want to access more hours of work can do so. That's actually a little bit of low-hanging fruit when it comes to boosting productivity.

Some of the barriers are a lack of skills and knowledge and, for many women, their caring responsibilities. The Labor government has acted on these issues. Cheaper child care will help women—particularly women, but men as well—re-enter or extend their availability for work. Fee-free TAFE will provide opportunities for people to improve their skills without the financial burden this would have visited on them in the past. JSA's advice to government will inform the other policies and programs to ensure that Australia's training and broader education systems deliver the skilled workers that industry needs.

The proposed permanent arrangements outlined in this bill mean that JSA will be able to take on a broader range of functions that include identifying labour market imbalances and analysing the role played by the demand and supply of skills; building an evidence base of the impact of various workplace arrangements, including insecure work, on economic and social outcomes; analysing workforce needs and skills needs to support decision-making in relation to Australia's migration program and in regional, rural and remote Australia, three slightly different markets; and undertaking studies, including on opportunities to improve employment, VET and higher education outcomes for cohorts of individuals that have historically experienced labour market disadvantage and exclusion. This includes women, over-55s, people with disability, youth, unpaid carers and First Nations Australians. Lastly, it would also contribute to industry consultation forums.

We will also require a statutory review of JSA, to commence within 24 months after commencement of the amendment bill, to ensure that it is operating as intended. This fits in perfectly with how the body was formed in the first place, through consultation and stakeholder engagement. It makes sense to seek feedback through the review from those same people to make sure that JSA is working and engaging as it should. Opportunities to date for stakeholder engagement have included the Jobs and Skills Summit, the Senate committee inquiry, a discussion paper seeking public comment, and bilateral and other targeted engagement.

The public submission process for the discussion paper closed in February and had over 130 submissions, received from across government, business, industry, unions, employer groups, the higher education and vocational education sectors, and researchers. This high level of interest and engagement confirms the importance of JSA to this nation. This continued engagement and interest will make sure it's operating in a way that serves the purposes and needs of all of the different partners.

A recurring and important theme of the feedback was the significance of a focus on rural, regional and remote areas and other priority cohorts. As a Queenslander, I particularly appreciate that, because we are the most decentralised state. Another item raised was to ensure data and analysis produced by JSA is accessible and can then be used for a range of purposes. It's important that any enduring partnership entails information sharing. This will be important in the success of JSA. To support this, each state and territory will have a role in JSA's governance to ensure it's working to provide analysis and advice on areas that are crucial to them—that's how this federation works, with that tension between the different states and territories—and also to make sure it's delivering the skills and training needed in their respective jurisdictions.

The government will equally seek to ensure that industry, education providers and union voices are a feature of JSA's governance. The deep insights and observations they will bring will ensure that JSA's outputs are fit for purpose and have an economy-wide focus. This engagement and collaboration with its partners is at the core of JSA's functions. It is important now, obviously, but this is also preparing the nation for the future. We need to make sure that JSA is an agile body that can advise and move with the times. If you go back to the nineties, how many would have predicted where the jobs of today would be and what skills would be needed—desperately needed, in some cases, as earlier speakers have referred to? Who would have predicted coding, artificial intelligence, new materials, engineering constructs, microchips and the rapid expansion of so many other technologies? So to have a body, linked in with the leaders and groups who are on the ground, following trends, keeping an eye on advancements and at the forefront of innovation will be crucial. Our nation can't afford to be in this same position in 10 or 20 years time. We want to make sure that we're training and upskilling Australians to meet the job opportunities of today and well into the future.

This bill will establish the JSA Commissioner at the head of that process, appointed in a long-term, permanent capacity through a merit based selection process in line with the APS merit and transparency guidelines. To support the commissioner, the bill will allow for up to two long-term deputy commissioners to be appointed for up to five years for JSA's functions and business-as-usual requirements. Further to this, the bill embeds flexibility to ensure it can best respond to emerging needs and priorities in response to changing economic conditions. Experts will be engaged under a written agreement on a time limited or study-by-study basis, ensuring that sector-specific experience, influence and networks are brought to each of their workforce and cohort studies or detailed regional assessments.

Another part of the bill will be the requirement for JSA to consult with the ministerial advisory board. This board will provide the minister and JSA Commissioner with expert advice on the work plan for JSA and Skills Australia and other products. The board will consist of state and territory representatives, industry stakeholders, education providers, unions and other members.

An added benefit of this bill is that it expands the workforce planning function for JSA, which will assess how skills and workforce issues can be addressed across the whole economy. A good example is that skilled STEM graduates from both the higher education system and the VET system are likely to have skills and training which are adaptable for several different emerging and critical industries, such as technology and clean energy. This will complement the sector-specific workforce planning undertaken by the Jobs and Skills Councils. Again, this was heavily consulted on with stakeholders to make sure we meet an ideal range of ongoing functions and products that JSA will deliver.

This feedback has informed the breadth of further functions for JSA, including: improved identification of skills and labour imbalances and issues across the economy; an analysis of the supply of and demand for skills; providing national consistency to industry level workforce planning and support for the work of the Jobs and Skills Councils; and a more explicit analysis of both VET and higher education in an economy-wide approach, as we know that both the VET and higher ed systems are required to skill Australians for jobs, now and in the future.

JSA will work towards an improved system in which tertiary qualifications—both vocational education through the VET system and higher education through our tertiary institutions—can better integrate and connect to ensure there are flexible pathways to develop skills and knowledge for employment. JSA will analyse skills and workforce needs—including in regional, rural and remote Australia—and how they relate to migration. This will provide a greater understanding of regional markets, skilled migration needs and workforce requirements. Regional specific analysis will also recognise jurisdictional differences, such as changing economic conditions and emerging or growing industries and periods of economic transition in particular regions. Studies will aim to improve and enhance analysis as to those who have historically experienced disadvantage in and exclusion from the labour market, including, to list just a few: women, people over 55, people living with disability, youth and our First Nations Australians. Some of these are marginalised by way of age, due to their health, due to their gender or due to their background. We will also build an evidence base on the impact of various workplace arrangements, including insecure work, on economic and social outcomes. This will contribute to the industry consultation forums and help strengthen the national evidence base. This would include collaborating with Jobs and Skills Councils to facilitate their role in determining sectoral workforce needs, defining job roles, mapping pathways and developing fit-for-purpose qualifications and microcredentials.

Lastly, this Albanese Labor government will work with all states and territories to deliver a new five-year national skills agreement. This is in accordance with the vision and guiding principles agreed to by the skills ministers and endorsed by the National Cabinet back in August last year, because states, territories, business, industry leaders, education and training providers and unions must all work together if we're to meet the jobs and skills needs now and into the future. I commend this legislation to the House.

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