Michelle Ananda-Rajah (Higgins, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

When I recently handed out gold medals to podium finishers, it wasn't for sport but, rather, for skills. It was a wonderful evening celebrating 470 young Australians from all over Australia, competing in 60 skills to be named Australia's best apprentices and trainees in the WorldSkills Australia championships.

These students came from schools and vocational training colleges from across Australia, having been selected to compete in areas like cyber, construction, patisserie, manufacturing, game design, fitting, automotive and nursing to name a few. Wave after wave of youngsters came to the podium to rapturous applause from their peers, their families and their carers bursting with pride. It's about time we create diverse and faster economic pathways for young people that take them straight into in-demand careers. And that is the gift of TAFE.

Human capital, with the right investment, will form the basis for our future prosperity, something the Albanese government upholds by regarding an apprenticeship as equivalent to a university degree. We do not privilege one above the other; they are the same. This is why one of our earliest initiatives was the Jobs and Skills Summit in September of last year, followed by the release of 180,000 fee-free TAFE spots in areas of demand.

Whether it's clean energy, the care economy, agriculture, hospitality and tourism, construction, technology or the need for cyber and manufacturing capability, investing in a skilled workforce is vital to our energy transformation and the workers needed for an ageing population and in reindustrialising Australia, as we move from a country that digs stuff up to a country that value adds to that stuff and starts to make things again. This stands in contrast to what we inherited when we came to government. There are at least 85,000 fewer vocational training places in 2021 compared to 2013, because excessive Liberal governments failed. They failed to plan and they failed to invest in our most valuable asset—our people.

We came into government faced with the sobering assessment that Australia had the second highest labour shortage per capita amongst OECD countries. New figures show that not only have we exceeded our 180,000 goal but we have absolutely smashed it, with close to 215,000 Australians subscribing to this program. Sixty per cent are women, over 50,000 people are previous jobseekers, 15,000 students live with a disability and over 6,000 students come from First Nations communities. The data shows that we are creating pathways out of disadvantage with students including previous jobseekers, people with disability and First Nations Australians. Our government believes that skills are the pathway out of disadvantage and into participation, so do thousands of young Australians.

Given the success of this program, we have created a further 300,000 fee-free TAFE places for 2024, but we're not signing off. Apprentices need support, as dropout rates approach 50 per cent. There are unacceptably high. There is need for scaffolding to support these students and improve completion rates. That's why we're providing $54.3 million in critical non-financial supports to improve completion rates. These supports and services will target improving outcomes for disadvantaged students—those from First Nations communities, apprentices with a disability, those who live remotely, women particularly in gendered trades that are male dominated and others who experience barriers to completing their apprenticeship. We've also invested $436 million in the Commonwealth foundation skills program. This is to bolster the basics—numeracy, literacy and digital skills—which are often the barriers that stop these youngsters from progressing and completing their courses.

At a macro level, we are investing in the TAFE Technology Fund. This is a $50 million program that will help provide modern facilities to TAFE colleges, including laboratories, workshops, telehealth simulators and so on. We are directing 70 per cent of VET funding to TAFE because we want to support and invest in TAFE. In addition to this, we are creating what are going to be called TAFE Centres of Excellence. I came from medicine where I was very familiar with centres of excellence and research in medicine. These are capacity building institutions. They train people who go on to become leaders in a field and train others. They are in effect a force multiplier, and we are going to be investing in TAFE to create such a model. In addition, we understand there is no training or education without educators, which is why we are investing in TAFE leadership networks to promote and support excellence in teaching, particularly in sovereign capability, energy, the care economy and digital.

Investing in skills is transformative not only for individuals but for the economy as well. In fact, our race to net zero depends upon it. The Australian Energy Market Operator, AEMO, has predicted our energy workforce itself needs to grow by 12,000 jobs by 2025 and peak at 81,000 jobs in 2049. That's why we are investing $95 million to support 10,000 new energy apprenticeships. We have made a $40 billion investment in renewable energy across two budgets, but in order to make this transformation a reality we must invest in talent.

I recently had the privilege of visiting Holmesglen TAFE. It is a remarkable institution; I've been there about three times. It's based in Chadstone, in my electorate, and it was founded back in 1982, providing a humble 90 programs back then. It now caters for over 50,000 students, providing 600 programs. When I visited, I saw engaged students with sweat on their brows but broad smiles across their faces. These are happy students who are learning in a practical, hands-on way.

I went to the TAFE on this occasion to celebrate the 75th anniversary of their adult migrant English program. This program has had bipartisan support for 75 years, and it's fantastic. The Albanese Labor government has committed a further $20 million to support this program, because we understand that migrants come with valuable skills to Australia. But without language proficiency they are held back from full participation. The career pathways for our young and older people who are seeking to retrain run through the vocational training sector and university. Programs like English language and foundational skills provide the scaffolding, which is then further strengthened by strong communities and, at a micro level, by mentors, educators, families and carers, who swell with pride when these students thrive.

I want our community to know that VET is a great choice, that TAFE is a great choice, for anyone who wants to study what they love in a practical, hands-on environment, where learners get real-world experience that makes them employable.

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