Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the Government's commitment to transform access to the vocational education and training sector, support quality training and implement reforms to address critical skills needs, by delivering:

(a) a landmark five-year National Skills Agreement, that will take effect from January 2024, unlocking billions of dollars to build Australian skills and prosperity, including by:

(i) establishing nationally networked TAFE Centres of Excellence;

(ii) establishing a National TAFE Network to promote cutting edge curriculum;

(iii) growing the capability of the vocational education and training (VET) workforce;

(iv) implementing Closing the Gap initiatives to be designed in partnership with First Nations peoples and led by them;

(v) improving VET completions and access to foundation skills training; and

(vi) increasing women's participation and gender equality;

(b) 300,000 further Fee-Free TAFE and vocational education places from 2024, following the 180,000 Fee-Free TAFE places allocated in 2023; and

(c) investment in the creation of TAFE Centres of Excellence, to strengthen the collaboration between TAFEs, universities and industry, and the creation and delivery of higher apprenticeship qualifications, in critical areas of the economy;

(2) congratulates the Government along with state and territory governments on the historic five-year National Skills Agreement which will be delivered through a new National Stewardship model to coordinate strategic investment in skills across the economy and support delivery of skills needed in national and regional priority areas; and

(3) condemns the Liberal and National parties for their opposition to important skills policies such as Fee-Free TAFE and the former Government for their decade of neglect, and for failing to reach a National Skills Agreement with any state or territory government.

I'm extremely proud to be here moving this motion in this place as the member for Spence today, and that pride is extended by the fact that I'm doing so on a matter that is vitally important to Australia, vitally important to South Australia and, I would firmly argue, vitally important to those in the northern suburbs—namely, in my electorate of Spence. That matter is vocational education and training.

In large part, over the relatively short life span of this parliament, I have had the opportunity to speak to the importance of education, whether that be about child care or preschool, primary and secondary school education, vocational education, higher education or the educators that help to nurture future generations of Australians. I know that a strong education sector means a stronger Australia. It means stronger outcomes for our kids when they go out into their chosen professions later in life. Upskilling, or the decision to upskill, can be the crossroad moment in someone's life. It can unlock a pathway to stable employment. It can unlock pathways to promotions within their current job or field. It can unlock someone's ability to find employment in an entirely different industry—one in demand not just today but tomorrow and for many years to come.

Education is what can uplift people, uplift families and uplift communities out of poverty, which is why any good government, state or federal, treats education as a cornerstone underpinning many areas of policy. It is one that pays out almost immediately, but the real dividends are gained in the long term. The Albanese Labor government realised this whilst it was still in opposition. In doing so, Labor announced a suite of policies and ideals that eventually became the Jobs and Skills Summit, which has led to the establishment of Jobs and Skills Australia, which has led to many of us incorporating the word 'tripartite' into our vocabularies. Starting with the Jobs and Skills Summit, it identified short-term and long-term challenges that exist within Australia's labour market and it identified vocational education and training as one of the key means of addressing these challenges head on.

The National Skills Agreement is a partnership between the federal government and state and territory governments, a joint commitment between governments across Australia to expand and transform our vocational education and training sectors. The National Skills Agreement means a $12.6 billion investment from our government into the VET sector over five years. Namely, in comparison to higher education, vocational education and training has often been seen by many as the poorer cousin, a consolation prize for some school leavers who are told they aren't cut out for higher education. The National Skills Agreement, I hope, will go a long way to changing perceptions of how TAFE and other vocational education and training providers are seen as part of our education system and as part of the delivery of strategic shifts within our labour market.

A good example of this is the South Australian defence industry workforce and skills report and the prominent role that TAFE and VET has within the overall success of South Australia to grow an already flourishing defence industry into an industry that will continue to provide jobs in our state for many decades to come—a plan that was unveiled on Friday with the Minister of Defence, alongside Premier Peter Malinauskas just this Friday gone. It's the product of many months of hard work across government, industry and the education sector, with stable and well-paying jobs for our future workforce, some of whom may not even be in school yet or even been born.

But without possessing a long-term vision and a plan to grow and adjust our skills base to reflect the needs of the future, we will forever be attempting to fix challenges and issues within our labour market one day at a time. From the year preceding May 2023, 91 per cent of total employment growth occurred in occupations requiring post-school qualifications, with VET accounting for over half of that growth. Challenges such as three million Australians currently lacking fundamental skills required to participate in training, leading to secure work. Challenges like nine out of 10 new jobs requiring post-secondary school education, and four out of 10 of those jobs requiring VET qualifications.

These are the challenges that the Albanese Labor government aims to address from day one, although though it has not done so alone. In addition to state and territory governments, this process has been assisted by the industries themselves, businesses and unions working alongside each other to make a real difference for our future growth. (Time expired)

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