Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to inform the Senate and Senator Sinodinos in particular that we have, in the first few months of operation, delivered skills advice to hundreds of Australian businesses, 97 per cent of whom are small and medium-sized enterprises. Of course, as a government whose most recent budget is centred around creating growth and opportunities in investment from SMEs, it is critically important to us that they also have the capacity to access the skills advice they need. Fifty six per cent of skills advice requests were for small or micro businesses, while 41 per cent were for medium-sized businesses.

The feedback has been exceptional. For example, Power Pumps and Engineering in South Australia have said of the fund: 'It was easy to apply for and staff were most helpful. The recommended courses were good and I thought the skills adviser was excellent.' Indeed, Barker Trailers have said: 'Industry skills funding helps us to justify training as many staff as we could and supported us to make this decision.' It is delivering real outcomes on the ground. (Time expired)