Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to contribute to the debate on the Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill 2023. The coalition has been constructive in the establishment of Jobs and Skills Australia. We supported the first tranche of legislation, but we will not support the second tranche if the amendments we move are not supported by the Senate. This legislation finalises the governance arrangements for the agency, along with providing for a commissioner to head the agency with two deputy commissioners. Whilst these may seem like perfunctory steps to finalise the body's establishment, they are anything but. As always, the devil is in the detail. The coalition supports Jobs and Skills Australia, but if this legislation passes, we feel the balance on the advisory board will not adequately represent different types of businesses in our economy.

This legislation seeks to institute a model which is a far cry from the original model that Anthony Albanese promised Australians. In one of the now Prime Minister's first policy announcements as opposition leader, this is what he said:

Jobs and Skills Australia will be a genuine partnership across all sectors—business leaders, both large and small; State and Territory governments; unions; education providers; and those who understand particular regions.

…   …   …

It will be legislated, just as Infrastructure Australia was in 2008.

I'm looking forward to seeing that bill before the Senate sometime soon. He also said:

I see Jobs and Skills Australia as the basis of a new compact.

This was the Prime Minister on his former capacity:

As Infrastructure Minister, I established Infrastructure Australia.

And it worked.

I envisage a similar model for Jobs and Skills Australia.

A collaborative model to guide investment in human capital, just as Infrastructure Australia guides investment in physical capital.

But does this statement match up to the legislation we see before us today? No, it does not. The model that the Prime Minister promised Australians is not the model that is now being proposed and is before the Senate.

Jobs and Skills Australia will remain within the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. This new agency will be reactive to ministerial directions, rather than being a proactive, independent agency assessing Australia's workforce and skills requirements, as outlined by the Prime Minister prior to his election as Prime Minister. Whatever the government may say, this is not what the Australian people were promised. The coalition has raised these concerns with the government and with the minister's office. Did they abandon their promise because this model would deliver better outcomes? No. Is this model informed by expert advice or stakeholder input? No. Labor are breaking their promise because they can't manage the budget. What a surprise! The Labor government cannot find the money to properly fund what Australians were promised, which was a game-changing and independent workforce agency. This is simply just another broken promise by Anthony Albanese.

Jobs and Skills Australia will be charged with identifying skills needs across the economy and developing policy responses to build Australia's workforce. It will play a key role in advising Australia's migration program as well as provide advice about how to reform our skills and education systems. This is important work and the board must be balanced to properly reflect the different types of employers and stakeholders.

We also do not believe two years is appropriate when it comes to reviewing this agency and its performance. Therefore, we will move an amendment, which I foreshadow in this speech, to remove the mandating of four members of employee organisations on the ministerial advisory board of Jobs and Skills Australia. We will also move an amendment to mandate the inclusion on the ministerial advisory board of a small-business representative and two rural, regional and remote representatives. We will also seek to move an amendment to ensure that each state and territory is represented on the ministerial advisory board—that is to say that there is someone from each state and territory represented on the board. These changes will deliver a more balanced board. Under these arrangements, the government will still be able to appoint officials from employee organisations as general members of the board, but they will not be earmarked specifically for them. We will also move an amendment to mandate the commencement of an independent review into the operation of the act no later than 12 months after the commencement of that section.

If we do not gain support for our amendments, we will oppose the bill. These are sensible and minor changes. I would argue they would actually help the Prime Minister fulfil his original vision for this agency. I hope that the government and crossbench senators will support these amendments so that we can land on a better balance in the interests of the whole sector.

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill 2023. Last year the government established Jobs and Skills Australia, JSA, and the Greens worked with Labor to ensure that JSA's functions included advising on opportunities to improve employment, vocational education and training and higher education outcomes for disadvantaged cohorts, including First Nations people, people of colour, women and people with a disability. This was a really important move towards making sure employment and training opportunities were afforded to those who have historically experienced labour market disadvantage and exclusion. We also secured amendments to ensure that Jobs and Skills Australia is required to advise on pathways into vocational education and training and pathways between vocational education and training and higher education.

This bill amends the Jobs and Skills Australia Act 2022 to establish the permanent governance arrangements and functions of JSA. The bill renames the existing position of 'JSA director' to 'JSA commissioner' and provides for the appointment of up to two JSA deputy commissioners to assist the commissioner. It also creates a ministerial advisory board to advise the minister and the JSA commissioner in relation to the performance of JSA's functions. Finally, the bill expands the functions of JSA.

The Greens support this bill, but we will be moving amendments to strengthen JSA's functions in relation to outcomes for marginalised groups. Importantly, we also worked with the government to ensure that, in performing its functions, Jobs and Skills Australia consults more broadly, including with bodies representing First Nations people and migrants, because these cohorts deserve a place at the table. They have been locked out for far too long and have the right to a seat at the table. We are pleased to see that these functions remain in this bill and, therefore, make up the permanent functions of Jobs and Skills Australia.

In addition, lived experience will be one the factors that makes a member eligible for appointment to the ministerial advisory board. Equity and inclusion of diversity must be a key focus in any advice or reports prepared by JSA. And JSA must prioritise the experiences of women, First Nations people, people of colour, people with a disability, LGBTQIA+ people, long-term unemployed, migrants, unpaid carers and those in rural and regional areas. These cohorts face discrimination and marginalisation, and prioritising them means the JSA's work should include measuring current outcomes in relation to access to training opportunities and secure, well-paid employment with fair conditions. Clear and measurable targets should be set to improve these outcomes, with a particular focus on improving the access of priority cohorts to occupations where they are currently underrepresented and closing pay gaps for all priority cohorts. I will be moving a Greens amendment to make sure that is part of JSA's expanded functions. I understand that the government will support this amendment, and I thank Mr O'Connor and his office for working with us on this. We will, though, be keeping a very close eye on the development of these targets and the progress towards meeting them.

In performing its main function of advising the Minister for Skills and Training and the department on the current and emerging labour market, including workforce needs and priorities, JSA should include consideration of the quality of jobs available and what needs to be done to improve jobs, particularly for the priority cohorts I mentioned. JSA should also provide advice on reversing casualisation and how to ensure the jobs are secure, ongoing and well-paid. Clear and measurable targets should be set for high rates of secure work, with fair conditions across all sectors, because, as we all know, casual work has been a scourge in Australia for far too long. Many workers are effectively working full-time yet being denied the security and the benefits of a permanent job, including paid leave or even a clear roster. Casual work and job insecurity have meant that even many workers are living below the poverty line. The JSA should have a role in reversing this trend of casualisation and delivering workers a fairer deal. This also means that secure, long-term jobs for TAFE teachers and staff should be the norm, not an exception. Again, we believe that there should be clear and measurable targets set for high rates of secure work with fair conditions across the TAFE sector.

I want to use this opportunity to give a heartfelt thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to TAFE teachers and staff for the incredible work that they continue to do for the students, for the community and to promote public education. I hear so often from TAFE students who get so much out of the education and training that TAFE teachers and staff are so committed to. They do this work despite the fact that government after government has not only refused to adequately fund our TAFEs but have gutted the public vocational education and training system.

The Greens very strongly believe that TAFE should be the first priority for all federal funding for vocational education and training. Contestable funding is a national shame. There should be no government funding for providers that operate for private profits. Education is a public good. It should never be for profit. We need to recognise that the labour and skills shortages we are currently experiencing are partly the consequence of successive governments decimating the TAFE system—making education and training a bidding war between public and private providers, while removing essential funding from an already starving system.

The fee-free places Labor has announced are welcome as it means that these students will not incur debt just to study, but this opportunity should be afforded to all TAFE students and to all university students, so all fees should be abolished. The benefits of free TAFE, like free education at any and every level, extend well beyond the individual, benefiting society as a whole. The Greens will continue to push for this as well as for increases to youth allowance and other income support payments to above the poverty line.

It is completely unconscionable that our government is banking $20 billion in surplus and giving $313 billion to the wealthiest while leaving so many people to suffer and struggle under poverty. TAFE should be free, fully funded and properly resourced, with staff who are well-paid, valued and respected for the absolutely incredible work that they do every single day. Our second reading amendment therefore urges the government to recognise that education is a public good and to enshrine TAFE as the vocational education and training provider of choice.

I foreshadow Senator Thorpe's second reading amendment on sheet 2045, and I move the Greens's second reading amendment on sheet 2009:

At the end of the motion, add ", but the Senate calls on the Government to:

(a) ensure that TAFE is fully funded, free and properly resourced;

(b) ensure that TAFE staff have secure, well-paid jobs and are valued and respected for the incredible work they do; and

(c) enshrine TAFE as the vocational education and training provider of choice".

Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill 2023. This bill confirms the ongoing model for Jobs and Skills Australia and finalises essential functions and governance arrangements. The work of Jobs and Skills Australia is well underway so that it can effectively address Australia's current labour supply shortages and work to develop solutions for our future skills and training needs. Jobs and Skills Australia is already working to fulfil its important mandate through researching workforce trends and providing impartial advice about what skills are needed now and what skills will be needed for our labour market well into the future.

Jobs and Skills Australia is taking an economy-wide approach to meeting Australia's skills and workforce challenges. It will be examining higher education, migration settings and of course vocational education and training. The VET system that we inherited from the previous government is a smouldering wreck. Under the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments we saw a war on TAFE and a war on apprentices. Between 2012 and 2020 VET funding per student was slashed from $461 to $346. That is a funding cut of 25 per cent. That intentional attack on skills and training funding in this country by the Liberals and Nationals directly fed the skilled labour shortages we've seen over the past number of years.

We've seen the shocking decline of TAFE student numbers, down 27 per cent over the last decade. We inherited a situation where between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of TAFE teachers are stuck on casual contracts, which means the best and the brightest are not being retained, and the challenge is that those that are staying because of their wonderful dedication are being poorly treated. This is one of the underreported scandals of the decade of Liberal and National governments. With the full-on assault on our TAFE and apprentices, we inherited a situation where there are 70,000 fewer apprentices in training today than there were in 2013. In summary, we have a massive 25 per cent cut in funding, we've had an assault on working condition of TAFE teachers leading to quality and retention issues and we've seen plummeting apprenticeship numbers. Is it a disgraceful situation, and a situation this government has committed to addressing urgently.

I want to commend the fast work of the Minister for Skills and Training, Brendan O'Connor, who has acted quickly to address this crisis. Already we have funded 480,000 fee-free TAFE places to get Australians back into the skills system. That is a life-changing policy for almost half a million Australians. Not only does it increase their skills and increase their earning potential, but it also increases productivity across the economy. It means that Australian workers are learning the skills they need for the jobs of the future. It means increasing our pool of skilled labour to deal with the housing crisis and the climate crisis. The fact is that we have had a lost decade where skills and training funding was slashed and burned, and that's an outrage. It means that today we are playing catch-up. Setting up a statutory body to specifically examine and advise on Australian skills and training systems couldn't come quickly enough.

Australia has this second-highest labour supply shortage across all OECD countries. The OECD says three million Australians lack the fundamental skills required to participate in training and work. Of the 20 occupations in demand, seven have a shortage that is primary driven by a lack of people with the required skills. These are worrying statistics. Skills and training not only impact the economy and productivity but also affect all of us. Now there needs to be considerable planning for Australia to respond to future skills and training needs, and planning and delivering these to happen in collaboration with those working and representing Australian industries. It needs to happen through close collaboration and effective discussions between governments, employers and employees. To that point, Jobs and Skills Australia employs a tripartite model. For those opposite who don't know what that means, it means a joint, balanced governance model between governments, employer representatives and employee representatives. It's a model that works well in national and multinational systems around the world. I strongly support the focus of Jobs and Skills Australia to embed a tripartite approach.

Jobs and Skills Australia will work in partnership with state and territory governments, with business and industry leaders, with unions and with education and training providers. Establishing a ministerial advisory board and appointing an equal number of representatives from employer and employee organisations will mean that important voices are heard. When you bring together the right representatives from governments, employers and employees to talk about shared challenges and to create potential solutions, both the economy and the labour market benefit.

Scott Connolly, a former assistant secretary of the ACTU and now a commissioner at the Fair Work Commission, said in evidence to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee when it examined this bill:

We can't say we have a tripartite system and then not have one. I think the fundamental problem … and one of the mistakes we've made historically … is the removal of union voices from this system. That's been addressed by this government, and it's been addressed with the full support—

listen to this, 'full support'—

of industry. We think that's appropriate, and to step away from that would be to remake the mistakes of the past.

The formation of Jobs and Skills Australia and it's defined tripartite nature has also received strong support from Australian business and industry groups. During examination of the bill on 17 April 2023—I put this again to those opposite. I know you won't listen to any union voices. You won't listen to those millions of people who decide that they want to have a voice in their workplace and in the decisions made in their workplaces about the things that affect their workplaces. But listen to the Business Council of Australia and see what you think about them. On 17 April 2023, they said:

The BCA welcomes the tripartite approach, and we note that there are three representatives from employer organisations and from employee organisations.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Big unions and big business.

Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We've had an interjection about that. They've got it wrong, those opposite are telling us. On the same day, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said—let's see if those opposite think they've got it wrong as well:

… from the very beginning—when the Prime Minister was opposition leader he stated that he had a vision for Jobs and Skills Australia and that it would be a tripartite organisation. ACCI has always worked on that basis, that that would be the final form of the organisation, so we support that.

The only ones opposed to that are those opposite.

I want to highlight a great example of what can happen when employers and unions get together to develop, implement and evolve training opportunities by industry for industry. I recently visited the Plumbing Industry Climate Action Centre campus at Glenwood in Sydney. This centre is an industry-led organisation that works in a supported partnership with government, employer and employee groups to develop and implement training that benefits the whole industry. At its opening in May 2021, the state secretary of the New South Wales Plumbers and Pipe Trades Employees Union, Theo Samartzopoulos, said:

The centre demonstrates the commitment of our industries to maintaining the highest standards and creating futureproofed jobs for the community.

This organisation, which started in Victoria in 2009, now has five facilities that effectively respond to the needs of industry while also working closely with state governments. The centre is jointly administered by the plumbers union—those opposite would be worried about that because that's people having a voice.

But how about these ones? Do you think they're in the naughty corner as well? The Master Plumbers Association—it's okay, they're employers; the National Fire Industry Association, who are employers too; and the Air Conditioning and Mechanical Contractors Association, who are also employers. They are all part of a tripartite approach to make sure they can lift the standards of training and skilling within industry.

The first facility opened in Brunswick, in Victoria, with the primary purpose of providing industry with courses in green plumbing to address an identified skill shortage in sustainable plumbing within the industry. The centre has evolved and now offers courses for the entire career life cycle of plumbing, from pre-apprenticeship courses to post trade courses, including industry-specific work and health and safety for the industry. The centres have expanded across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

In addition, they raised funds from levies and enterprise agreements. Listen to this: employers, the workforce and their representatives in the union came to an agreement, through their enterprise agreements, that they would raise funds. The Queensland government has also provided support to diversify leverage partnerships to aid in developing skills and training for the hydrogen industry. So they're actually thinking about the way forward. That's what happens when you do things tripartite—everybody works together for the common good. But those on the opposite side don't like that; they want conflict constantly, because anything other than that doesn't serve their political purpose. At the heart of this purpose is to drive collaboration between employers and unions to ensure that workers, industries and communities, including in the National Net Zero Authority, which has powered Australia for generations, can seize the opportunities for Australia's net zero transformation.

I also want to congratulate Michael Wright, the national secretary, and Allen Hicks, the New South Wales secretary of the Electrical Trades Union. I know how hard they have worked to ensure that working people in the energy sector have their voices heard as the energy mix changes. It's absolutely non-negotiable that communities working in the energy sector have access to new employment opportunities and that those are secure and fairly paid jobs.

It's also pleasing that this government is reinvigorating effective industry engagement in the VET system through establishing jobs and skills councils. These jobs and skills councils are providing industry with a stronger, more strategic voice, ensuring Australia's VET sector delivers strong outcomes for both learners and employers. In doing so, we'll ensure Australians can learn new skills and innovative and creative new knowledge, which will improve productivity, increase future economic growth and meet the skill needs of today and tomorrow.

Supporting training by industry for industry, as will be the case with the establishment of Jobs and Skills Australia, is in stark contrast with what we saw from those opposite during the time that they were in government. With no surprise, the former government didn't believe in broad consultation or collaboration or representative groups, like trade unions, in Australia's VET system. The former government proposed clusters model was an absolute sham. Instead of building opportunities for collaboration on Australia's skills and training system, they wanted to shut the voice of working people and industry further out. Rather than listen to workers and their representatives, the Liberal government prioritised listening to shonky private training organisations. They're not all shonky. But, I'll tell you what, the former government listened to a hell of a lot of them. That's why those opposite failed this country.

What did they do to deliver for working people? We've got to think about what they actually did and how they delivered the training system they put forward? They delivered a standing program—and everyone should really be considering this one. It's like grilled hamburger university, where so-called apprentices, trainees, were paid as little as $14.95 an hour to work in a fast-food chain with no proper training and no skilling, just cheap labour. That's the previous government's grand plan for our VET sector—cheap and nasty and without productivity. Rip them off, take advantage of them—that's the system they want to apply.

It's incredibly important that we take care of our TAFEs and our apprentices and that the disgraceful data we've had to date over the past decade is turned around. Those opposite should get out of the way and let us clean up this mess and support this bill.

Debate interrupted.