Skills hot spots hit to get jump on recovery: Budget 2010



By Ewin Hannan    

Hundreds of millions of dollars of spending will be brought forward to create 39,000 new training places and 22,500 apprenticeship start-ups in a bid to minimise skills shortages as the economy recovers.

Targeting skills “hot spots” such as construction and resources, the $660 million package also promises to give people under 25 years of age a guaranteed training place.

The states and territories will receive top-up federal funding to help meet the costs of giving young people guaranteed access to a course. It will enable them to get a first qualification or lift their existing qualification.

The government will establish a $200m skills fund to generate 39,000 training places in building, renewable energy, resources and infrastructure.

Almost $80m will be spent to extend the Apprentice Kickstart program, delivering 22,500 new commencements over the next six months.

A further $120m has been committed to provide adults with better access to language, literacy and numeracy programs.

The budget papers show the training strategy will largely be financed by bringing forward and redirecting funding previously allocated.

The government has brought forward $375m that had been allocated to its productivity places program in 2013-14. A further $150m has been redirected away from three separate apprenticeship programs.

The government argued the strategy was necessary as Australia faced skills shortages sooner than other countries whose economies were weaker.

Demand in critical, fast growing sectors threatened to outstrip supply while youth unemployment remained high.

The distribution of funds from the $200m Critical Skills Investment Fund will be dependent on contributions from industry.

Up to 10,000 training places annually will be created through the fund, and the emphasis will be on region and sectors “under stress” as a result of skilled workers being attracted to major projects in other industries or regions.

The $80m apprenticeship commitment is designed to support 22,500 youth apprenticeship commencements in traditional trades by November this year.

Businesses will receive $3350 in bonus payments on top of the existing $1500 commencement incentive if they engage and retain young traditional trade apprentices in a skills shortage area.

The government will also spend $20m to support a shift from time-served apprenticeships to a competency-based system.

The use of $243m to overhaul the vocational education and training system is designed to assist 364,00 young people who have not attained Year 12 or a Cert II qualification. It is the first time that funding in the training sector will be deployed to drive performance benchmarks.

Article from The Australian, May 12, 2010.