Skills investment mapped out for Queenslanders

Published Friday, 15 July, 2016 at 02:21 PM

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister for Training and Skills
The Honourable Yvette D'Ath

The Palaszczuk Government will invest a record $810.7 million in skills and training, an increase of $56.1 million from last year, as set out in the 2016–17 Annual VET Investment Plan.

Minister for Training and Skills Yvette D’Ath released the latest VET Investment Plan today, outlining the Government’s funding priorities for skills and training for the financial year.

“We are committed to giving Queenslanders across the state access to the best possible training opportunities, to ensure they have the skills to gain employment,” Mrs D’Ath said.

“This plan sets out our funding priorities for the year, as well as outlining some of the changes we are introducing to protect the interests of students and ensure the training delivered in Queensland is of the highest quality.”

Mrs D’Ath said the Queensland Government had continued to invest heavily in apprenticeships and traineeships, certificate III level qualifications and higher level qualifications this year.

“We will invest a combined $585 million in the User Choice, Certificate 3 Guarantee and Higher Level Skills programs this financial year,” Mrs D’Ath said.

“And we have continued our commitment to the Skilling Queenslanders for Work program with a $60 million investment to help approximately 8,000 Queenslanders get the qualifications and skills they need.

Skilling Queenslanders for Work is a four-year, $240 million initiative that will provide training to up to 32,000 job seekers across the state.

“All of these training initiatives have been developed to make sure all Queenslanders have the opportunity to participate fully in our economy and our communities.”

Mrs D’Ath said the 2016–17 Annual VET Investment Plan would also support Queensland’s public providers including TAFE Queensland, by providing $165.7 million in grants to support their effective operation in the competitive vocational education and training system.

“From this year we have also introduced tighter entry and regulatory requirements for our pre-qualified suppliers who want to access public funding to deliver training in Queensland.

“My department is also releasing the Queensland VET Quality Framework that sets out the high quality training delivery and standards of behaviour we expect from our vocational education and training sector.

“This framework, which will be finalised in consultation with key stakeholders, is in addition to the role of the independent Queensland Training Ombudsman, which was established to act as a watchdog for the state’s vocational education and training sector.

“The ombudsman investigates complaints about compliance under the Further Education and Training Act 2014 and monitors the outcome of all complaints, including those referred to other agencies.”

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