New industry strategies to train skilled workforces

Queensland’s emerging and evolving industries will benefit from a $15 million injection into new training and skills strategies by the Palaszczuk Government.

Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment Cameron Dick said today’s Queensland Workforce Summit demonstrated the importance of keeping Queensland workers ready for new jobs as they emerge.

“What the last two years and the last two weeks have shown us once again is the resilience of Queenslanders,” the Treasurer said.

“At the start of the pandemic, no-one envisioned that by 2022 we would be dealing with a shortage of skilled workers.

“Queensland’s employment growth has been nation leading.

“But today we’re here to listen to the businesses in those emerging industries to find out what they need to maintain Queensland’s competitive advantage.

“Queensland’s strength in renewable energy makes us a natural home for more energy intensive industries, both traditional and emerging.

“This initiative will help build better pathways to skilled workforce development.”

Minister for Training and Skills Development Di Farmer announced the new VET Emerging Industries initiative, as part of the $200 million Future Skills Fund, at today’s Queensland Workforce Summit designed to ensure the state has the skilled workers it needs.

“The VET Emerging Industries initiative will develop flexible industry strategies for the state’s agribusiness, energy, manufacturing, and screen and digital sectors,” Minister Farmer said.

“These are priority industries which will require new training and skills and have been identified as potentially providing Queenslanders with future employment opportunities.

“The four industry sectors are key to our plans for workforce development and economic recovery and align with our priorities such as the Advance Queensland Roadmaps and the Queensland Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Jobs Fund.

“Our investment will reflect industry needs and include support to deliver extra training. This investment is part of more than $1 billion allocated towards training and skills across a wide variety of industry areas in 2021–22.

The $15 million investment is comprised of:
•    $5 million Manufacturing Strategy, consisting of a Manufacturing Skills Fund and TAFE Manufacturing Strategy
•    $4 million Energy Strategy, consisting of a Electric Vehicle Skills Fund; a Hydrogen Skills Fund and a TAFE Renewable Energy Strategy
•    $5 million Agribusiness Strategy, consisting of an Agriculture Skills Fund; a TAFE Agricultural, Rural and Regional Strategy; and a Beef Processing Skills Fund, and a
•    $1 million TAFE Screen and Digital Strategy. 

Minister Farmer said the VET Emerging Industries initiative will be industry-led, with key industry stakeholders invited to participate on working groups to prioritise funding, which will also include representation from Jobs Queensland and Queensland Government departments. 

“The working groups will recommend strategies, which could include a mixture of accredited training, skill sets, micro-credentials and workforce development,” Minister Farmer said.

“This approach is similar to that taken for the Training and Skills Support Strategies for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and for Tourism sectors, which are industry-led initiatives responding to new and pressing skills and workforce issues.”

The strategies could include increased subsidies for priority qualifications, the addition of new qualifications on the priority lists and increased public provider delivery across the full list of priority industries.

The Queensland Government continues to invest in all industry priorities through its User Choice, Certificate 3 Guarantee and Higher Level Skills programs which support the development of training and skills needed by over 200,000 students annually.

Today’s Queensland Workforce Summit brings together the best and brightest minds from across industry and the community to identify new ways for employers to access the right workers.

“The summit is an opportunity to work together in partnership to identify and co-design practical solutions. It is also an opportunity to set our workforce up for success and to realise the exciting opportunities ahead for more jobs and skills in the future,” Minister Farmer said.

ENDS

Media contact:

Treasurer’s Office:        Geoff Breusch    0417 272 875

Minister Farmer’s Office:    Dan Lato        0460 785 378