TAFE capacity is being strengthened throughout Australia with new investment in TAFE campuses, facilities and services to students.
A stronger TAFE combined with wage subsidies has begun to deliver results.
Apprenticeship commencements for the December quarter 2020 increased by 141.5 per cent compared with the December quarter 2019 (October to December).
Both trade and non-trade commencements increased from the December 2019 quarter by 123.5 per cent and 155.3 per cent respectively.
The significant surge in apprenticeship commencements is good news.
From July 1, businesses who hire an eligible job seeker will now be able to receive up to $10,000 in wages, an increase from $6,500 for some wage subsidies. About 300,000 people may be eligible for the higher wage subsidy.
Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, Stuart Robert, said these initiatives are supporting a new generation of Australian apprentices.
“The apprenticeship subsidy is developing Australia’s next generation of tradies,” Robert said.
‘It is encouraging to see more Australians in work today than before the pandemic.”
For the first time the federal government released a nationally anchored assessment of Australia’s labour market analysis on occupations through the Skills Priority List.
The list, developed through the National Skills Commission, provides a current labour market rating and a future demand rating for occupations nationally, with current labour market ratings also available at a state and territory level.
Today, over 150 occupations face current skill shortages nationally, most commonly for technicians and trades workers.
The Skills Priority List will inform a range of government policy responses, including targeting of apprenticeship incentives, training funding and skilled migration.
The Skills Priority List can be found at https://www.nationalskillscommission.gov.au/our-work/skills-priority-list