A re-elected Turnbull Government said it will invest $31.2 million in internships and post-school career advice to increase support for women and girls to choose to study and work in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
Women make up around one quarter of the STEM workforce with 75 per cent of the fastest-growing industries requiring STEM skills.
To support more women to be able to take advantage of those opportunities the Coalition has committed $28.2 million to provide 1,400 internships for PhD researchers and $3 million to develop a new and contemporary National Career Education Strategy.
The Coalition’s $28.2 million evidence-based STEM internships investment will help the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute expand its PhD internships to a national-scale program, supported by industry, with a particular focus on women researchers.
The program breaks down the silos that exist between employees, employers and research by embedding PhD researchers in businesses.
Meanwhile, the Labor Opposition is focused on bolstering up TAFE and increasing apprenticeship numbers.
Earlier this month the Labor leader, Bill Shorten, announced the creation of 10,000 pre-apprenticeship places at TAFE for young people and a pilot program for mature-aged and retrenched workers.
Apprentice Ready places would give young job seekers who have been unemployed for six months or more access to a 20-week, industry-endorsed pre-apprenticeship course for trades on the national skills needs list.
"There is a crisis. Now more than ever we need to back-in apprenticeships," Shorten said.
Out of Australia's 15.5 million voters, 2.9 million are aged under 30.