The Albanese government's 2023-24 budget will help to rebuild and modernise our skills sector to ensure a stronger and more resilient economy. The budget provides an additional $3.7 billion upon striking a five-year national skills agreement with states and territories to ensure more access to vocational education and training, with TAFE at the centre. It allocates $400 million to deliver an additional 300,000 fee-free TAFE and VET places, building on the 180,000 places we created in 2023—including 55,000 places in Victoria—underpinning our commitment to affordable vocational training. It increases funding by an additional $54.3 million to critical Australian apprenticeship supports to improve completion rates, including for 2,170 apprentices currently in training in my electorate of Aston.
The Albanese government inherited the most significant national skills shortage in decades, and we are taking action by providing greater opportunities for Australians to acquire the skills they need to secure rewarding and sustainable employment in priority workforce areas. Whether it's in clean energy, the care sector, agriculture, hospitality and tourism, construction, technology or the need for sovereign capability in manufacturing, we must deliver these skills at a time of acute skills shortages.
We're investing an additional $436 million over four years to fundamentally reform the way the Commonwealth delivers foundation skills programs. It is vital the Commonwealth, state and territory governments work together to create a higher quality, more dynamic and more resilient VET sector. This will improve the quality of services, and better targeted support will be particularly crucial to supporting women, First Nations people, CALD people and people with a disability. We are establishing new targets to double the proportion of women in apprenticeships and traineeships on Commonwealth funded major construction projects over $10 million by 2030. This will help us deliver on our aim to triple participation rates of women in trade apprenticeships by the end of the decade. We are providing $8.6 million to deliver the Australian Skills Guarantee and introduce national targets for apprentices, trainees and paid cadets working on Australian government funded major infrastructure and ICT projects. We are providing $42.2 million to develop a modern, fit-for-purpose IT system for the VET student loan program.
We are adjusting two of the three skills assessment pilots, which are delivering free and fast-tracked skills assessments and employability assessments to improve employment outcomes for onshore migrants, including humanitarian visa holders and partners of skilled migrants in priority occupations. Two of the pilots will extend by eight months, adding new eligible occupations to reflect the 2022 Skills Priority List and expanding the eligibility criteria to increase access for migrant women.
Recently, I was invited along to Ringwood Training by Shayne van der Heide, the centre manager and a constituent of Aston. I was given a tour of the Ringwood Training centre and what the apprentices were currently working on. This training provider takes in apprentices from right across Melbourne. Some apprentices even travel over 50 kilometres for this training. Over 678 students attend this centre for training, and they are looking to expand into electric vehicle training, as well. I'd like to commend Ringwood Training on training so many local apprentices. That's why this government's commitment to improve completion rates is so important.
From the 2023-24 budget, the Albanese government will be overhauling services and non-financial support provided to apprentices, to ensure focus is on support for them to finish their training and qualify in trades that give them the best possible chance to secure a well-paid job. These changes deliver on our 2022 Jobs and Skills Summit commitment to improve the Australian apprenticeship system, strengthen support services to help apprentices complete their qualification and increase the diversity of the apprentice workforce. This is about creating more opportunities and a more secure economy. Achieving that means tackling one of our greatest economic challenges in decades: the lack of skilled workers. The Albanese government will set the skills and training sector back on the right path, enabling a better and more secure future for all Australians.
Hansard - Federation Chamber 13/06/2023 Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au)
