Earlier this week, the Apprenticeship Employment Network (AEN) released a discussion paper emphasising the role of Victorian schools, TAFEs, and Group Training Organisations (GTOs) in addressing critical skills shortages.
Victoria, like the rest of Australia, faces a critical shortage of skilled workers in sectors such as construction, healthcare, and manufacturing. These industries are crucial to economic growth but struggle to meet workforce demands, as highlighted in the latest Occupation Priority List.
At the same time, youth unemployment remains high, and secondary school completion rates are declining. Despite this, the secondary school sector has not adequately prepared students for vocational pathways, and improvements are needed across TAFE and the broader VET sector to address these issues.
This paper identifies programs that are well funded but have underperformed for a number of years, and proposes a more collaborative approach, within budgetary constraints, to improve skills for business and jobs for youth.
Identified areas to improve the overall performance of the VET sector and establish a key pipeline of skilled workers include:
- Skills priorities and maximising the existing GTO network to support SMEs.
- The role of secondary schools in solving skill shortages.
- TAFE and high performing RTO providers linking with schools & GTOs to provide stronger outcomes through apprenticeships and traineeships.
With a significant focus on skills shortages and priority industries, governments need to consider the best ways to create a skilled workforce to deliver on a range of key economic priorities including:
- A net zero economy, renewable energy and the SEC.
- A future made in Australia.
- Increasing the care workforce.
- Increasing social housing.
- Delivering major infrastructure projects.
Despite significant government investment in the VET sector, outcomes have fallen short of what is needed to meet these priorities. The paper proposes four key recommendations to better support skills development for businesses and create more employment opportunities for Victorian youth.