Budget 2021: Skills package to train Aussies for high-demand jobs

A major skills package to help Australians get back into the workforce or train for the jobs of the future will be part of next week’s Federal Budget.

Jobseekers will be given training for new careers in high-demand sectors, including advanced manufacturing and aged care, as the Federal Government seeks to drive unemployment to near-record lows.

A skills package for Australians to retrain or upskill will be one of the centrepieces of next week’s job-centric Federal Budget, which aims to boost the economy after COVID-19.

It will build on the $1bn JobTrainer initiative announced last year to provide free or low-fee training courses to young Australians in areas with huge demand, such as IT, aged and disability care and traditional trades. New measures aimed at getting long-term unemployed Australians into training and back into the workforce are also expected to be announced in the May 11 Budget.

Bolstering the aged-care workforce is expected to be a major focus among more than $10bn in the Budget to reform the sector, following the aged-care royal commission’s recommendations.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham, pictured, said the Federal Government was determined to “back in” Australia’s faster-than-expected recovery from COVID-19.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham says ensuring Australians are skilled to take up job opportunities will be part of the Covid-19 recovery. Picture: Gary Ramage

“We know that to achieve it we have to keep businesses growing and investing, and ensure that Australians are skilled to fill those jobs as they are created,” he told The Advertiser.

South Australians have signed up for more than 7000 courses under JobTrainer so far. Senator Birmingham said Australia’s recovery had been “remarkable” but certain sectors and individuals were still doing it tough.

“This is a budget designed to give the maximum chance for those families and individuals to be able to secure a job or secure the training that will get them into a job,” he said.

Australia’s jobless rate is now expected to fall to 4.5 per cent by the end of 2022, according to the Reserve Bank.

The national unemployment rate is currently 5.6 per cent, although South Australia’s jobless rate is the highest in the nation at 6.3 per cent.

Australia is also tipped to have its fastest economic growth in two decades in 2021, at 4.75 per cent.

Senator Birmingham cautioned there was still a “very uncertain global landscape” but said the RBA’s growth forecasts were realistic.

Training programs and the Federal Government’s advanced-manufacturing strategy, announced last year, would help state’s such as SA with a strong manufacturing history to rebound from COVID, he said.

“I also think the boom in domestic tourism that’s going on right now presents an opportunity for South Australia, and regional SA in particular, to perhaps gain greater recognition across the rest of the country, and create an enduring benefit from some of the trials and tribulations of COVID,” he said.

Meanwhile, Scott Morrison will today unveil a $1.2bn digital economy strategy, which includes more than $100m for digital skills training.

Gaming companies will also be eligible for a new 30 per cent digital games tax offset, to help Australia snare a greater slice of the $250bn global industry,

Digital services, such as My Gov and the My Health Record system, will be upgraded, and the digital identity system will be expanded, under a more than $500m investment.

Australia will also invest $124m in artificial intelligence initiatives, and $35.7m in emerging aviation technologies.