Independent providers are integral to a successful skills plan

Troy Williams, CEO of Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia. Photo: David Geraghty

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s planned jobs summit will certainly have a comprehensive and challenging agenda.

Unemployment is at record lows, resulting in widespread labour shortages that retard economic growth. Rising inflation means Australians face a growing cost of living with wages not meeting these increasing cost pressures. Although a range of policy solutions will be presented to the Albanese government at the summit, there is likely to be consensus on one point: the need to lift workforce productivity.

Delivering the micro-economic reforms required to increase productivity is a herculean task, and business certainly looks with hope to the Albanese government being able to achieve meaningful reforms. Although several policy solutions will be in the mix, the need to tightly focus Australia’s post-secondary education sector is key.

In this, the new prime minister has already indicated that the first piece of the puzzle is on the way, a new agency called Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA).

The government has outlined that JSA will provide strategic insights into workforce trends and provide independent advice concerning the skills needed by business in the future. With an evidence-based approach, JSA will strengthen the nation’s skills training system so it can effectively address future skills demand and ensure that the growth of emerging industries will not be hampered by a lack of skills. Modelled on the structure of Infrastructure Australia, JSA will play a critical role in identifying the path to increased workforce productivity.

An increase in workforce productivity will be critical to achieving two of the stated economic imperatives for the Albanese government: increasing wages in real terms; and helping ensure that businesses get the skilled labour they need. The Prime Minister’s jobs summit will be critical to developing a quadripartite agreement here, one that involves employers, employees, government and Australia’s post-secondary education sector. Engagement across all four sectors as partners in this enterprise is fundamental to successful reform.

To achieve lasting increase in workforce productivity, Australia will need to invest not only in the skilling of new workforce entrants, but the reskilling of existing workers. Independent skills training organisations will do the heavy lifting here, as the data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) shows it is independent skills training providers that support 84.2 per cent of all students in vocational education and training. This includes 74.1 per cent of students in remote, rural and regional Australia, and 82.2 per cent of all female students in vocational education and training. Both of these are key demographics essential to lifting overall medium and long-term participation and productivity.

As the Prime Minister’s jobs summit considers the workforce training that will drive increases in productivity and wages, it can look with confidence to the investment that governments make with independent skills training providers. The NCVER data show that 85.6 per cent of students with private skills training providers achieved their main reason for doing training and that 74.6 per cent of students with private skills training providers were employed after training.

Australia faces some real challenges and the Prime Minister’s jobs summit will certainly have its work cut out, but it is possible for the new government to achieve its objectives. Australia’s independent skills training sector looks forward to playing a key role and its contribution will provide comfort to all stakeholders for a series of reasons. The data is clear, independent skills training providers achieve great outcomes for students, great outcomes for employers, great outcomes for government and taxpayers – and great outcomes for Australia.

Troy Williams is the chief executive officer of the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia, the peak body representing independent providers in the higher education and skills training sectors. The ITEC22 conference is being held from June 1-3 at the Gold Coast.