❓ Mr. Millman asks how the 'Free in '23' initiative addresses skills shortages. The Minister highlights federal support for apprenticeships and the success of 'Free in '23' in attracting people, particularly women, to key sectors like early education and aged care.
AnsweredQoN 61Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FREE
IN '23 INITIATIVE
61. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Training:
Madam Speaker, I echo your
acknowledgement of the representatives from the Mount Lawley Primary School P &C
who are in the public gallery this afternoon. These people are committed to the
education of our kids, and that is why I am very proud to ask my question to
the Minister for Training.
I refer to the McGowan
Labor government's commitment to provide accessible and affordable
training opportunities for all Western Australians. Can the minister
advise the house how the new Free in '23 initiative is alleviating the
high demand for workers to upskill and reskill to fill vacancies in key
industries?
IN '23 INITIATIVE
61. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Training:
Madam Speaker, I echo your
acknowledgement of the representatives from the Mount Lawley Primary School P &C
who are in the public gallery this afternoon. These people are committed to the
education of our kids, and that is why I am very proud to ask my question to
the Minister for Training.
I refer to the McGowan
Labor government's commitment to provide accessible and affordable
training opportunities for all Western Australians. Can the minister
advise the house how the new Free in '23 initiative is alleviating the
high demand for workers to upskill and reskill to fill vacancies in key
industries?
AnswerView source ↗
I am very happy to answer this question. Yesterday, I joined
the Prime Minister, along with the federal Minister for Skills and Training,
Brendan O'Connor, as well as the federal member for Perth, Patrick
Gorman, MP, at the TAFE in East Perth. It
was a great event. That was to launch the federal government's
announcement that it will be supporting 10 000 new energy
apprenticeships over the next nine years. It is spending $95.6 million on this.
The form of the support will be $10 000 to
each of the apprentices in those industries to send a very clear and
unequivocal message to the Western Australian and Australian public and
also to people who are trying to choose which areas to work in that we want
people working in the areas of new energy and technology.
It is great. It was great to be
there with the Prime Minister and the federal minister. We met some of the
apprentices and pre-apprentices who are working in this area. I met Kenya
Worton and David Harrison, who are both pre-apprentices. They are both young
people who have made a clear decision to change the early career choices they
had made to move into pre-apprenticeships in new energy industries. They are
working in electrotechnology. It was great to talk to them and meet them, and I
wish them all the best. Of course, they were very pleased to meet the Prime
Minister, but probably equally if not more pleased to hear about the $10 000
that they would receive. It was a really good announcement. It is an indication
of the effort that the federal government is putting into not only vocational
training, but also understanding the needs of the states.
An example that I was able to talk
about yesterday of the benefits of a partnership between the state and federal
governments is the Free in '23 courses. They have been funded as a result
of a 12-month agreement between the state and the federal government. This will
provide 18 800 places, and to date in 2023 we have had 13 000 people pick up
those free places. That is a fantastic outcome. It is particularly pleasing
that two-thirds of those places have been picked up by women. This is an area
to which we need to attract women to come back into the workforce and increase
the number of hours they are working if we want to meet a skills demand in an
under-represented area in our current employment profile.
In a happy circle of benefit, the
key area of take-up of the Free in '23 courses has been early education
and care. That is a key enabler in unlocking further participation in the
workforce, in not only the metropolitan area but, importantly, the regions.
Two-thirds of the participants in Free in '23 for full qualifications
in early education and care are women and 40 per cent are young people. The
other area of take up is aged and disability care. Another area of huge demand
is nursing and technology. That is really successful.
We
are also offering short courses. These are intended to give people a taster if
they are not sure whether they want to go into these industries or not
sure about studying again and what it will be like. These free short courses
are another important introduction that are being picked up in areas that
include mental health practice, cybersecurity, small business, working in
community care and early education and care. That is great. One in five people
taking up the free courses are from regional Western Australia, which is also
great. We know that we have a big skills demand in our regions and the best
people to fill that demand are people who are already living there and who are
under-utilised. They already have housing and are connected to the community
and they have a commitment to stay there.
This speaks to the success of our
investment at both a state and federal government level. We undertake a dialogue with industries to understand what their
needs are and tailor our offerings to those skill areas and to the demographics where we want to increase our utilisation of the workforce in regional areas.
Publicly funded enrolments are up nearly 20 per cent as of December last year;
that is 20 per cent on the pre-pandemic levels. It is a massive increase and
something of which I am proud. There has never been a better time to train in Western
Australia, to upskill, reskill or start a career. The Free in '23
initiative is a great way for people to get started in their training career.
the Prime Minister, along with the federal Minister for Skills and Training,
Brendan O'Connor, as well as the federal member for Perth, Patrick
Gorman, MP, at the TAFE in East Perth. It
was a great event. That was to launch the federal government's
announcement that it will be supporting 10 000 new energy
apprenticeships over the next nine years. It is spending $95.6 million on this.
The form of the support will be $10 000 to
each of the apprentices in those industries to send a very clear and
unequivocal message to the Western Australian and Australian public and
also to people who are trying to choose which areas to work in that we want
people working in the areas of new energy and technology.
It is great. It was great to be
there with the Prime Minister and the federal minister. We met some of the
apprentices and pre-apprentices who are working in this area. I met Kenya
Worton and David Harrison, who are both pre-apprentices. They are both young
people who have made a clear decision to change the early career choices they
had made to move into pre-apprenticeships in new energy industries. They are
working in electrotechnology. It was great to talk to them and meet them, and I
wish them all the best. Of course, they were very pleased to meet the Prime
Minister, but probably equally if not more pleased to hear about the $10 000
that they would receive. It was a really good announcement. It is an indication
of the effort that the federal government is putting into not only vocational
training, but also understanding the needs of the states.
An example that I was able to talk
about yesterday of the benefits of a partnership between the state and federal
governments is the Free in '23 courses. They have been funded as a result
of a 12-month agreement between the state and the federal government. This will
provide 18 800 places, and to date in 2023 we have had 13 000 people pick up
those free places. That is a fantastic outcome. It is particularly pleasing
that two-thirds of those places have been picked up by women. This is an area
to which we need to attract women to come back into the workforce and increase
the number of hours they are working if we want to meet a skills demand in an
under-represented area in our current employment profile.
In a happy circle of benefit, the
key area of take-up of the Free in '23 courses has been early education
and care. That is a key enabler in unlocking further participation in the
workforce, in not only the metropolitan area but, importantly, the regions.
Two-thirds of the participants in Free in '23 for full qualifications
in early education and care are women and 40 per cent are young people. The
other area of take up is aged and disability care. Another area of huge demand
is nursing and technology. That is really successful.
We
are also offering short courses. These are intended to give people a taster if
they are not sure whether they want to go into these industries or not
sure about studying again and what it will be like. These free short courses
are another important introduction that are being picked up in areas that
include mental health practice, cybersecurity, small business, working in
community care and early education and care. That is great. One in five people
taking up the free courses are from regional Western Australia, which is also
great. We know that we have a big skills demand in our regions and the best
people to fill that demand are people who are already living there and who are
under-utilised. They already have housing and are connected to the community
and they have a commitment to stay there.
This speaks to the success of our
investment at both a state and federal government level. We undertake a dialogue with industries to understand what their
needs are and tailor our offerings to those skill areas and to the demographics where we want to increase our utilisation of the workforce in regional areas.
Publicly funded enrolments are up nearly 20 per cent as of December last year;
that is 20 per cent on the pre-pandemic levels. It is a massive increase and
something of which I am proud. There has never been a better time to train in Western
Australia, to upskill, reskill or start a career. The Free in '23
initiative is a great way for people to get started in their training career.
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