The most recent meeting of the Skills and Workforce Ministerial Council took place last month. Ministers discussed a range of issues impacting the VET sector and explored how improvements could lift productivity and improve inclusion and equality. They agreed that “while recent reforms… have laid solid foundations” there is more to do. This will include “lifting the capacity of VET to support the workforce to upskill in Artificial Intelligence” and also supporting “VET and TAFE systems to leverage the benefits” of AI.
While no specific new initiatives were included in the Ministerial Council’s Communique – they did commit to “accelerating efforts to increase the adaptability and resilience of our workforce, better matching skills to labour market needs, leveraging the benefits of Adult Community Education and supporting people to upskill and reskill in an ongoing process of lifelong learning.”
They also agreed “the electrical and construction industries are critical to required growth in the skilled workforce required to enable the net zero transformation and address housing and construction needs. Skills Ministers also committed to maximising inclusive participation which will mean a fair go and ensure we leave no one behind.”
Ministers welcomed the announcement that the new Australian Tertiary Education Commission, working closely with Jobs and Skills Australia and the Departments of Employment and Workplace Relations, Education, and state and territory departments, will work on the “development of a dedicated Tertiary Roadmap.” This work will be guided by the Jobs and Skills Australia report published earlier in the year Opportunity and Productivity: Towards a Tertiary Harmonisation Roadmap.
Ministers also heard from JSA’s Executive Director David Turvey PSM on the key insights and recommendations from JSA’s Generative AI Capacity Study: Our Gen AI Transition: Implications for Work and Skills.
Apprenticeships and traineeships were a key focus of the meeting. Ministers agreed to the Future Apprenticeships and Traineeships Workplan (which is not yet publicly available) and a refreshed National Code of Good Practice for Australian Apprenticeships and Traineeships which will be published shortly on the www.apprenticeships.gov.au website and will take effect from 1 January 2026.
In response to the release of the report of the South Australian Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, Skills Ministers “noted the importance of the VET sector as a mechanism to embed domestic, family and sexual violence awareness and competence across the workforce.” They also noted the work that HumanAbility is doing in reviewing key qualifications and “highlighted the important opportunity these projects presented to ensure graduates have the skills required to identify and respond to domestic, family and sexual violence.”
Skills Ministers congratulated the National TAFE Network Committee, chaired by Mary Faraone (Holmesglen Institute), on its inaugural meeting. They also received updates from the NCVER on its organisational renewal and on the NSW Digital Skills and Workforce Compact. Ministers noted the compact’s links to Future Skills Organisation’s Digital Knowledge Exchange.
