The National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development (NASWD) identifies the long-term objectives of the Australian, state and territory governments in the areas of skills and workforce development.
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The NASWD objective is to support a vocational education and training (VET) system that delivers a productive and highly skilled workforce. This enables all working age Australians to develop the skills and qualifications needed to participate effectively in the labour market and contribute to Australia's economic future. It supports the achievement of increased rates of workforce participation.
The NASWD was agreed to by governments in 2012 under the Intergovernmental Agreement of Federal Financial Relations. These are available on the Federal Financial Relations website:
- National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development
- Intergovernmental Agreement of Federal Financial Relations
Progress towards the NASWD targets are measured and publicly reported through the NASWD performance dashboard, maintained by the Productivity Commission.
The National Agreement is associated with the Skills and Workforce Development National Specific Purpose Payments (SPP), where the Australian Government provides funding of around $1.7 billion to state and territory governments for investment in their training systems.
Review of the NASWD
On 15 November 2019, the Australian Government requested the Productivity Commission to review the NASWD.
Following an interim report released in June 2020 the Productivity Commission released its final report on the review of the NASWD on 21 January 2021.
The report is available on the Productivity Commission website.