- Submission received
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Q1: Are there other design considerations that could further strengthen Jobs and Skills Australia's ability to provide advice to government?
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Response:
As Australia’s first Regional Education Commissioner, I welcome the opportunity to respond to the Jobs and Skills Australia’s 2023 Discussion Paper. This submission represents my views and seeks to inform how Jobs and Skills Australia can consider the needs of regional communities across skills and industry. Recommendation: Establish a regional, rural and remote team within Jobs and Skills Australia to understand the unique labour market and skills supply issues outside of Australia’s capital cities. Background The establishment of Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) is an opportunity to consider the unique labour market and skills supply issues outside of Australia’s cities, where one third of Australia’s population resides. Addressing these issues in regional, rural and remote (RRR) areas [1] requires targeted consideration as they are inherently linked to geographic isolation, the education system and socio-economic factors such as workforce shortages, housing issues, infrastructure and availability of support services. Focus needs to be placed on the benefits of a skilled and homegrown workforce. Training and educating people locally targets the development of a homegrown skilled workforce, with people more likely to remain in their local community and share their skills with regional employers for whole of community benefit. The National Regional, Rural and Remote Tertiary Education Strategy (Napthine Review) makes clear the stark country-city divide in participation and attainment rates for tertiary education, with those living in RRR areas less than half as likely as their city counterparts to obtain a university degree by the time they are 35 years old. The persistence of this disparity and its wide-ranging effects has been a recurring theme in my discussions with stakeholders, and is one that would see real benefit from a team within JSA dedicated to addressing RRR issues. Recommendation design Establishing a RRR team within JSA would provide a focus for regional needs and experiences and support understanding of regional Australia’s labour market and skills supply matters. The team’s functions should include working with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and other agencies as required, to address data issues for Australia’s regions. They would also include leading jobs and skills research specific to the regions such as a national regional workforce paper focusing on shortages in industries critical to RRR communities with an analysis of supply and demand (including mining; agriculture, forestry and fishing; and electricity, gas, water and waste services [2]). The team should also consider emerging industries in RRR communities, such as green energy, to ensure a skilled local workforce is ready and able to meet the needs of a growing demand for workers in these new and growing industries. A RRR student’s transition to the workforce can be hindered by limited access to careers advice, geographical distances to regional centres for education and training opportunities, less access to resources and the potential for economies of scale [3]. A regional team, further to considering supply issues, should also consider the role of education and careers advice for employment and labour dynamics as these are fundamental pipelines to sustainable workforce and industries in our regions. Individuals’ decisions around further study are inevitably linked to the labour market opportunities in their regions and the potential to achieve a return on their investment in their education. This is reflected in higher participation of RRR students in the VET Delivered to Secondary Student (VETDSS) Program as well as higher levels of VET qualified workers in regional and remote areas. [4] Stakeholders continue to highlight the importance of having flexible and locally tailored training options as they improve career outcomes, increase workforce participation and boost the local economy. Relatedly, supporting Australians to increase foundation skills (literacy, numeracy, digital literacy and employability skills) is critical to improving workforce participation, productivity, and social inclusion. This may be particularly important in remote and very remote areas where 49% of senior school students achieved at or above the benchmark in math, science and reading (compared to 74% in major cities and 68% in regional areas).[6] A consideration of regional and remote areas must be included in the National Foundation Skills Framework. The JSA regional team could liaise with the Foundation Skills Advisory Group and on the National Foundation Skills Framework 2022 to 2032, the draft of which currently includes no consideration of RRR needs and experiences. [7] This is a much needed and important step. A consideration of regional areas, in addition to remote, is needed as these geographical areas can be diverse and experience differing challenges. Implementing this design consideration allows JSA to provide targeted advice to government on workforce shortages affecting the regions. For instance, according to the National Skills Commission’s Skills Priority List, there are 29 careers with RRR workforce shortages. In summary, I suggest the establishment of a RRR team within JSA. It is vital JSA has a clear understanding why some occupations, and some industries are more difficult for RRR communities to resource than others and in doing so, the agency can contribute to the effort towards reducing the disparities between our regions and our cities. [1] For the purpose of this submission, ‘regional, rural and remote’ areas are the regions outside Australia’s major cities, specifically those regions classified by the ABS’s Remoteness Structure as Inner Regional, Outer Regional, Remote or Very Remote. [2] See Australian Jobs Report 2022 (yourcareer.gov.au). [3] Lamb and Glover (2014) ‘Educational disadvantage and regional and rural schools’. [4] PWC (2022) ‘VET Delivered to Secondary Students – Stream 6, Final Report’. [5] Ibid. [6] Lamb, S., Huo, S., Walstab, A., Wade, A., Maire, Q., Doecke, E., Jackson, J. & Endekov, Z (2020), Educational opportunity in Australia 2020: who succeeds and who misses out, Centre for International Research on Education Systems, Victoria University, for the Mitchell Institute, Melbourne: Mitchell Institute. [7] See Draft National Foundation Skills Framework - Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, Australian Government (dewr.gov.au).
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Q2: What principles could be used to guide Jobs and Skills Australia's priorities, and the development of its workplan?
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Response:
No response provided.
Q3: How could Jobs and Skills Australia seek broader input into the development and refinement of its workplan?
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Response:
No response provided.
Q4: How could Jobs and Skills Australia engage tripartite partners, experts, and other interested parties in its major studies?
- Are the different needs of industry and learners effectively considered in designing qualifications in the current system? What works well and why?
- Are there issues or challenges with the way qualifications are currently designed? What are they and what could be done to address these?
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Response:
No response provided.
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Q5: What new information should Jobs and Skills Australia be collecting through its engagement to build a stronger evidence base?
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Response:
No response provided.
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Q6: How can Jobs and Skills Australia expand its engagement with a broader range of skills and industry stakeholders in its work?
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Response:
No response provided.
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Q7: What types of outreach could Jobs and Skills Australia use to increase visibility and use of its products and advice?
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Response:
No response provided.
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Q8: How could Jobs and Skills Australia present its data and advice to aid stakeholders in informing their needs? What formats could better inform your work?
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Response:
No response provided.
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If you would like to add any further comments before submitting, please add them below.
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Response:
No response provided.