Generation Australia

Response:

Jobs and Skills Australia should consider the role of non-traditional education pathways (i.e., outside of university education and VET) as part of its scope. This is important for two main reasons:

1. Industries are evolving at a rapid pace, meaning that skill requirements are often evolving faster than formal qualifications are able to be designed or updated. Non-traditional education (e.g., short intensive courses, micro-credentials and other bootcamp-style programs) can help bridge the gap while formal qualifications are designed and updated, providing pipelines of talent into the sectors that need it most. 

2. Many individuals who have historically been under-represented or excluded from the workforce also face barriers entering into, participating in and completing formal education. This includes support of women (e.g., into tech careers), people living with disabilities, FIrst Nations people and recent arrivals to Australia. Non-traditional education programs may be better suited, or more easily adapted to meet the learning requirements of these diverse groups and therefore (a) improve labour market accessibility for these individuals and (b) increase the overall supply of talent into industries facing shortages.

By considering non-traditional education pathways as part of its scope and overall remit, Jobs and Skills Australia will be better positioned to advise on employment transition pathways holistically.

Response:

Jobs and Skills Australia should consider sustainable employment as a key outcome across its priorities and workplan development. For example:

- What are the current and emerging skills and training needs of individuals that would fulfil thriving and sustainable careers in different sectors?
- How adequate is the Australian education system, including VET, at providing sustainable employment outcomes? What proportion of course graduates commence employment within 3 months/6 months of graduating and what can we learn from this?
- What opportunities exist to create sustainable employment outcomes for cohorts of individuals that have historically experienced labour market disadvantage and exclusion? 

By putting the employment outcome at the forefront of planning, Jobs and Skills Australia can ensure that workforce development, skills & training needs and education pathways (e.g., VET pathways, non-traditional programs) are focused on getting people into work, which will ultimately solve labour market gaps.

Response:

Jobs and Skills Australia could seek broader input on its workplan by collecting targeted input from key stakeholders (i.e., during the process of developing the workplan, not just at the end). These stakeholders should include employers (particularly those operating in industries experiencing skills & labour shortages), universities, VET providers, non-traditional education providers (e.g., organisations like Generation Australia and other short course/bootcamp providers), job-seekers (particularly those from vulnerable communities), and recent graduates of different types of training providers.

Data collection mechanisms could include:
- Surveys (e.g., to TAFE/RTOs on % of graduates who enter employment within 90 days, % of graduates who are retained in their role/organisation after 1 year)
- Interviews (e.g., with employers, to understand the skills & behaviours demonstrated by high performers in critical roles)
- Focus groups (e.g., with disadvantaged job-seekers to understand the historical challenges they faced in education programs and transitioning to employment)
- Consultations or discussion paper follow-ups (e.g., written submissions open to organisations or the general public to solicit further input)

Generation Australia has significant experience in cross-sectoral collaboration to build successful employment pathways, and would be happy to provide our further expertise, input, or connections into our networks to support this work. 

Response:

Our response to question 3 is also applicable here.

Response:

Jobs and Skills Australia could help resolve data gaps such as:

- The graduate outcomes of a wide range of education providers e.g., universities, TAFEs/RTOs, and non-traditional training providers. Graduate outcomes could include % of enrolled students who graduated, % of graduates who secured employment within 3 months / 6 months of graduating, income increase of graduates before vs after completing a program (particularly for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds) etc. These could be used to assess the efficacy of different training models and drive policy input around funding mechanisms for education & training (e.g., funding programs based on employment outcomes to drive this focus through all types of training providers)
- The number, type and location of specific roles in emerging industries e.g., clean energy - where we know there will be significant jobs growth in the next 10-20 years, but we are unclear on what specific roles will exist and where
- The specific skills requirements of roles with significant shortages (note the focus on skills rather than experience/qualification), particularly those roles which may have been previously assumed to require a university degree but could actually be fulfilled through VET or non-traditional education & training providers with a shift in training design approach and employer mindsets

This data would allow for better workforce planning and design/refinement of training models to prepare learners and ultimately match job-seeker supply with demand for jobs.

Response:

Jobs and Skills Australia could expand its reach with skills/training stakeholders by:
- Reaching out to organisations directly based on a market scan of different provider types e.g., universities, VET and non-traditional providers
- Engaging organisations who have already been Federally-funded to deliver skills & training initiatives e.g., under the DEWR Local Jobs Programs, DSS Try, Test, Learn program etc.
- Engaging organisations who have been engaged in other Federally-led forums e.g., the Jobs and Skills summit (September 2022), organisations who placed submissions to the Treasury’s Employment White Paper (November 2022) etc.
- Connecting with organisations through ‘aggregator’ or cluster-based organisations e.g., training providers partnered with the Digital Skills Organisation


Jobs and Skills Australia could expand its reach with industry stakeholders through:
- Co-facilitated outreach via peak body and industry associations e.g., Business Council of Australia, Social Enterprise Australia
- Engaging employers that have already partnered with training providers in unique or interesting ways (e.g., providers offering technology apprenticeships to First Nations learners, providers offering employment to graduates of a bootcamp training program for women etc.). For example, Generation Australia as a non-traditional training provider partners closely with employers like Google, Microsoft and Salesforce and could provide a dual perspective of training provider & industry.

Response:

A dedicated webpage with up-to-date information and updates, active social media (e.g., a LinkedIn page), an email newsletter which individuals/ organisations can subscribe to. 

Response:

A combination of full-length reports, short slide presentations with key insights and/or executive summaries, and full supporting data (e.g., in CSV format) is often very helpful for informing our work as an industry-led training provider. 

Response:

No response provided.