COALITION SENATORS' ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
1.1
Coalition Senators acknowledge that there is strong stakeholder support
for this bill. However, Coalition Senators are concerned that the Gillard
Government has a history of poor policy implementation and constant re-allocation
of budget funds in relation to helping the Australian workforce develop the
skills our economy needs for the future.
1.2
Coalition Senators are concerned that Skills Australia, set up under the
Rudd Government in 2008, is already being superseded by another Agency with
more powers and a further expansion of bureaucracy. In each budget we see a
major redirection of funding from various training initiatives into new
initiatives.
1.3
Skills Australia was tasked, together with the Industry Skills Councils,
with addressing Australia’s current – and future – skills needs. Yet skill
shortages across the nation are worsening at a time when economic growth is
falling; even the ACTU has been critical of the Government’s recent approach to
addressing the skill shortages:
Plans by Australian mining and construction companies to
embark on an overseas recruitment drive with Australian Government support are
premature and a process must be established for thorough market testing of the
skilled labour requirements of the resources sector.[1]
1.4
AWPA expands the Skills Australia Board from seven members to ten, in an
effort to increase union and industry representation, but fails to include
representation from the training industry. Given an expected training shortfall
of over 250,000 skilled employees during the next five years, it will be an
increased challenge to ensure a match between skills expansion and work
opportunities.
1.5
Keeping the training sector away from the AWPA whilst increasing union
presence warps the decision making process. The Australian Council for
Private Education and Training say in their submission:
ACPET believes that it is appropriate that the training
sector also be represented as part of the Australian Workforce and Productivity
Agency membership... Such an appointment would add valuable expertise to the
Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency as it develops advice for
Government. This is particularly so given the vital role that the VET sector
plays in skilling and upskilling Australia’s workforce.
1.6
In addition to the $558 million National Workforce Development Fund,
there is a $20 million pool of funds AWPA can allocate to unions and employer
groups, with no defined purpose for this pool of funds and no criteria for its
allocation.
1.7
The Queensland Government’s submission highlighted that there is
evidence that purchasing of training by both States and Commonwealth is
fragmenting skills investment and duplicating effort:
...[A]
unique strength of our national training system is that co-funded training
delivery is administered primarily by states and territories. This arrangement
supports a cohesive national system and targets the available funding
efficiently to complementary local, state and national objectives...A far more
effective system would be for the funds to be allocated to the States, with
clear performance benchmarks on how the funds were to be invested to support
an industry led system.[2]
1.8
The Coalition supports efficient cross-jurisdictional allocation of
resources and an approach to training that ensures industry can best get the
skills it needs.
Recommendation
It is not the intention of
the Coalition Senators to oppose the Bill.
Senator Chris Back Senator
Bridget McKenzie
Deputy Chair
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