Building Australia's Future Workforce:

trained up and ready for work

To meet the challenges of the 21st Century, Australia needs to build an educated and skilled workforce and ensure there are opportunities for all Australians to experience the benefits of work

Skilling Australia's Future Workforce — $3.0 billion over six years, including reform of the training system

Placing industry at the heart of the training effort

$558 million in a new National Workforce Development Fund — partnering with industry to deliver more training outcomes designed to meet the needs of a growing economy
An estimated 130,000 industry-focused training places

Apprenticeships that work for more Australians

$100 million to support new approaches to training to ensure skilled apprentices can gain their qualifications sooner
$101 million for mentoring to support apprentices and trainees through to completion of their training, including funding to provide advice to prospective apprentices on the right trade for them

Image: Young man working in a garage

Vocational education and training (VET) to meet the longer-term needs of the economy — $1.75 billion

Review the Commonwealth's $1.4 billion per annum investment in the National Agreement on Skills and Workforce Development to secure reform outcomes and develop a whole‑of‑government commitment to training
Additional investment of $1.75 billion over five years from 2012‑13 under a new National Partnership with the states and territories, conditional on more ambitious reforms to make the VET system more transparent and productive

Building better skills for workforce participation

$143 million to provide 30,000 additional commencements for job seekers in the Language, Literacy and Numeracy Program
$80 million for additional training places for single and teenage parents
$20 million to expand the Workplace English Language and Literacy program to support businesses who want to boost the basic employment skills of their workers
$20 million to ensure disadvantaged job seekers can access the Australian Apprenticeships Access Program