Australian Government called on to focus training packages required for the technology industry.
The AIIA, Australia’s peak industry representative body for innovation technology, has called on the Australian Government to focus on agile training packages that are able to react faster to the emerging opportunities and new skills required for the technology industry.
This plea by the AIIA, follows the recent announcement by the Australian Government of a $2 billion ‘JobTrainer’ plan to help school-leavers and the unemployed learn new skills.
Ron Gauci CEO at AIIA said the organisation supports the Prime Minister’s JobTrainer package and encouraged an increased profile of the available IT training packages. This will reduce barriers of entry for potential workers into the digital economy.
“The funding is a step in the right direction for a post-COVID recovery Australia, however we need more focus on agile training packages that are able to react faster to the emerging opportunities and new skills required for the technology industry,” he said. “It is clear that the system of training to address skills needed by employers is fractured; both the policy environment and the qualification levers are siloed and inconsistent.”
Gauci said the AIIA encouraged an open dialogue with the National Skills Commission and for it to work with the ICT industry in an effort to deliver the skills required to drive jobs in this field – “effectively championing and becoming a global leader in digital sovereignty”.
According to Gauci the AIIA also recognised the importance of gender imbalance that currently exists in STEM.
Detailed in a recent set of recommendations put to Australian Government — ‘Building Australia’s Digital Future in a Post-COVID World — the issue starts in primary learning and continues through to university, said Gauci.
“Almost 80 percent of males complete a STEM qualification compared to 20 percent of women,” he said. “The AIIA are supportive in encouraging opportunities for young women and look forward to having discussions with the National Skills Commission on this matter.”
The AIIA also recommends the following additional recommendations to government regarding skills shortages. We ask the government and National Skills Commission to consider:
- Updating the current JobKeeper payment scheme with a portion of the current funding allocated to training credits for employers to reskill their workforce.
- Implementing a nationally recognised lifelong learning framework with skills passport to capture digital skills across VET, University and micro-credential certifications.
- Issuing government credit to employees to promote lifelong learning and up-skilling.
Gauci said $1billion, jointly funded by all levels of government, will go towards 430,000 new training courses that meet the needs identified by the National Skills Commission.
