Mr GILES (Scullin—Minister for Skills and Training) (09:02): This week is National Skills Week. It's a week that celebrates the vocational education and training sector. This year's theme is 'VET—it's a game changer!' VET is front and centre when it comes to solving big national challenges in the labour market, like what it means for the transition to net zero emissions or supporting growth in early education and in aged care. The Albanese government is restoring and revitalising the VET sector to meet the significant workforce challenges we face while also shining a light on gender equity and on closing the gap. Unfortunately, there was a wasted decade of neglect that preceded us, characterised by a failure to work with others, like state and territory governments, and looking the other way when it came to promoting quality training. Our work started by putting TAFE back at the heart of Australia's vocational education and training sector. TAFE is vital for the next generation of skilled workers. For too long students studied courses or undertook training that did not lead to a secure job or to skills that employers needed. Jobs and Skills Australia, the body established by this government to provide independent advice on workforce, skills and training needs, quickly identified that we must address the disconnect between what students are studying now and where jobs and skills of the future will be. Jobs and Skills Australia's research in workforce capacity studies and employment projections shows us the plain facts of the challenge that is before us. Ninety per cent of jobs growth in the next 10 years will require post-secondary education, and 44 per cent of these jobs will require a VET qualification—nearly half. But, at the same time, the number of people with a certificate I to IV has been growing far slower than the number of people reporting a bachelor's degree. National Skills Week seeks to raise the perception and profile of vocational learning. We must showcase all of the opportunities available to Australians looking for their dream career. Today, people are in a much stronger position to grasp these opportunities thanks to the actions taken by the Albanese Labor government. We've tackled the key problem of cost. Fee-free TAFE is critical to removing the cost barriers to people undertaking training across the country. In partnership with states and territories, fee-free TAFE has exceeded all expectations. Over half a million Australians have enrolled in courses of high skills demand since 1 January last year. A few weeks ago I met a young woman on her third day studying to be an early childhood educator at Melbourne Polytechnic. Because it is fee free, she can look after herself at the same time as studying to get a job in one of the most important industries in the country: caring for and educating our children. She was so excited to be able to give back in this new career. What could be better than this? In New South Wales alone there have been over 224,000 enrolments in fee-free TAFE. Fee-free TAFE is also supporting disadvantaged and in-need Australians; 155,000 young people, 117,000 jobseekers, around 35,000 people with disability and over 26,000 First Nations Australians have enrolled in fee-free TAFE. Women make up the large majority—around 63 per cent—of enrolments, with nearly 300,000 women taking on a qualification under this program. Around 166,000 enrolments—more than a third—are in regional and remote locations. In addition to fee-free TAFE, the Albanese government has signed a landmark national skills agreement with states and territories. This is the framework we need to address both national problems and state and territory priorities. This is something that is expanding and transforming access to the VET sector, supporting quality training and implementing reforms to address critical skills needs. It will unlock up to $30 billion in investment in the VET sector over five years. It's a significant shift away from the short-term transactional working relationships of the past decade. It will ensure that Commonwealth funding is used more effectively to achieve opportunities for all Australians. Also, under the National Skills Agreement we're creating 20 TAFE centres of excellence to grow strategically important industries, including a focus on digital skills. These centres of excellence will bring together tertiary centres, employers and unions. The TAFE Technology Fund is upgrading and expanding neglected TAFE facilities across the country, such as laboratories, workshops and IT services. And you can't have quality VET without workforce. Under the National Skills Agreement, measures to strengthen the VET workforce will be identified in the VET Workforce Blueprint, as agreed with the states and territories. We're also responding to the Universities Accord to drive greater alignment and collaboration between VET and higher education. Improving tertiary collaboration will prepare the groundwork for broader reform. This includes reform to provide better credit recognition between VET and higher education and the exploration of ways to improve regulatory approaches for dual-sector providers. The way we work together with others is central to the Albanese government's approach. We bring people together. We've established 10 jobs and skills councils to provide industry with a stronger voice to ensure that Australia's vocational education and training sector delivers better outcomes for both learners and employers in priority areas. Employers and unions are working in partnership with governments and training providers to tackle workforce challenges together. To achieve ambitious housing targets, we're also investing in the housing and construction workforce through the measure to upskill the construction workforce to support housing supply. And we can't deliver a pipeline of skilled workers if apprentices don't finish their training. So we're investing in additional targeted support under the Australian Apprenticeships Incentive System to help apprentices complete their training. I'm eagerly awaiting the strategic review of the Apprenticeships Incentive System, led by the Hon. Justice Iain Ross AO and Lisa Paul AO. The government is also taking action to lift quality and integrity across the VET sector, including through the regulator, ASQA. We've provided ASQA with stronger powers to tackle non-genuine or unscrupulous RTOs operating or seeking to operate in the VET sector. Evidence of this was seen just this week, with 150 dormant vocational education and training providers, or ghost colleges, that failed to show proof of delivering training for 12 months or more shut down and 140 placed on a watchlist. A high-performing, world-class VET sector is crucial for achieving a fairer society and a stronger economy, and we are building a stronger, more equitable vocational education and training sector so that we can help Australians build a future that is made in Australia.