A skilled workforce is a pillar of long-term productivity, innovation and economic prosperity and is a central element of Victoria’s Economic Growth Statement and the Victorian Industry Policy. A skilled workforce enables industry to adopt new technologies (such as AI), leading to better production processes, and the ability to capture new business opportunities.
Building and maintaining a skilled workforce requires significant ongoing financial investment, which is a shared responsibility between government, industry and individuals.
The Victorian Government’s investment in skills is aligned to economic, social and community needs
With the Victorian TAFE Network leading the way, the Victorian Government is playing its part by investing extensively in education and training. It targets areas of greatest economic, social and community need and invests based on strong policy principles to make training accessible, equitable, impactful and responsive to new priorities (Figure 8).
Figure 8: Policy principles that underpin Victorian Government’s investment in skills and training
| Drive productivity, innovation and economic growth |
| Maintain a high-performing and fiscally sustainable skills system through targeted investment |
| Increase participation in skilling and employment for all Victorians |
| Provide Victorians with strong foundational skills in literacy, numeracy and digital literacy |
Under Skills First, the government funds over 500 accredited qualifications and short courses at TAFE and non-TAFE providers through the Training Needs List.60 Free TAFE offers no-fee training for more than 80 courses,61 and the Victorian Government offers financial and other supports for many priority cohorts to access and complete training, including disengaged young people and First Nations peoples.
Through the ACE sector, the Victorian Government funds pre-accredited training so that Victorians can get the literacy, numeracy, non-technical and digital skills that allow them to participate in higher-level learning, gain employment and succeed in work and life.
The government also supports industry to partner with the Victorian TAFE Network to address skills gaps in priority sectors and provides funding for targeted up-skilling through programs such as the Digital Jobs Program and Skills Solution Partnerships.
While industry invests in the skilling of its workforce, more can be done
Victorian industry invests in the skilling of its workers in various ways, including by:
- supporting career awareness and work-based learning through informal and formal on-the-job opportunities, including apprenticeships and traineeships
- paying for accredited and unaccredited training of workers
- engaging with government on skills and training needs in the economy – for example, through the VSA’s Industry Advisory Groups.
Industry investment generally focuses on the specific skills needed within an industry or organisation and often builds on the existing qualifications that people have received through government-funded training.
Employers are the primary beneficiaries of industry-specific training through growth in productivity, revenue and profit, increased innovation, and improved staff motivation and retention. They also have significant influence on the uptake of training by their workers.
To remain responsive to changes in their operating environment, employers need to invest more in training their workers, especially to provide industry-specific skills. For example, with the rapid pace of technological change, especially AI, investment in industry-specific digital skills enables businesses to reap the benefits of the digital transformation by improving processes and helping them save time and achieve more work at a lower cost. Similarly, by up-skilling their employees, employers in the construction sector can capitalise on new business opportunities in renewable energy, including battery storage integration and EV charger installation.
The form of industry investment in skilling may depend on factors such as business size and financial capacity and may include fee-for-service accredited training, in-house and on-the-job training, and unaccredited training to gain skills that are transferable across the industry.
The Victorian TAFE Network is well placed to support industry investment in skills
Industry can partner with the Victorian TAFE Network to address critical skills shortages and up-skill its workforce. TAFEs and dual sector providers have the capacity and capability to design, develop and deliver responsive industry-specific training. They also offer high-end training facilities and opportunities for applied research and innovation across many emerging and priority industry sectors.
Through Skills Solution Partnerships, Victoria’s industry, TAFEs and dual sector providers partner and co-invest with the Victorian Government to design and pilot new short courses to quickly address skills gaps in priority sectors including the clean economy, advanced manufacturing and defence.
The self-accreditation pilot, led by the Australian Skills and Quality Authority, demonstrated the benefits of self-accreditation for TAFEs. Empowering more Victorian TAFEs with the ability to self-accredit, while fostering strong industry partnerships, supports more responsive industry-specific training and increased industry investment in the up-skilling of its workforce.
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