Australia?s Industry Skills Councils, including SkillsDMC, the national industry skills council for the resources and infrastructure sectors, gathered with key industry bodies at a conference at Parliament House in Canberra in late June to explore the critical skills challenges facing industry and how the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system can become a strategic partner of governments and industry.
An industry compact signed by industry leaders Innes Willox, chief executive of the Ai Group, ACTU president Ged Kearney and ACCI chief executive Peter Anderson was presented to Government and Coalition representatives.
The compact reaffirms industry?s commitment to Industry Training Packages as the specification of the skills and knowledge required to perform effectively in the workplace and as the central currency of the VET system.
An outcome of the open Q&A session was the identification of key skill issues to support productivity growth across the economy including digital literacy and management skills.
The conference discussed measures to ensure high quality skills development outlined in a recent report prepared by the Industry Skills Councils. The report proposes the incorporation of industry defined delivery and assessment measures within high risk/high priority, nationally endorsed qualifications.
The Industry Skills Councils were formed in 2004 as a partnership between industry and the Australian Government. Their mandate is to bring together industry, educators and governments to support an industry-led agenda for action on skills development and workforce planning.
Maintaining industry?s leadership of the VET system is considered paramount as it faces increasing pressure to lift the productive capacity of its workforce.
Source: Industry Skills Councils