Economic News, Investor News

Workforce And Skills Shortages In The Australian Building Industry

The Housing Industry Association of Australia approached all major political parties and asked the hard questions regarding critical policy issues. Find out about Workforce and Skills issues …

What is the policy position taken by each major party including the Australian Labor Party, The Liberal National Coalition and The Greens.

Workforce and Skills 

What measures will you adopt to increase workforce capacity to overcome current and future skills shortages in the residential building industry?

Labor -

Under a re-elected Gillard Labor Government, from 2012 students from Years 9 to 12 will be offered new National Trade Cadetships as a training option under the National Curriculum.

In addition, from 1 January 2011 trade apprentices will receive up to an additional $1,700 tax exempt bonus as they reach milestones in their training.

The Trades Apprentice Income Bonus means that trade apprentices will receive a $5,500 tax exempt bonus over the course of their training that they can use to purchase tools, service their ute, pay for registration and insurance, and meet other expenses.

The Trades Apprentice Income Bonus will be paid on top of the existing Tools For Your Trade payments. This means, as trade apprentices like carpenters, bricklayers and motor mechanics reach milestones each year they will get an additional:
$200 – bringing the 12 month payment to $1,000.
$200 – bringing the 24 month payment to $1,000.
$500 – bringing the 36 month payment to $1,200.
$800 – bringing the completion bonus to $1,500.

An additional 50,000 apprentices are expected to start and stick with their apprenticeship by 2014 as a result of this program.

The Gillard Labor Government will also support apprentices through high quality mentoring services to support them in finishing their trade apprenticeship.

The National Trade Cadetship is the next step in Federal Labor’s plan to deliver a world class education system to give every young person the opportunity to succeed no matter where they live.
The Cadetships will ensure students at school who want a career in the trades have a clearly defined pathway, equal in quality, value and rigour to traditional academic pursuits.

National Trade Cadetships will be nationally recognised and will provide credit towards an apprenticeship or further training.

There will be two streams of National Trade Cadetship available:
1. National Trade Cadetship – Foundation, which will focus on essential work readiness skills and laying the foundation for further training.
2. National Trade Cadetship – Pre-Apprentice which will focus on a specific trade or occupation area.

There are around 220,000 students participating in Vocational Education and Training (VET) in schools, representing 41 per cent of all school students undertaking a senior secondary certificate.

Currently, these students often complete different components of a VET course with little ability to carry this training into a higher qualification.

The new National Trade Cadetship will benefit these students by giving them, for the first time, training and skills that can contribute to their further training and careers. Employers will also benefit from a better skilled, more prepared workforce.

The National Trade Cadetships will be developed by the Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority (ACARA) – the body that developed the National Curriculum – in partnership with Industry Skills Councils and the States and Territories.

The Cadetships will be delivered in the Government’s new Trade Training Centres which are being constructed through a $2.5 billion investment by the Gillard Labor Government.

Since the Government’s Trade Training Centres in Schools Program commenced, 230 projects have been approved benefiting 732 schools. Federal Labor will continue this program so every secondary school student has access to a Trade Training Centre.

Tony Abbott has said he will cut Trades Training Centres in high schools. This means more than 1,800 secondary schools and 1.2 million students will miss out on the chance to start learning a trade at high school.

The Australian Government will provide $3.1 million over two years to establish the National Trade Cadetship. This funding will be fully offset over the forward estimates.
The Trade Training Centres in Schools Program was a major 2007 election commitment by Federal Labor, designed to give young Australians greater training opportunities and help address the skills shortage.

It builds on the Federal Labor’s commitment to improve the quality of schooling offered to secondary students undertaking trade-related pathways, assisting them in making a successful transition from school to work or further education and training. At the same time, businesses and industry will benefit from having a better trained workforce.
Under the 10 year Trade Training Centres in Schools Program, Australia’s 2,650 secondary schools are eligible to apply for funding of between $500,000 and $1.5 million to establish, or upgrade, existing trade training facilities.

Since the Trade Training Centres in Schools Program commenced, the Australian Government has approved 230 projects, benefiting 732 schools.

There are 158 projects underway to construct or refurbish Trade Training Centres and 68 projects have commenced construction.

26 Trade Training Centre projects have been completed and 45 Trade Training Centre school sites are already delivering new trade qualifications as a result of funding provided under this Program.

By the end of 2010, approximately 68 Trade Training Centre projects benefiting 173 schools are scheduled to be completed.

There is overwhelming demand from schools for the Trade Training Centres in Schools Program to enhance student access to trade training and help address Australia’s long term skills shortages. Enhanced access to Trade Training Centres is also anticipated to help increase the proportion of students achieving Year 12 or an equivalent qualification.

Coalition -

The Coalition has flagged that it will work to increase the participation rate, particularly amongst groups with traditionally lower rates, like women. The Coalition’s key policy initiative in this area is a comprehensive Paid Parental Level plan. Our plan gives the primary carer six months of paid leave at their real salary (up to an annual salary of $150,000 or the federal minimum wage, whichever is greater).

Our plan to provide paid parental leave includes contractors and the self employed, and is available to part-time and casual workers who work at least one day a week. This comprehensive scheme will encourage women to return to the workforce.

Labor’s proposal is only 18 weeks at the minimum wage and excludes superannuation.

Governments can also ensure higher participation rates through a rigorous application of mutual obligation requirements for those receiving welfare. The Labor government has weakened mutual obligation requirements including:
• The numbers of job seekers with exemptions from work-for-the-dole and other work experience requirements has increased from 10% to 30% in some areas;
• The number of penalties for breaches has fallen from 32,000 (2007-08) to 19,405 (2008-09); • Job seekers are compelled to a work-for-the-dole program after 12 months, instead of 6 months;
• Work-for-the-dole numbers have been cut, from 22,362 (2005) to 12,695 (2005).

A Coalition government will restore commitment to mutual obligation. We will also improve the quality of our training system. The Coalition will take vocational and technical education seriously – unlike the Labor government – returning a focus of excellence to the sector.

Greens -

The Greens recognise the need to increase workforce capacity in a range of industries, including construction and are keen to further discuss appropriate measures with relevant stakeholders.

Source: HIA Media Release

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