No. 04

HELPING BUSINESS ADDRESS THE SKILLS SHORTAGE

The ACT Government is investing $492,000 over two years on local solutions to the national skills shortage. The funding will be used to support the work of the ACT Skills Commission established in 2006. 
 
“This extra funding will build on the research, data gathering and consultation work the Skills Commission has done over the past six months,” Chief Minister and Treasurer Jon Stanhope said.

“The Commission is getting on with the job of providing expert, strategic advice to the ACT Government on skills formation, training and other strategies required to meet the ACT’s skills needs now and into the future. 

“In order to take the Territory forward we need to invest today to ensure we have the skilled workforce ACT businesses need now and into the future.

“Regular surveys cite access to skilled workers as the most significant issue facing ACT businesses and our public-sector employers. While the problem is significant across Australia, it is particularly acute in the ACT where we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, combined with a very high labour-force participation rate. 

“The Skills Commission has drawn on its members’ expertise and networks to establish a work program to tackle a range of skill issues.”  

The Commission is focusing on five key areas:
•	maximising the impact of existing skills training and education approaches in the ACT;
•	attracting new and retaining existing workers;
•	addressing areas of acute shortage with an initial focus on ICT skills shortages; 
•	looking at broader community issues, such as underemployment, and assisting those wishing to enter the workforce to do so; and
•	looking at long-term trends and future skills issues to better plan for the future.

The Commission is consulting with stakeholders including business, employees, students, education providers and the broader ACT community. The Commission is also undertaking several research projects to better understand the drivers of the skills shortage and identify possible solutions. 

“I look forward to receiving the Commission’s interim report to ACT Government in the next few months,” Mr Stanhope said.