Western Australia's Great Southern region is today hosting the last of a series of 10 Regional Skills Summits that have been hosted around WA by the State Government since August 2021. Strong industry representation throughout the Regional Skills Summits has seen total attendance for the series reach more than 350, and this final event fulfils the State Government's commitment to take their skills summits statewide before Christmas.
Local business and government leaders met today to generate innovative ideas and practical actions to grow the skilled workforce in the Great Southern region, with around 40 people from a range of sectors attending — including the Great Southern region’s biggest employing industries of agriculture, forestry and fishing; healthcare and social assistance; retail; education and training; and construction. Insights from today's summit will form the basis of a local action plan to meet the region’s unique workforce needs.
Recognising the importance of training to build a skilled workforce and retain people in regional areas, the State Government has been working to ensure its investment in training initiatives reaches all corners of the State.
The State Government recently expanded the LFLS program by a further 30 courses from 2022, to include a total of 210 courses with heavily reduced course fees in priority industry areas including hospitality, healthcare, construction, retail and others. Workers in industries which have a critical need to upskill workers – including childcare, aged and disability care, and civil construction – will be able to access low fee existing worker traineeship places to help meet the skills needs of these sectors.
The new initiatives respond to workforce issues raised by industry leaders at the Perth and regional skills summits held to date, and are jointly funded through a $103.5 million agreement between the State and Commonwealth governments under the expanded JobTrainer Fund agreement. Other initiatives progressing from the Perth Skills Summit include:
The State Government is also providing support for jobseekers experiencing disadvantage to obtain a driver’s licence; progressing targeted advertising campaigns to attract interstate workers and increase participation of under-represented groups in WA; has smoothed the pipeline of construction work; and run the series of 10 Regional Skills Summits wrapping up in Albany today. Fostering strong links between regional TAFE colleges and government, industry and the education sector, the VET Regional Partnerships Program also continues to grow. With a focus on creating more apprenticeships and traineeships in regional WA, the Program supports the Government’s plan to increase the number of jobs in regional WA by 30,000.
“Today’s Regional Skills Summit in Albany completes a thorough, state-wide examination of the unique skills needs of regional WA.“ said Eduation and Training Minister Sue Ellery. "Our Government has now heard directly from industries across the State about their ideas to increase the capability of their local workforces and to fill local jobs.”.
Albany MLA Rebecca Stephens said "I am really pleased to be hosting the final Skills Summit here in Albany. Having worked as a training and careers manager before entering Parliament, I know that it is critical for business to work alongside government and the broader community to ensure we have enough local people to fill local jobs.".