Queensland is leading the nation in increased investment in higher level vocational education and training (VET) with almost $74 million invested to overcome skills shortages.

Recent data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) showed Queensland was the only state to increase funding in certificate IV, diploma and higher-level qualifications in 2018.

Minister for Training and Skills Development Shannon Fentiman said the data reflected the Palaszczuk Government’s commitment to skilling Queenslanders.

“We have invested almost $1 billion towards training to ensure our industries continue to get local skilled workers they need,” Ms Fentiman said.

“Even when there was an almost $43 million decrease to higher level training across the nation, we are powering ahead by increasing our investment.

“This includes free tafe and free apprenticeships which are already supporting almost 15,000 young Queenslanders to gain a valuable qualification for FREE.

“Queensland is home to half of the nations school-based apprentices and trainees, which means more school students have a head start in their careers before they leave school.”

“We could not deliver these results if it wasn’t for our dedication and commitment to providing skills and training opportunities for all Queenslanders.”

“When the Federal LNP Government cut billions from VET funding and turned its back on the businesses that rely on skilled workers, states and territories have had to bear the brunt of their short-sighted decision,” Ms Fentiman said.

“The Palaszczuk Government has put in place the mechanisms to ensure that the impact of the Commonwealth’s cuts to training on Queensland businesses were minimised.”

“We want to see more jobs in more industries and that means we need make sure our young people have access to skills training.”

Key findings:

Nationally there has been a $43 million decrease in higher level training in 2018.

Queensland invested $945.2 million in overall VET in 2018, an increase of $25.8 million compared to 2017

Queensland’s investment in apprenticeships and traineeships funding totalled $235 million in 2018, an increase of $3.0 million compared to 2017.

NCVER is the principal provider of research, statistics and data on Australia’s VET sector.

Link to report Government funding of VET 2018: www.ncver.edu.au/publications