Industry-Innovation-and-Competitiveness-Agenda

Co
In
Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda
TPO00007
Ongoing work programme
The Government is working to address additional issues in the VET sector, including
through considering options to improve data collection and information sharing between
key VET stakeholders, and possible reforms focusing on VET in schools and school based
apprenticeships.
The Government is working with States and Territories through COAG, the COAG Industry
and Skills Council and the Reform of the Federation White Paper on these and other
opportunities to improve the VET system nationally. Streamlined governance arrangements
have been agreed for the COAG Industry and Skills Council with a move to a single industryled
Australian Industry and Skills Committee. The Minister will also be directly advised by
industry through his VET Advisory Board.
Attracting the best and brightest to meet Australia’s skills needs
Skilled migration is critical for a strong and vibrant economy. As well as building the skills of the
domestic workforce through education and training, Australia will increasingly need to compete
for the world’s best and brightest.
The know-how, innovation and entrepreneurship of highly skilled migrants can lift a country’s
productivity and competitiveness directly. Skilled migrants can also raise the capabilities of the
local workforce by transferring their skills and knowledge. Short-term migration can also deal
with temporary skills shortages. Where particular skills are critical for business projects but are in
short supply, skilled migration can enable such projects to proceed, generating jobs and incomes
for Australian workers too. Skilled migrants also often bring capital, or can help to attract it, and
are major contributors to government taxation revenues.
Highly skilled workers are becoming increasingly internationally mobile. As their skills are in
high demand globally and are readily transferable across borders, these workers have a great
many choices about where they work. Australia needs to maintain a welcoming attitude towards
skilled migrants and minimise the roadblocks to their migration, not least because they might
otherwise work for our competitors.
While migration has been a hallmark of Australia’s development, many Australians have
concerns that large inflows of foreign labour could place pressure on wages, conditions
and jobs. This is of particular concern for those with low skills or other difficulties attaining
and retaining employment.
This highlights the importance of focusing on skilled migration, which can increase the
employment prospects and incomes of lower skilled Australians. Business groups have
emphasised the importance of skilled migration for increasing the skills of Australian workers,
and for the viability and competitiveness of operations in Australia more generally.
54 Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda