National Water Skills Audit - Australian Water Association

Table 3.5: Australian Government strategies, policies and programs, including details of committed funding and trainingplaces, where providedProgram/policy nameRealising Our Potential-Universities-Bachelor of Science*-Bachelor of Engineering*-Tertiary education access-Vocational education-Schools-Higher Education Endowment FundCommitment$3.5 billion overall$1.7 billion, 2,300 new places, including175 undergraduate places, five Honours, 10 Masters520 undergraduate places, 10 Masters$222 million$638 million$843 million$5 billionSkilling Australia for the FutureEducational reform and skilling workforce. Aims to halve proportion of people withoutqualifications of Cert III or above and double proportion with qualifications of Diploma and above.Productivity Places Program 450,000 new training places overall. 20,000 available for job seekers from 1st April 2008.-Existing workers275,000 training places, including 450,000 Apprenticeships.-Job seekers175,000 training places, including 20,000 Apprenticeships.Mentors for our students$5 million over four years to train 750 mentors in 25 communities.National Training Infrastructure ProgramProvides Australian Government sourced capital funding to the states and territories forinfrastructure projects in the vocational education and training sector. Funding for Skill Centresfor School Students, Industry Skill Centres, and VET Infrastructure for Indigenous People isprovided through sub-components of this program.Group Training Australian ApprenticeshipsTargeted Initiatives ProgramObjective is to fund Group Training Organisations (GTOs) to undertake projects to generatequality Australian Apprenticeships opportunities, and employ Australian Apprentices in priorityareas.Industry Training Strategies ProgrammeFunds projects that help employers to more fully understand nationally endorsed trainingpackages, with a particular emphasis on increasing pathways for Australian Apprentices.Australian Apprenticeships IncentivesProgrammeOffers financial incentives to eligible employers who take on an Australian Apprentice.Support for Mid-Career ApprenticesAims to encourage Australians 30 and over to commence an Australian Apprenticeship atCertificate III or IV level in a trade experiencing a skills shortage by providing additional financialincentives.Indigenous Tutorial Assistance SchemeAims to maximise educational opportunities available to eligible Indigenous students and toimprove their education outcomes. $7.7 million over 2006-08 for assistance with transition stageof schooling (first year only).National Water InitiativeThe National Water Initiative represents the Australian Government’s and state and territorygovernments’ shared commitment to water reform. Initial Commonwealth funding (2005-07)was $2 billion, the majority for infrastructure).$1.7 million Graduate Course in Water Planning$1.2 National Water Skills Resources Project$250,000 National Water Sector Skills Project$1,350,000 National Fellowship Programme$30 million National Centre for GW Research and Training.Water for the Future$12.9 billion*Excludes places that have no relevance to the water sector, such as Bachelor of Science (Marine Biology).14 ICE WaRM • National Skills Audit (Phase One) Report