The ACT Government has launched a new skills and workforce agenda to ensure Canberrans have the right skills for in demand jobs – now and into the future.
We are ambitious for Canberra, for the growth of our economy, the wellbeing of our community, the capability of our workforce and the great jobs that thriving local industries can offer," said Minister for Skills Chris Steel.
"From sustainable trades, to cyber, caring professions and more, there is so much opportunity for Canberra's local training providers to contribute to building the skilled workforce we need to secure and build on Canberra's prosperity.
"Skills shortages and accelerated change in the world of work have put a spotlight on skills and workforce development like never before – that's why we're delivering this new agenda and combining it with a record $126.3 million investment in skills in 2022."
Skilled to Succeed: Skills and workforce agenda for the ACT is focused on addressing skills shortages today and building workforce capability to support the growth of emerging industries.
This agenda focuses on four key priorities:
- Delivering skills inclusively to provide all Canberrans a foundation for lifelong learning.
- Building a more responsive, flexible and future-focussed skills system.
- Assisting employers to build, attract and retain the right workforce.
- Strengthening skills sector foundations.
"We want every Canberran to be skilled to succeed – not just young people leaving school today but anyone at any point in their lives who wants to upskill, re-skill or reconnect with work," said Minister Steel.
To ensure our skills system meets these needs, the ACT Government will continue its commitment to Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) as the cornerstone of Canberra's training system.
This includes investing $300 million in the new state-of-the-art CIT campus and Youth Foyer for Woden, to deliver flexible learning options, with smart classrooms to support e-learning, simulated learning environments, commercial kitchens and hands-on training spaces.
"We will work with local industry to ensure our training system and skilled migration settings are responsive to ongoing and emerging skills needs, and we are calling on business and industry to partner with us to create even more opportunities for training, to support the ongoing development and attraction of a highly skilled workforce," said Minister Steel.
