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Industry News, Latest News, New South Wales, Skills and training

NSW invests $100M to turbocharge training

The Civil Contractors Federation (CCF) has called for civil construction skills to be listed as essential on the Federal Government's National Skills Needs List to help the sector attract new workers and upskill the existing workforce.

The New South Wales Government aims to turbocharge skills training through a $100 million economic recovery package to create 103,000 additional free training places.

The recovery package contains new funding to extend the successful JobTrainer program, hundreds of fully-funded school-based apprenticeships and traineeships for Aboriginal students and funding for new ICT traineeships in the public sector.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the $100 million investment would support a pipeline of skilled workers and spearhead the State’s recovery by providing businesses with a highly- trained workforce.

“By investing in a skills-led recovery, the NSW Government is not only futureproofing jobs but ensuring people have the right skills to plug current shortages as the economy emerges from the pandemic,” Perrottet said.

“NSW is leading the nation in free skills training in the joint Federal and State JobTrainer program with more than 136,000 people in NSW taking up a course since it was introduced last October.”

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NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said the investment, part of the Government’s COVID-19 economic recovery package, will benefit critical industries including construction, health and IT to help NSW bounce back better.

“This is a significant investment to help the people of NSW get back to work, upskill or enter the workforce for the first time, particularly in critical industries like construction, IT, health and hospitality,” Kean said.

“These critical industries are vital to our economic growth and prosperity and the NSW Government will continue to invest in training initiatives to get more people into jobs.”

NSW Skills and Tertiary Education Minister Geoff Lee said apprenticeships and traineeships were critical to supporting the careers of tomorrow.

“The NSW Government has always been committed to making training accessible to everyone, and this $100 million recovery package continues this Government’s unprecedented investment in skills training,” Lee said.

The package includes additional Elsa Dixon Aboriginal Employment Grants and new ICT Traineeships, which aim to develop and support Aboriginal students and budding IT professionals across the NSW through the creation of training and employment opportunities in public sector agencies.

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