Australia Announces Skills Training To Go Green By 2010

The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, today announced that all apprenticeships and vocational education training packages will be reviewed to ensure that they include relevant green skills by March next year, and that all courses will be revised to include the new green skills by the end of 2010.

Ms Gillard was speaking at the first national Green Skills Forum where more than 100 business and union leaders, educators and experts met to discuss the challenges of ensuring the Australian workforce has the skills to tackle climate change.

Ms Gillard said if we can, on a major scale, reduce waste, conserve and better manage water, develop more energy efficient cities and sustainable transport systems – these will be inherently good things. Not just to meet treaty obligations or because of what will happen if we fail.

These steps are in themselves powerful measures to improve the competitiveness of our industries and they will be better for the health of Australians and good for our environment.

The Forum considered a draft National Green Skills Agreement between the Commonwealth and States and Territories that will move to update apprentices training packages, set national standards for green skills teaching and assist trainers to include green skills in their courses.

The Agreement will be taken to the Ministerial Council on Training, Education and Employment next month, and to COAG in December.

The Commonwealth Government recently committed to a green skills program that will see 50,000 green jobs and training opportunities made available, including:

• 30,000 apprentices will graduate by 2011 with green skills as part of their qualifications;

• 10,000 unemployed 17 – 24 year olds will be able to access a 26 week environmental work experience and training program through the National Green Corps;

• 4,000 training opportunities for installation installers; and,

• 6,000 new jobs contributing to environmental sustainability in priority local economies.

The Government will also provide $200 million to TAFEs and has allocated up to $650 million to the sustainability round of the Education Investment Fund to support research and apply green technologies in universities and the TAFE sector.

Topics: apprenticeships, Australia, Australian workforce, business, climate change, education, educators, employment, experts, Governance, green, Green Jobs, Green Skills, Green Skills Forum, relevant green skills, vocational education

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