The AMWU has welcomed the Federal Government’s release of a discussion paper regarding the reform of vocational education and training.

The Skilling Australia discussion paper, announced by Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Treasurer Wayne Swan and Employment Participation Minister Brendan O’Connor, sets out an additional 450,000 training places over the next 4 years.

AMWU National President Julius Roe said that he was pleased that the focus of the Rudd Government was on higher skills.

“Unlike the Howard Government’s program which was all about fragmenting the trades and reducing the skills workers were trained in, this is going in the opposite direction and ensuring that people receive good quality training that covers the whole gamut of the trade.

“This is about Australian workers competing with other countries on the basis of higher skills, not lower wages and that’s the direction we should be heading.”

Mr Roe said that another positive factor is the involvement of the independent Skills Australia advisory body and strengthened Industry Skills Councils which will be central to the new demand-driven reforms.

Combined with new targets to halve the proportion of Australians aged 24 to 64 years without qualifications at Certificate Level III and above, and to double the number of higher qualification completions (diploma and advanced diploma) by 2020, the reforms are designed to lead to better jobs for working Australians.

Mr Roe said that the union was concerned with the issue of employers choosing the training provider.

“We are of the view that individuals can’t always make informed choices about who can provide the best training and we believe that TAFE is the most desirable institution to do that training.”

But Mr Roe said that he is generally happy that a number of the Government’s reforms are what the union has been asking for, for some time.