Mr TICEHURST (6:53 PM) —I rise today in support of the Vocational Education and Training Funding Amendment Bill 2004. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Vocational Education and Training Funding Act 1992 to appropriate a total of $1.15 billion as the Australian government's contribution to the delivery of vocational education and training in 2005 and to adjust the currently legislated funding limit for 2004 to reflect the outcome of the ANTA agreement negotiations for that year.

This bill supports the Australian government's plans for a smooth transition to new arrangements for VET funding to be put in place from July 2005. The Australian government is committed to maximising vocational education and training opportunities for our youth and continues to deliver real results for the 70 per cent of school leavers who do not go directly to university from school. A hallmark feature of Australia's highly successful VET system is the growth of new apprenticeships and their diffusion through the work force.

Since 1995, when Labor was last in government, the number of new apprenticeships has increased by 195 per cent to over 416,800 in training as at the end of March 2004. Last year, there were 2,300 new apprentices in Dobell, compared with 650 new apprentices in 1995 when Labor was last in government. That stands in stark contrast to the comments of the previous speaker. This growth in new apprentices is in direct response to the needs of industry for skilled workers. The evidence of the program's success is staggering. Employers are embracing higher skill levels, with 85 per cent of all new apprentices in training participating at certificate III level or higher.

Since 1996, the number of women in VET has grown by 30 per cent to 812,900. The number of Indigenous students has grown by 85 per cent over the same period. Forty-three per cent of VET clients are now in rural and regional Australia. The growth in new apprenticeships has been the strongest for people aged 40 years and over, where the numbers have increased almost sevenfold in the last six years. This is a great achievement. The reskilling of mature age workers helps to position industry to address the labour force challenges of the future.

The VET in Schools program is also working well. In 2002, over 185,500 students were participating in VET in Schools. In fact, the number of school students undertaking training has grown by 97 per cent since 1997, reflecting the huge success of the VET in Schools program, which is now available to more than 95 per cent of Australian technical schools. In fact, at the Wadalba high school in my electorate, 84 students in year 11 are involved in VET programs. That is quite an achievement. Next year that school will be doing year 12 for the first time.

The coalition has introduced school based new apprentices and there are more than 14,000 in training today. However, while there has been great interest in service industries, such as hospitality, tourism and business, there has been less growth in school based new apprenticeships in the trades. The coalition is providing $17.9 million over four years to help a further 4,000 school students get into school based new apprenticeships in the trades through group training. Our local work force reaps the benefit from having school leavers ready for work duties, and the only way this can happen is through good policy and strong partnerships between government, educational institutions, training organisations—like Central Coast Group Training, which does a fantastic job locally—and local businesses. The Central Coast campus of the University of Newcastle has been working hard to expand the VET opportunities for its students.

The Australian government has an integrated and comprehensive plan to ensure that the value of trades is enhanced as a career path. This includes providing expanded opportunities for students wanting a career in the trades, better advice on career opportunities, greater financial assistance for new apprentices and industry initiatives to build our skills base of the future. In fact, in my electorate of Dobell—

Mr Albanese —Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek to intervene.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Quick)—Is the member for Dobell willing to give way?

Mr TICEHURST —No. I wish to continue with my speech. In my local area, the group training scheme has been quite successful. They have over 400 apprentices on the local Central Coast involved with many of the businesses. Also, the local Central Coast manufacturers group hosted a meeting of school advisers from all the secondary schools to give them an opportunity to understand where the skill shortages are in the trades. This is a practical way in which people can be involved. One of the most significant boosts to vocational education and training ever undertaken by the government was announced by the Prime Minister in his election commitments. He announced various measures to address industry skill shortages, including the establishment of 24 technical colleges throughout Australia, and one to service the Central Coast. These technical schools are actually years 11 and 12. They are not competing with TAFE in any way, as members opposite would have us believe.

This is great news for the electorate of Dobell and for Australia. It is wonderful that we can have an Australian government that is achieving record results when it comes to vocational education and training yet is committed to providing even more funding to VET to further maximise opportunities for our kids. The 24 Australian technical colleges will be created in regions suffering serious skill shortages and high rates of youth unemployment and which are supported by a significant or rapidly growing industry base. The abolition of technical colleges by the states has meant that over the past few decades our young people have lacked training and skills. These pathways would have been provided particularly to the 70 per cent who do not go directly from school to university. The price we have paid is the current severe skill trade shortages we are experiencing in many of our key industries. The colleges will provide tuition for up to 300 students in years 11 and 12 and offer both academic and vocational education to students while completing their school studies.

Earlier this year the Howard government also announced the provision of a Commonwealth Trade Learning Scholarship to enable new apprenticeships in skill shortage trades. The scholarships will provide $500 to new apprentices starting their apprenticeship on or after 1 July 2005 at the end of the first and second years of the new apprenticeship. The initiative will assist around 60,000 first- and second- year new apprentices from year 1, July 2005. Many new apprentices eligible for a Commonwealth Trade Learning Scholarship will also be eligible for an $800 tool kit which the coalition government will provide to new apprentices in areas of trade skill shortage.

The Howard government has taken a leadership role in determining the overall direction and strategies to develop a skilled Australian work force. Skill shortages are always of concern to industry, but, as you can see, the government is committed to providing record funding levels toward VET initiatives to address this. Industry is increasingly recognising that an investment in skills is critical to its bottom line. As a result of the coalition government's investment in training and direct assistance to employers of new apprentices, Australian employers are spending more on training their employees than ever before. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, employers are spending 52 per cent more on training than they were in 1996. The Australian government's vocational education and training program continues to go from strength to strength and is in stark contrast to the poor VET results of the Australian Labor Party.

As I mentioned earlier, new apprenticeships have increased by over 195 per cent since Labor was in government. However, this is not the only evidence of Labor's lack of commitment to the provision of vocational training opportunities. When the Howard government offered a new ANTA agreement to the states and territories in May last year, every state and territory rejected our offer of an additional $220 million of funding for the creation of thousands of new training places. To keep good faith, the government applied the funding which was not taken up by the states and territories to purchase a total of 75,000 training places for priority groups. These are older workers, parents returning to work and people with disabilities. In this way the Australian government has fully maintained its level of commitment to vocational education and training in 2004 despite a lack of cooperation from federal and state Labor.

We have announced new measures in our election commitments to a total value of $1.06 billion over four years. This is one of the largest boosts to vocational education and training undertaken by any government. These new measures include extending youth allowance to new apprentices who are currently not eligible to receive youth allowance, even though they undertake studies while they are employed. This contrasts with the situation for university students. They are enabled to combine study and work while retaining their entitlement to youth allowance and Austudy within current eligibility requirements.

The coalition government will provide a further $5 million over three years in residential assistance to new apprentices who have to move away from their family home in order to start or continue a new apprenticeship. The coalition will provide funding for prevocational training, which is a prerequisite for many businesses. This will provide apprentices with basic skills in the workplace, including familiarity with tools and simple work practices, before they work as new apprentices. It is disappointing that over recent years the states and territories have been slashing places in prevocational training in the trades, limiting opportunities for young people to get a step up into a trade. The coalition government will provide $35.5 million over four years to more than double the new apprenticeship access program, which gives participants assistance with basic literacy and numeracy, employability skills and other relevant work and trade skills.

The Australian government has played and will continue to play a leadership role in the overall direction and strategies needed to develop a skilled Australian work force. Funding under the VET Funding Act in 1995 was $77.9 million. For 2005 under this bill the government will be spending $1.148 billion, underpinning the nation's strong economic growth and low unemployment. Since coming to power this government has revived Australia's vocational education and training system. The numbers in training have grown from 1.27 million in 1995 to over 1.72 million—an increase of 35 per cent. The number of new apprenticeships has grown by 195 per cent to span over 500 different occupations. New apprenticeships are vital to ensure the future economic prosperity of my local region and of our nation. The continuing financial support for the training of new apprenticeships is provided for in the bill presently before the House. I urge members opposite to support this important piece of legislation.