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A Blueprint for building a stronger and sustainable VET workforce

03 October 2024

The Blueprint identifies 8 opportunities and 14 actions to attract, retain, develop and support the sustainability of Australia’s VET workforce. It provides a long-term plan that will be responsive to changes in the VET sector and the economy.  

There are 3 key goals of the Blueprint:  

  • Growing the workforce: Increasing the number of people entering the VET workforce pipeline to ensure long-term supply of the staff needed.  
  • Retaining and developing the workforce: Improving retention and supporting workforce capability to ensure a sustainable, highly skilled and quality VET workforce, both now and into the future.  
  • Understanding the workforce: Developing a data collection on the VET workforce and undertaking foundational work and research to better understand the various roles and pathways across all VET contexts.

The Blueprint is a long-term investment to support the growth, sustainability, and continuous improvement of the VET workforce.   
Ongoing collaboration between all stakeholders, including governments, registered training organisations, industry, peak organisations, unions and employers, is vital to achieve meaningful and long-term change. These actions need to happen at the national, local, industry and training provider level.  

As part of its commitment to strengthening the VET workforce, the Australian Government is investing up to $100 million over 5 years through the National Skills Agreement to respond to the Blueprint. This includes $70 million for state and territory initiatives, with matched funding from states and territories, and $30 million to support agreed areas of national action.  

An initial suite of agreed national actions will be led by the Commonwealth in response to the Blueprint. They provide immediate support to the VET workforce, including: 

  • occupational mapping for the VET workforce 
  • a VET workforce data strategy 
  • an ongoing research program for key workforce issues 
  • mapping and analysing compliance and administrative burden to inform strategies to reduce this burden. 

The Jobs and Skills Councils will also lead VET workforce actions that inform and complement the opportunities and actions identified in the VET Workforce Blueprint. $12 million in funding is being invested over the next 12-18 months to take this program of work forward. 

To read the VET Workforce Blueprint, visit the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations website. 

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