Australia's permanent migration intake is about to Rise

Daniel Andrews, the premier of Victoria, highlighted that his administration was investing heavily in vocational education. He emphasised the importance of both migration and enough support for education and training.

The Albanese Government will ensure full employment, productivity growth and equal opportunities for women are central objectives of its economic and fiscal policy.

We will work towards reducing barriers to employment so that all Australians have the opportunity to participate to their full potential.

Working with industry, unions and other stakeholders at the Summit, the Albanese Government has agreed to 36 immediate initiatives including:

• An additional $1 billion in joint Federal-State funding for fee-free TAFE in 2023 and accelerated delivery of 465,000 fee-free TAFE places;

• A one-off income credit so that Age Pensioners who want to work can earn an additional $4,000 over this financial year without losing any of their pension;

• More flexibly utilising $575 million in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to invest in social and affordable housing, and attract financing from superannuation funds and other sources of private capital;

• Modernising Australia`s workplace relations laws, including to make bargaining accessible for all workers and businesses;

• Amending the Fair Work Act to strengthen access to flexible working arrangements, make unpaid parental leave more flexible and strengthen protection for workers against discrimination and harassment;

• Improving access to jobs and training pathways for women, First Nations people, regional Australians and culturally and linguistically diverse people, including equity targets for training places, 1,000 digital apprenticeships in the Australian Public Service, and other measures to reduce barriers to employment;

• An increase in the permanent Migration Program ceiling to 195,000 in 2022-23 to help ease widespread, critical workforce shortages; and

• Extending visas and relaxing work restrictions on international students to strengthen the pipeline of skilled labour, and providing additional funding to resolve the visa backlog

The full Job and Skills Conference results document can be viewed at www.treasury.gov.au/employment-whitepaper/jobs-summit