To get the biggest bang for every buck spent on major projects, we need to ensure that the projects are built by Western Australians. This will ensure every dollar spend stays in WA and goes on to create jobs in other parts of the local economy.
We hear regularly from industry that there are skills shortages in Western Australia, but strong government action could alleviate this.
In 2019, the State Government halved TAFE fees for priority skills courses, which are courses in areas WA has a skills shortage. We commend the government for this but call on them to go a step further be making these courses free.
In addition, we call on the government to commit to ensuring that TAFE courses are made free for skills in which skills shortages emerge in the future and, where there is no course available for that skill, commit to developing a curriculum that meets those skills needs.
Fees should be made free for courses up to Cert IV level, to provide workers with complete qualifications that are portable across employers and industries.