The Federal and Victorian Governments have established a five-year National Skills Agreement (NSA) to build the skills and prosperity of Victoria. The agreement takes effect from January, embedding national cooperation and strategic investment into Victoria's TAFE and training sector.

NDS welcomes this initiative and the funding, which will deliver skills for care and support services. However, we are concerned that it strongly favours TAFEs at the expense of independent RTOs, which have a larger presence in many regional and remote areas.

Nationally, the $12.6 billion investment by the Commonwealth includes an extra $2.4 billion in flexible funding to support state and territory skills sectors to deliver skills for critical and emerging industries.

The priority industries include care and support services. Other priorities include:

• clean energy and the net zero transformation of the economy
• Australia’s sovereign capability, including advanced manufacturing skills, national security, food security and construction
• ensuring Australia’s digital and technology capability.

The agreement also includes the establishment of nationally networked TAFE Centres of Excellence, which will involve partnerships between TAFEs, universities, Jobs and Skills Councils and industry. We will be advocating for the inclusion of disability services to contribute to the work of these new centres.

In a historic first, a new National Stewardship model will coordinate investment in skills across the country to address national priority areas, giving states and territories flexibility to meet local needs.

In Victoria, the Federal Government has said it will invest up to $3.15 billion to expand access to vocational education and training (VET), which will support quality training and address critical skills shortages.

With Victoria expecting significant workforce growth over the next five years, the NSA will put money into training, infrastructure and participation. This includes a $105 million extension to the free TAFE funding arrangements, which means an additional 62,800 free places for Victorian students over the next three years.

While NDS welcomes new skills funding for our sector, we note how heavily the money is targeted at TAFEs. Undoubtedly, TAFEs play a crucial role in the VET sector, but an important proportion of quality training in Victoria is through independent registered training organisations (RTOs), which often have a larger presence in regional and remote areas and have strong links to industry.

Furthermore, recent NCVER data reveal that, across all qualification levels, private RTOs achieved higher completion rates than TAFE colleges, proof of their value in the VET sector mix.

Given the Disability Royal Commission's recent call to elevate the standards of the disability support sector, investing in a skilled, capable, diverse and sustainable workforce is crucial.

NDS welcomes the increased investment in VET training from the federal and state governments. However, we also hope to see an expansion of the training organisations considered for funding. This would address workforce shortages more swiftly and more people with disability will sooner enjoy high-quality and safe services.