2010-2011 Budget
This email came from DEEWR
See also www.deewr.gov.au/budget
Impact of the 2010-2011 Budget on the DEEWR Portfolio
I am pleased to provide you with an outline of the 2010-2011 Budget as it impacts on the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations portfolio.
This year’s Budget makes a considerable investment in skills development, designed to address emerging skills shortages and to ensure that Australia is able to meet future workforce demands as the global economy improves.
The Budget provides funding for measures designed to boost the quality and capacity of the Australian workforce. These include additional apprenticeship places; specific training for sectors facing high skills shortages; adult literacy and numeracy training; and a guaranteed entitlement to a training place for all Australians under 25 years of age.
Key highlights of this year’s Budget include a $660 million skills package comprising the following elements:
Up to 39,000 new training places in high demand sectors such as infrastructure, construction, renewable energy and resources.
Around 22,500 new apprenticeship commencements through an extension of the successful Apprentice Kickstart, aimed at small to medium businesses.
A guaranteed entitlement to a training place for all Australians under the age of 25 years, to ensure young people have every opportunity to gain a qualification.
Numeracy, literacy and language courses for up to 140,000 Australians to improve their quality of life, career prospects and productivity.
Better training for 1.7 million Australians studying in the vocational education and training system.
This year’s Budget also focuses on improving the quality of Australia’s early childhood education and child care. It provides $273.7 million to support the introduction of the new National Quality Framework. This will, for the first time, set national quality standards for early childhood education and childcare providers across the country.
I trust you find this summary helpful in explaining the Government’s important policy initiatives across the Education, Employment and Workplace Relations portfolio. I invite you to view the more detailed Budget related information available on our website at www.deewr.gov.au/budget.
11 May 2010