✦ Plain-English Summary

National Skills Commissioner Bill 2020

What it does

The government creates a new job: a National Skills Commissioner who will analyse Australia's skills needs and advise on training and employment gaps. The Commissioner will set up advisory committees and produce reports to help shape education and skills policies.

Why it matters

With skills shortages affecting businesses and job seekers, having someone dedicated to spotting where Australia's workforce is falling short could help match training programs to actual job demand. Better advice to government means better decisions about which industries need workers and how to train them.

Key details

• The Commissioner is appointed by the government and can't do other paid work at the same time (they're a full-time role)
• They can be directed by the Minister on what advice to give, though the bill doesn't detail how independent they really are
• The bill came into force the day after it passed Parliament, so the role was ready to start immediately

Official Description

Establishes the office of the National Skills Commissioner to provide advice and collect, analyse, share and publish data on Australia’s workforce skills needs, efficient prices for vocational education and training (VET) courses, the public and private return on government investment in VET and other matters relating to the VET system.

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

No votes yet.

No votes were recorded for this bill.