THE state government’s skills training initiative is having a positive impact on the number of people undertaking skills training in Western Australia, according to Training and Workforce Development Minister Peter Collier.
Mr Collier said this week that a record number of people were partaking in training in WA, with a 12 per cent rise in the number of working-age people undertaking government-funded training since 2008, bringing the total number of people in training to 143,553 at the end of 2010.
“That’s more than 20,000 additional people enrolling in training in the past two years, and brings the number of people in training close to the 2012 target of 145,500,” Mr Collier said.
He added that the state government and state training board produced the strategy ‘Training WA’ in 2009, which aimed to bring training providers, industry and employers to work more closely together to build a more skilled workforce. The plan was introduced at a time when apprenticeship numbers were dropping as a result of the GFC, but Mr Collier said a record number of apprentices were now in training in WA, more than 40,000.
In 2009, 9,743 employers had apprentices on board, compared to 10,288 in December of last year.
In a statement, Mr Collier said there was a 48 per cent increase in the 25-to-29-year age group undertaking training and a 57 per cent increase among the 50-to-64-year age group, while the value of higher-level skills was also being recognised with a 38 per cent increase in course enrolments for certificate IV and above since 2008.
Also, there had been a 14 per cent increase in enrolments in employment-related training by Aboriginal people – from 7,156 (2008) to 9,149 (2010) – well ahead of the 2012 target of 7,600, he said.
“Much of the credit for that result can be attributed to the state government’s Training Together-Working Together Aboriginal workforce development strategy and the establishment of Aboriginal Workforce Development Centres in Perth, Broome, Bunbury, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie-Boulder,” Mr Collier said.
“There was a 9.4 per cent increase in apprenticeship starts in 2010-11 compared to 2009-10, which is an indication of the confidence employers are now showing since the economic downturn in 2009.”
The government has committed $54.6 million to Training WA.