Wednesday, 21 September 2022

Economy and Infrastructure Committee

Inquiry into Victorian Universities’ Investment in Skills

Ms ADDISON (Wendouree) (10:29): I am very pleased to stand today to speak about the Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee’s report on the inquiry into Victorian universities’ investment in skills, which was tabled on 1 September by the chair, the member for Lara. This government is very committed to skills and training, and I would really like to thank the minister in the other place, Minister Tierney, for the great job she is going and the leadership she is showing in the fields of training and skills as well as being Minister for Higher Education. When we got the announcement that we were going to be looking into Victorian universities and investments in skills, I was really, really excited and thought that this was really important work in 2022 for us to be doing. This is a really great report.

But before I go on to that, I really would like to thank the chair of the committee, the member for Lara; the deputy chair, the member for Narracan; the member for Northcote; the member for Geelong; the member for Euroa; and the member for Ferntree Gully. I would particularly like to wish the members for Lara, Narracan and Euroa all the best for their next chapter and thank them very much for the contributions that they made to our committee. It was really, really terrific to work on this committee, and I learned a lot through the leadership shown by the chair and the deputy chair, so I am grateful for that. I am confident that on behalf of our committee I can pass on our gratitude to the secretariat for their hard work and support. Our secretariat was first class. Kerryn Riseley was committee manager up until July. We then had committee manager Igor Dosen appointed in July. We had wonderful research officers. I notice that Marianne is in the house as well, who has also done great work. I would really like to thank Dr Ana Maria Palacio Valencia for the work that she did, and thanks for the support she got from other research officers, including Raylene D’Cruz and Katherine Murtagh, from July onwards. Our committee also had the support of Aimee Weir as research officer as well, and big thanks to our administrative officer Janelle Spielvogel, who kept us all organised. I thank you very much.

On 8 March the committee received the terms of reference to conduct an inquiry into how Victorian universities can play a greater role to support the pipeline of skilled workers in government priority areas. In relation to skills, the Legislative Assembly asked the committee to consider future demands in developing a clean economy and regional needs in health, agriculture and community services. The committee received 26 submissions and conducted three days of online public hearings to consider how Victorian universities can contribute to skilled workers across Victoria.

I would really like to thank ACU, Deakin, La Trobe, Monash, University of Melbourne, VUT and Swinburne University of Technology, and of course Federation University from my community of Ballarat. This was an incredibly timely inquiry given the Albanese government identified the issues of jobs and skills as a priority. We tabled our report on 1 September, the same day as the federal government’s Jobs and Skills Summit. I was delighted to hear from the vice-chancellor of Federation University, Professor Duncan Bentley, how significant he thought our committee report was. The day following its tabling, Professor Bentley presented to the national Jobs and Skills Summit with the Minister for Skills and Training. Their panel was on skills and training for the future labour market. Professor Duncan Bentley told me he read our report on his flight to Canberra and it helped inform his contribution to the summit. That is how significant this report is.

It is also timely because skills shortages are impacting communities across Victoria, including my community of Ballarat. The issues of skills shortages and job vacancies are challenges for many local businesses, and they are often being raised with me with concern. We know that skills shortages are due to a range of factors, including low enrolment in courses relevant to priority employment areas, university graduates not possessing the skills required by industry and of course COVID-19. Victoria is facing skills shortages in several areas, and we know that university-level education will be required for many professionals in this sector. I thank the committee for their work.