Page 592 - Week 02 - Thursday, 24 March 2022
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Places are also available in areas like construction and renewables, to reflect the government’s focus on these areas and strengthen our capacity to deliver major infrastructure projects across Canberra, like the Canberra Hospital expansion which is underway. Some examples of the qualifications now open for enrolment include certificate II in construction, certificate IV in ageing support and certificate IV in mental health, as well as the ACT renewable energy skill set and ACT photovoltaic systems skill set.
Getting more Canberrans training locally in these key industries supports our economic development priority of driving skill development and contributes to Canberra’s knowledge economy.
DR PATERSON: How else is the ACT government supporting skills as Canberra’s economy recovers from COVID-19?
MR STEEL: I thank Dr Paterson for her supplementary. To prepare students who are looking to enter the world of work, the ACT government is also investing in the Employment Jumpstart Grants Program. This supports organisations to build entry-level work-ready skills and micro qualifications for jobseekers and young people, like the working with vulnerable people card, the construction white card and asbestos awareness training. We know that these qualifications are often essential to enter the workforce—to get onto a construction site, for example. So undertaking them can help to make more Canberrans job ready.
Both JobTrainer and jumpstart support the ACT government’s agenda to reach 250,000 local jobs by 2025, and are part of the ACT government’s record $126.3 million investment in skills in 2022. This investment will be directed towards where it is needed most to support Canberra’s economic recovery—through CIT, our public TAFE, our user choice programs, the Skilled Capital subsidy programs and other initiatives and support that particularly support vulnerable Canberrans to connect with training.
Meanwhile, we are also investing in the infrastructure we need to support this learning. The new Woden CIT campus will be a state-of-the-art educational institution to support the training of around 6½ thousand students. The ACT government is currently finalising the procurement of the construction with a construction partner for the campus, with development approvals for the campus works expected to commence later this year. We know that strengthening skills is essential to helping Canberrans to find a great job and ensuring that local businesses can find the workers that they need to thrive. That is what we are delivering through the ACT government’s big skill investments.
Events—Canberra Heritage Festival
MR DAVIS: My question is to the Minister for Heritage. Minister, you launched the Canberra Heritage Festival today. As the ACT Greens spokesperson for tourism and events, I am keen to better understand what we believe to be the economic benefit of the Heritage Festival to our local tourism industry.
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