September 2025
The Productivity Commission’s Interim Report on Building a skilled and adaptable workforce proposes a number of reforms to secondary and post-secondary education and to occupational entry requirements to build a more skilled and adaptable workforce, an essential pillar of a growing economy.
FTB roles account for 13% of Australia’s total workforce, with significant growth since 2021, underscoring the need to:
- Broaden and deepen the domestic talent pool
- Ensure effective pathways into FTB industries and occupations
Recognising VET Purpose 3 qualifications provide additional opportunities for innovation, such as cross-industry skills; foundation skills; models to deliver stronger educational outcomes for learners:
- A national skills taxonomy would enable employers to describe their business needs in terms of skills
- Adopting skills-based workforce development would strengthen education pathways, encouraging cross-sector collaboration between education providers and with stakeholders
The Best Resources to Improve School Student Outcomes:
- High-quality, curriculum-aligned lesson planning materials that articulate nationally agreed learning outcomes for generalist skills could be transformative.
- Industry, employers, and tertiary education and training sector collaboration should ensure learning outcomes reflect skills relevant across the labour market and serve as building blocks for specialist capabilities
- A focus on the importance of digital skills at a material capability to enable building of further digital and specialist skills
Building Skills and Qualifications for a More Productive Workforce:
- While enhancing the functionality of RPL is important, relying solely on qualifications to navigate the labour market can be limiting
- Need for a greater emphasis on actual skills individuals hold and specific skills acquired, not just on formal learning or credentials
- For RPL to be more effective there needs to be agreed national learning outcomes across the tertiary education and training sector
- There is a strong case for advancing beyond RPL to recognition of existing skills, a focus on the skills individuals possess as a basis for workforce readiness and further skill development