South Australia will need to deliver almost 100,000 vocational education and training (VET) qualifications over the next five years to meet the skills demand of the State’s industries.

New data in the Skills Outlook 2023 shows that the demand for skilled workers spans across all industries of the economy, with particularly high demand for VET qualified workers in construction, retail and hospitality, manufacturing, education and training, and health and social assistance sectors.

New entrants into the labour market will make up about 60,000 of the people with VET qualifications needed over the next five years – the rest will be those broadening their skills or upskilling.

In order to support training providers to deliver those key qualifications a series of grants have been awarded, including to TAFE SA, to address the skills crisis. Skills Shortage Solutions grants have been awarded to high demand industries including bricklaying, cookery, concreting, electrical and building trades to develop new courses and support more students to study in these areas.

TAFE SA has also been provided with funding to develop and offer the Certificate III in Concreting for the first time  This funding comes as TAFE SA undergoes the biggest reform in over a decade as part of the TAFE Roadmap for the Future, released today. Other recipients of funding include the Housing Industry Association, PEER, Brick and Block Careers, Civil Train SA and Adelaide Institute of Hospitality.

To support South Australia’s regions five Skills Centres will be established. These physical spaces will give South Australians access to information about local training and employment opportunities, as well as providing new specialised facilities in key industries such as forestry, automotive and community services.

The Skills Centres will be established in the Limestone Coast, Murraylands, Cleve, Port Augusta and Berri.

“[These] announcements are the result of a genuine partnership between industry and government to identify, plan for and allocate urgently needed resources to support sectors who are experiencing a critical shortage of skilled workers.” said South Australian Skills Commissioner Cameron Baker.

“This is how the South Australian skills system should work – demonstrated critical needs are identified by industry and addressed quickly for the benefit of all South Australians.”

Also announced was the new My Training website – a one-stop-shop for South Australians to easily find the jobs in demand and the courses they can do to get into those jobs. The website makes it easier for South Australians to identify high demand industries and where their local TAFE or training provider is that offers the training they want to study.

The website can be found at https://mytraining.skills.sa.gov.au