鈥淎ustralia is facing major productivity and economic challenges, and a lot of it comes down to not having the skilled workers we need,鈥 黑料老司机 Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said.
鈥淲e welcome this long-awaited agreement. All tertiary providers, and levels of government, need to be at the table to attack the skill shortages weighing on our economy and the nation鈥檚 growth.
鈥淔ocusing on skills development through vocational and university education is important.
鈥淭he government鈥檚 projections show that nine out of 10 new jobs require a post-school qualification 鈥 more than half of which will need a university degree.
鈥淛obs in health care, professional, scientific and technical services, and education 鈥 these are trusted professions you can鈥檛 enter without a degree, and they are among the fastest growing.
鈥淯niversities educate workers across all the national priority areas outlined in the national skills agreement, including net zero, national security and in the digital and care economies.
鈥淭hese are the national challenges and opportunities we simply can鈥檛 rise to without universities and vocational education, and the skilled workers we educate.
鈥淲e also welcome the government鈥檚 focus on driving greater engagement between universities and vocational education and training providers, but this needs to be done in a complementary way.
鈥淚n the face of growing economic challenges, we need to be doing all that we can to lift productivity and move towards a sustainable and faster growing economy.
鈥淕overnment has an opportunity through the Universities Accord to provide universities with the funding and policy certainty we need to continue doing our job for the nation. We can鈥檛 waste it.鈥
