Budget 2008: Skilling Australia’s young people

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The 2008-09 Budget delivers on the Rudd Government’s commitment to establish Trade Training Centres in secondary schools and to give young people the opportunity to study a trade at school.

$2.5 billion has been committed over the next decade for the Trade Training Centres in Schools program.

Schools can seek between $500,000 and $1.5 million in total over the life of the program to build and upgrade trade facilities.

The Government has already started the program with applications for the first $100 million of funding currently being assessed, and successful proposals to be announced in late June.

Through this Program, it is intended that secondary schools will benefit from having access to funds that will improve and expand their vocational education and training facilities, enabling students to participate in quality training experiences designed to meet employer and workforce needs.

To support the Trade Training Centres, the Government has also committed to a range of additional initiatives, which include:

• access to On-the-Job training;
• the Mentors for our Students program, which will match recently retired tradespeople and professionals with their local schools to pass on skills and industry knowledge in critical skills shortage areas; and
• improved Schools-Business linkages which will establish innovative vocational training programs for young people in schools.
• The Trade Training Centres in Schools Program aims to help increase the proportion of students achieving Year 12 or an equivalent qualification to 85 per cent by 2015, and 90 per cent by 2020.