Acting Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced recently that the Federal Government has begun delivering its commitment to tackle the nation's skills crisis by rolling out an additional 450,000 training places, with apprenticeships making up 65,000 of these places.

This initiative, called The Productivity Places Program, is outlined in the Skilling Australia discussion paper, which was launched yesterday, and sets out the Rudd government's plans for reform of vocational education and training.

The government's plan is based on investment in education, skills and training to expanding the productive side of the economy. This includes building a world class training system and thus a modern economy that can deliver for all Australians.

"In order to be a prosperous nation, we need to be a productive nation and we need to have the maximum number of people possible in the workforce," Gillard voiced.

"We need to ensure that Australian workers have the skills that they need, that we maximise the number of people in the workforce and that they've got relevant and appropriate skills."

The Labor Government believes that the Program is innovative and will be an industry-demand driven approach to training.

This approach aims to better match up training to the needs of industry: it will have Industry Skills Councils working with businesses to identify their needs, and specifically tailor training to address the lag of skills in the workforce.

That is, the initiative will provide targeted training - more than 90% at the higher level [Certificate III and above] - to address the skills shortages currently being experienced in many industries. The Program will provide only qualifications that are either an entry pathway to occupations in demand, or will allow individuals to gain/update their skills, ensuring that they improve and maintain those skills in their industry.

Unemployed Australians would be the first to benefit from The Productivity Places Program, with the government saying those involved could find themselves in the workforce as early as June this year.

Mining, construction, health and community services are the sectors of priority because these are areas of the economy most in need.

Gillard said that the program would also help reduce inflation and interest rates as the skills shortage is one of the factors placing upward pressure at present.

However, ICAP senior economist Matthew Johnson was sceptical that this new federal plan would have a material effect on inflation, and if it did, it would not be happening in the too-near-future.

For more information on the reforms and how to apply (both for individuals and RTO's) see the Related Information or this link (PDF).