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Extending post-study work rights sends the right signal .
in areas of national priority ,” the prime minister said in his opening address .
“ I want this to be the beginning , not the end , of the progress that we see on skills and training over the next two days .”
PM Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers at the Jobs and Skills Summit . Photo : NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman
Staying on
Summit brings changes to attract more international students .
By Eleanor Campbell
Increased post-study work rights for international students , changes to bargaining agreements , and better access to TAFE were major outcomes from the recent Jobs and Skills summit .
Nearly 150 peak unions , business leaders and politicians gathered at Parliament House in Canberra over two days to address Australia ’ s skills and labour crisis .
Federal education minister Jason Clare announced new rules to allow international students from select bachelor ’ s degrees to work for four years after graduating .
Under the plan , select master ’ s graduates will be able to stay in Australia for five years , while those with a PhD will be able to stay in the country for six .
Clare said the proposal will not only attract more people into Australian universities , but will help aid areas facing critical skills shortages .
Universities Australia chief Catriona Jackson said the move was a “ muchneeded measure ”.
“ Australia ’ s world-class universities attract thousands of international students each year , yet only 16 per cent stay on after their studies ,” she said .
“ Extending post-study work rights sends the right signal to international students who want to use their Australian education in Australia ’ s regions and cities , when and where there is a clear need for their skills .”
The government will announce in October which degrees will be included , with nursing , engineering and IT to be prioritised .
Home affairs minister Clare O ’ Neil told the summit that Australia would raise its permanent skilled migration cap to 195,000 for the current financial year .
She said the country had underutilised the “ untapped resource ” of its international students .
“ For the first time in our history , Australia is not the destination of choice for many of our skilled migrants ,” she said .
“ Those best and brightest minds , who are on the move around the world , they are looking to live in countries like Canada , Germany and UK and those countries are rolling out a red carpet to welcome them in .”
TAFE boost Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced 180,000 fee-free TAFE places for 2023 as part of a $ 1.1 billion dollar “ training blitz ”.
The 180,000 places will be made up of 60,000 additional spots and by dropping the fees of 120,000 existing paid TAFE spots .
The plan will be jointly funded by the Commonwealth , states and territories , Mr Albanese said .
The new places come on top of the 465,000 fee-free TAFE places announced prior to May ’ s federal election .
“ We want to see more Australians gaining the skills they need to find good jobs ,
‘ Immediate action ’ on Fair Work Act The Albanese government also pledged to bring in early legislation for multi-employer bargaining by the end of the year .
Speaking at the summit , workplace relations minister Tony Burke announced plans to amend the Fair Work Act to remove “ unnecessary limitations ” on unions , allowing them to strike pay deals for workers across a number of employers in the same industry .
“ The changes that have been worked through right now will make a real difference to business being able to employ people and people being able to make ends meet with decent pay rises into the future ,” Burke said .
There are plans to introduce legislation to parliament this year .
Tertiary sector ‘ a gig economy ’: CSIRO chief Australia ’ s chief scientist used the summit to spotlight rampant job insecurity in universities , and the need to increase the number of women studying STEM .
Addressing the summit , Dr Cathy Foley said the tertiary sector was one of the worst sectors for job insecurity in the country .
“ For example , we have nine-year trained PhDs having three-month jobs on a rotating basis … and that is something which we can ’ t condone .
“ We need to see how we can as a research sector figure out who actually carries risk – the bigger organisations such as universities need to carry more risk and not the early career researcher who is trying to live hand to mouth from job to job .”
Overall , the summit delivered 36 ‘ concrete ’ plans to tackle Australia ’ s largest economic challenges .
This included a one-off income credit for age pensioners , improving access to jobs and training pathways for women and the provision of 1,000 digital apprenticeships in the Australian Public Service . ■
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