Interview with Prue Bentley, ABC Victoria statewide drive

PRUE BENTLEY, HOST: Speaking of big issues, we do know there is a housing crisis in Australia. We also know that we have a shortage of people in trades to do the construction that we need. So, is the key to easing that housing crisis up-skilling tradies?

Well, if you have had experience in housing and construction, what would it take for you to formalise your skills, progress your career or maybe even get back on the tools after a break? Andrew Giles is the Federal Minister for Skills and Training and he is part of a government who has earmarked funds to fast-track the upskilling or the retraining of 6,000 people in trades across the country.

Andrew Giles, good afternoon. ANDREW GILES, MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND TRAINING: Good afternoon, Prue. Great to be chatting with you.

So, how big is the skills shortage in building and construction? When we came into office a few years ago, Australia had the worst skill shortage in 50 years and day in and day out we've been working to turn that around. We know that's a particular challenge when it comes to building homes for Australians.

We also know there isn't a silver bullet to fixing that, so we're looking at doing absolutely everything we can to rebuild the pathways, particularly into the trades, so that we can get more houses built and, obviously, enable more people to reach their potential in work which so often their potential life too. So, you've pledged $78 million over three years.

What would that fund? What this is about is recognising that in housing and in civil construction, there's a lot of people out there who might be working as a labourer or a trades assistant who've been working for some time in industry, have built up their hands-on experience, but haven't got a formal qualification. And because of their circumstances or distance, an apprenticeship or some other formal recognition has so far been out of reach.

And we want to make sure that these workers can get efficiently upskilled so they can really play their part in our construction industry. And we've seen a program just like this work on the ground in New South Wales over the last couple of years, so we've committed to take it national. So, is this an apprenticeship program, or something else?

It's something else. It’s really recognising, for a lot of careers that are often delivered through an apprenticeship pathway, that there are a lot of workers out there and maybe at their stage in life a four-year apprenticeship simply isn't practical. But they've built up many of the skills that ordinarily would be taught over the course of an apprenticeship.

So, it's about having a really rigorous recognition of prior learning approach delivered through a TAFE or perhaps another training organisation so we can first assess the skills that they have against the industry standards, and then do a little bit of gap training to gain any additional skills or knowledge so that their skills can be recognised with a formal qualification.

I think about a guy called Zac, who I met in New South Wales just last week. He's a qualified carpenter, 19 years’ experience. He wants to be a builder.

Now, he's done a lot of that work and was able to be recognised, we think, in a matter of months rather than years through this system. Okay, so I can see that now. So, those are the sorts of qualifications you're looking at, not necessarily taking somebody who's been a been a bricklayer and saying, ‘okay, it's only going to take you a couple of months and then you will be a fully qualified electrician’ or something like that?

Someone with relevant skills, but where the formal qualification delivered in the current manner has not been realistic. So, this is about people who might become a carpenter, a crane operator, a surveyor, a builder, a tiler, careers like that, which we know we are desperate for. And we know people have got a large chunk of those skills but often, particularly in the bush where it's not only cost or time, distance has often been an issue.

Who would provide the training? In the most part, I think it's likely to be TAFE. But there'll be also some other registered training organisations, which are likely to be involved as well.

People who do this day in, day out and who are credible. Because the other thing we really need to make sure is that when Australians engage with a tradesperson, they're getting the quality they expect and they deserve. Have we still got a need to bring in qualified building and construction workers from overseas as well while this is happening?

We've got to tackle this from absolutely every angle. I think about how Free TAFE is playing a really big role. Our targeted plans to get more apprentices into housing construction has had a huge response – 36,000 sign ups in just the, I think, it's 13 or 14 months since we introduced the program.

There will be a role for skilled migration as well. But what I want to see is for Australians' training to be the first point of call. And it would be free for them to do this qualification upskill?

Indeed. Yes, it will. Okay.

Just on another matter, Andrew Giles. We have had a huge response to our conversation about superannuation and the proposal of One Nation today that Australians could divert three per cent of their super for a number of years if they're under mortgage stress or if they are in rent stress. I note that Labor has roundly criticised this policy.

But if this is already somebody's money, is it not their right to choose how they use it? No, look superannuation exists for a purpose, and I think that was really well set out by your callers, particularly Martin who I had the privilege of listening to. What this is about is supporting Australians’ retirement incomes and their dignity in retirement.

I'm really concerned to see what may be appealing as a thought bubble, but what we really need to see is a focus on the purpose for which superannuation was introduced. Is dignity in retirement also not having a home that you've paid for? Well, there are lots of ways in which we can support Australians to have a home.

And as my friend the Minister for Housing makes clear each and every day, what we need to be doing is building more homes – that's our focus through the Housing Accord. And my focus is about making sure that we're equipping more Australians to play their part to pick up the tools to become a tradie if they're not already, and to play their part in dealing with the housing supply issue.

Minister, thanks for your time. Thanks very much.