The skills shortage is a major issue confronting the Australian workforce. It occurs when there is a mismatch between the availability of skilled people and the current and emerging needs of industry.  

Due to demographic and technological changes, our workforce is not growing fast enough to meet the demand for labour or skills needed by a range of industries; particularly the traditional trade areas such as construction, manufacturing and transport.             

Skills shortages can impact on the capacity for businesses and industries to grow and develop.

Nationally recognised training can assist in addressing the skills shortage through the seamless matching of skills wanted by employers and skills offered by workers. This is achieved by the following key aspects:

• The National Training System formalises the curriculum available for Registered Training Organisations to teach and assess competencies of students. Government bodies managing the national training system are responsible for short and long term skills forecasting and workforce planning in collaboration with industry, helping to identify gaps and provide training solutions.

• Nationally recognised training is based on training packages which have been developed specifically to meet the needs of industry through the promotion of skills development for new and existing employees and portable qualifications.

• Access to nationally recognised training and qualifications can provide employers and industries a competitive edge for attracting and retaining new staff in a tight labour market.

• Availability of structured training packages also improves the accessibility and distribution of training within organisations to facilitate the up-skilling and cross-training of existing employees.

• Content of training packages is quality assured under the Australian Quality Training Framework, improving the portability of skills around the nation, and assisting organisations with interpreting the skill level of new employees, certifying the quality of work to secure new contracts and helping to meet regulatory requirements.

It is these key aspects that make utilising nationally recognised training a viable solution to ensuring the current and emerging needs of industry are met and overcoming the skills shortage.

The V.O.C. certifications issued by Your Licence, and all High Risk Licences issued by our RTO partner, AITAC, are part of the Nationally Recognised Training program.