This year’s National Skills Week will showcase the exciting career pathways available to Victorians as the state responds and recovers from coronavirus.

Minister for Training and Skills and Higher Education Gayle Tierney today marked the beginning of National Skills Week at a virtual event hosted by Sunraysia TAFE to launch its virtual open careers week.

The careers week is dedicated to publicising the many career pathways and courses available at Sunraysia TAFE from helping people enrol to start their journey, to rejoining the workforce or changing career.

It’s one of a host of events in Victoria during National Skills Week, an initiative that highlights the talents, career pathways and value of apprentices and trainees and raises the profile of training and skills across Australia.

An extra 18,000 Victorians will be able to train at TAFEs and Learn Locals under a $163 million package of new measures recently introduced by the Andrews Labor Government to prepare the state’s economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis.

The package also includes urgent action to increase the availability of targeted short courses that aim to help retrenched workers and job seekers pursue career paths to professions where there are jobs available and to support upskilling for existing employees.

This includes $3.9 million for an additional 11,000 places in accredited short courses and skill sets in construction across TAFE and industry-owned Registered Training Organisations until June 2021.

The Labor Government is also investing in the Retrenched Apprentices and Trainees Program to continue helping apprentices and trainees displaced by the pandemic to complete their apprenticeships and training and find work.

With skill sets also available for unemployed and underemployed workers through Working for Victoria and Free TAFE courses, there are now a range of quick and flexible training options related to coronavirus including food preparation and infection prevention and control.

The Government has also committed $1.25 million to enhance new literacy, numeracy and digital skills to support vulnerable cohorts to progress to further study or employment.

Since 2015, the Victorian Government has committed more than $1.5 billion to rebuild our TAFE system and ensure students can get the skills they need for the jobs they want.