Up-skilling Funding Up For Grabs

Member for Burdekin, Dale Last MP, is encouraging local chambers of commerce and industry representative groups to apply for funding to improve skills and service delivery in the region.

The Local Skills Solution program is aimed at leveraging ‘on the ground’ knowledge to identify gaps in currently available training and to fill those gaps with suitable training subsidised by the Queensland government.

“This a great opportunity for the retail sector and key industries to access subsidised face-to-face training,” Mr Last said. “And just as importantly, it is training that targets gaps identified locally by people directly affected.”

“In the past, industry groups and employers have been asked what is missing but their responses have never really been acted on. We will always encourage people to obtain qualifications but it’s undeniable that there is far more value in qualifications that are actually relevant.”

“With up to $250,000 available per project I know we can tackle training that usually would be out of reach, especially for a single business. This funding, for example, makes it financially viable to bring in a trainer from a major centre or even interstate where needed.”

“For some industries, highly valued skills can be skills that aren’t taught traditionally like customer service or even sales skills. That’s why we have included mentoring and learning support as options because we know there are skills that require practical hands-on guidance that can’t be learnt effectively from a book or a website.”

Mr Last said the state government had opted to take an individual approach, rather than a ‘cookie cutter’ approach, to ensure the best outcomes and said the additional work would be worth it.

“It’s very easy for government to offer funding for a training course but that investment doesn’t represent value for money if the training isn’t appropriate,” he said.

“The Crisafulli government gave commitments to work with industry and to ensure value for money for the taxpayer and we are doing exactly that with this funding.”

“The individual approach means that stakeholders can nominate training which may not normally be subsidised because they have identified a skill gap or an opportunity. It also means that, except where there are safety requirements, eligibility restrictions may not necessarily apply.”

“There is no doubt that issues like increased regulation and the growth in e-commerce has had a huge impact on a range of businesses. Instead of ignoring those threats, the Crisafulli government is helping businesses and industry to tackle those challenges because it’s the right thing to do for those individual businesses and their employees as well as our community and the state as a whole.”

“In the Burdekin retail and agriculture, for example, are industries that have been challenged but they are also industries that are vital to the economy and our future. Rather than just acknowledging the challenge we are working with industries to identify ways to overcome those challenges and prosper because that is what good governments do and it’s what Queenslanders deserve.”

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Member for Burdekin Dale Last MP at the Burdekin Shire Council Manufacturing Roundtable. Photo supplied

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