Fee-free Tafe places to entice more women into construction jobs, Brendan O’Connor says

Anthony Albanese says closing the gender pay gap is ‘a key economic priority for our government’. Photograph: Tempura/Getty Images

Labor will encourage women into construction jobs and men into aged care work by utilising fee-free Tafe places and targets in the skills guarantee, the federal skills and training minister has said.

Brendan O’Connor made the pledge after last week’s announcement at the jobs and skills summit of $1.1bn in co-funding to bring forward 180,000 fee-free Tafe places to 2023.