Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he is "energised" by unions and business groups uniting to tackle problems in the training sector, despite being at loggerheads about whether multi-employer bargaining should make a comeback.
A statement released by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), the Business Council of Australia (BCA), Australian Industry Group and the Australian Chamber of Commerce details their common goals for training and skills, including more investment in vocational education and training and changes to apprenticeships.
The groups will all be meeting with senior ministers, including Mr Chalmers, this week at the government's Jobs and Skills Summit in Canberra.
Time for reform
The joint statement's requests include a call for government to increase wage subsidies for apprentices in the October budget, along with further investment in TAFE and vocational education training (VET.)
ACTU secretary Sally McManus said without increasing subsidies Australia would have difficulty attracting people to apprenticeships, one of the factors driving the current skills shortage.
"Apprentices are paid appallingly and we're not attracting people to do those jobs because they can't live on those wages," she said.
"We absolutely need to address that particular issue and investing in TAFE and VET is part of productivity.
"Part of how you become a more productive country is by investing in people so that they can use skills."
The groups have also suggested incentive payments to get people to complete apprenticeships, something chief executive of the BCA Jennifer Westacott said was urgently needed.
"They might do it for a year, but then the wage is not enough so they drop out and then they don't get that qualification," she said.
The statement also called for Jobs and Skills Australia — a new body the federal government has said will provide independent advice on skills shortages and workforce needs — to be established as soon as possible.
The government introduced legislation to establish the organisation in July, but it has not passed parliament yet.
"We've got to make sure that Jobs and Skills Australia gets established, in many respects what we've written today is that it's a job description for Jobs and Skills Australia," Ms Westacott said.
Mr Chalmers said the statement was an example of how the summit was already doing its job.
"This summit is all about bringing people together to see if we can find common ground about some of our big economic challenges. And we've been heartened already by people's willingness to do that," he said.
"For too long now we've had this decade of needless conflict and complacency and missed opportunities and messed up priorities, and that's made our economy weaker and our people poorer."
United on training, not bargaining
One of the most contentious issues to be discussed at the summit this week is the ACTU's call for a return to multi-employer bargaining.
It would allow workers and their union representatives to negotiate with multiple employers at once but many in the business sector think it would be a step backwards, putting the government squarely in the middle of the two sectors.
Workplace relations Minister Tony Burke has flagged he is very interested in hashing out the proposal at the summit.
Ms Westacott said she would like to see a more detailed proposal before any changes come into place.
"Let's have a look at a detailed proposition, we're very concerned about it," she said.
"Is this the right way to solve the very legitimate issues … around people not benefiting from the bargaining system?"
Ms McManus said unions did not want to see multi-employer bargaining entirely replace other negotiation options, but that it would make the system fairer for many workers.
"If you're in somewhere like a childcare centre, the idea that you can just bargain with your individual management committee and improve wages for yourself, let alone for old childcare workers is obviously not practical and it's not happening," she said.
"They deserve the same rights as everyone else.
"There's been plenty of time for employers to give people pay increases, but they have not and it's not fair to have whole sections of the economy more than half totally locked out of collective bargaining."
The Jobs and Skills Summit begins on Thursday.
