Productivity Places Program National Partnership

Extract from the COAG Communiqué

“Today COAG agreed to an NP for the delivery of training under the Productivity Places Program that will target areas of current skill shortage and emerging skill needs. Delivery of these training places will help to make training more flexible and responsible to the needs of industry, employers and individuals. Through this Agreement (and a separate agreement with Victoria), the States agreed to deliver an additional 506,750 qualifications commencements for job seekers and existing workers over four years.
The Commonwealth agreed to fund 100 per cent of places for job seekers and 50 per cent of places for existing workers. The States agree to fund 40 per cent of places for existing workers, with the remaining 10 per cent to be funded by private contributions. The Commonwealth has previously committed $1.2 billion over four years for this NP.

The NP will commence on 1 January 2009 and expire on 30 June 2012.  States entering into the NP will be required to develop implementation plans which demonstrate how they will manage and implement the training places and meet the conditions of the NP.  Implementation plans are to be provided to the Commonwealth for approval by 12 December 2008.

To support the NP, the Commonwealth agreed to provide data and information to Skills Australia to assist it in identifying industries, occupation and regions that are experiencing skill shortages, and to establish a national priority list based on advice, including from Skills Australia. Further, it was agreed to ensure a role for Industry Skills Councils in the brokerage of training.

COAG also agreed to the development of a national data portal by 2012 for all government funded training delivery, encompassing the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS) reporting requirements and allows for the tracking of individual students. Prior to this, reporting will occur through AVETMISS.
The States have agreed to provide details of when the additional training will be delivered on an annual and monthly basis.

The States also agreed that all training delivered under this Agreement will be in addition to their current training effort.

The Commonwealth extended an offer to the States that move to an entitlement-based student demand-driven training system, so that Productivity Places Program funding could be treated in a similar way as base funding for the purposes of accountability and reporting.  This is similar to an offer already in place between the Commonwealth and Victoria.”

For further information about the outcomes of COAG and a fact sheet on Productivity Places Program see www.coag.gov.au.

For more information about the Productivity Places Program from 1 January 2009, please contact the relevant state or territory government.