New findings stress the importance of lifelong learning, even for those staying in the same role and industry
The Albanese government is ramping up support for lifelong learning, promising broader access to training and skills development as work changes faster across the economy.
Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth said the government is committed to backing Australians to learn and upskill throughout their careers.
“Whether you're early in your career, changing roles, or staying in the same job for decades, more frequent upskilling is becoming part of working life – and the Albanese Government is backing you in to access opportunities to do this,” she said.
A major plank of this approach is the expansion of free TAFE, which is enabling people of all ages to skill, upskill, or reskill in areas of demand. Data from the Australian government show that more than 740,000 individuals across all ages are benefitting from the opportunity to skill, upskill, or reskill through the free TAFE programme.
Skills and Training Minister Andrew Giles said the government sees learning as an ongoing necessity, not a one‑off event. “Skills development is not a one‑off event – it's a lifelong journey. It's important for Australians to have access to the training and learning they need to thrive, no matter where they start or where their career takes them,” he said.
Australia's workforce needs to continuously upskill amid the increasing pace of change across the labour market, according to new research, which highlighted the importance of lifelong learning among employees.
The research, released by Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), stressed that faster skill change will need to be met with more frequent upskilling.
"A higher rate of skill change would be expected to increase the need for more frequent upskilling," the report read. "In the absence of such upskilling, a high and accelerating pace of skill change is likely to generate skills mismatches with implications for workers and employers."
The report added that the value of adult learning is not limited to employees who are looking for new jobs or entirely new skills.
"Even where headline skill requirements are stable, increased job complexity can drive the need to deepen our skills throughout our careers," the report read. "Heightened job demands associated with upskilling and skill deepening have implications for what job resources workers may require."
Lifelong learning a 'shared challenge'
Meanwhile, the report also underscored that adult learning is a "shared challenge" for various groups.
"As demands for upskilling and skill deepening increase, workplace, and system-level factors will be critical, alongside the efforts of individual learners, to improve participation, productivity, and outcomes," the report said.
It further pointed out that additional learning may not automatically translate into positive labour market outcomes, as it will depend on how skills and knowledge are applied to new contexts.
"This points to the need for a sharper focus on alignment between learning and workforce needs; the effectiveness of skills recognition, portability and pathways; the quality of management capability; the strength of job design and career development pathways; and investment in labour-augmenting capital," it added.
