Yahoo Finance Budget 2022: Boost coming for these in-demand jobs
An extra 20,000 university places will be made available for industries experiencing skills shortages, including teaching, nursing and engineering, as part of Tuesday’s Federal Budget.
The additional places will be available for students starting in 2023 and 2024 and will cost the Government $485.5 million over the next four years to fund.
The Budget will include 4,036 spots for education, including 1,469 for early-education teachers, 2,600 places for nursing, 2,275 for information technology, 2,740 for health professions such as pharmacy and health science, and 1,738 for engineering.
The remaining courses will be offered for other areas experiencing skills shortages.
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Universities must allocate the places to students under represented at Australian universities, including those from poorer backgrounds, Indigenous Australians and students from rural and remote areas.
“This means more teachers, nurses and engineers and it means more Australians from poor families and rural and remote Australia doing these jobs. That’s life-changing,” Education Minister Jason Clare said.
The universities receiving the most funding will be Charles Darwin University, University of Wollongong, Curtin University, Edith Cowan University and University of Newcastle.
Free training for in-demand jobs
The Government is also providing 180,000 fee-free TAFE and vocational education places, with additional support for women, Indigenous Australians and those with a disability.
Extra training will be offered for sectors with critical skills shortages, including aged care, early education and care, health care and disability care, technology, hospitality and tourism, construction, agriculture and manufacturing, and defence.
“These fee-free training places will provide Australians opportunities to get trained for the jobs in demand now and in the future and deliver to business the skilled workers they need,” Skills and Training Minister Brendon O’Connor said in a statement.
The initiative is part of the Government’s broader commitment to provide 480,000 fee-free TAFE and vocational-education places.
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