Media Release: 21 August 2024
Issued by The Capital Group on behalf of National Skills Week 2024

Queensland Minister for Training and Skills Development Lance McCallum MP launches National Skills Week 2024 

Vocational Education and Training (VET) is a game-changer for people’s lives 

21 August 2024 – Queensland Minister for Training and Skills Development The Hon. Lance McCallum MP together with TAFE QLD will celebrate National Skills Week 2024 from Parliament House in Brisbane this Thursday 22 August. 

What: Launch of National Skills Week

When: Thursday 22 August, 6pm

Where: Parliament House, Brisbane

Key topics of the launch are set to include:

• Skills needs for Queensland
• Manufacturing and Infrastructure initiatives
• WorldSkills 2025 National Competition has been awarded to Queensland
• Transformative and game-changing skills development in many diverse sectors
• The Miles Government recently announced the second round of annual funding aimed at skilling the most vulnerable for work in Queensland.
• Thousands more Queenslanders are set to gain skills and secure jobs with the second 2024–25 round of the annually funded $80 million Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative now open.
• Through the life-changing initiative, the Labor Government has committed more than $743 million to boost Queensland’s workforce in priority industries like construction, primary industries, community services, and hospitality.

National Skills Week, Chair, Brian Wexham, emphasises the importance of changing the perception of VET in Australia to highlight its benefits and address skill shortages effectively:

“Choosing Vocational Education and Skills Training can be the ultimate game-changer in a person’s career and life—igniting paths to personal and professional success and giving them the competitive edge with skills and confidence to thrive.”

“By promoting future careers, highlighting skills shortages, and identifying emerging trends in Australia and the global economy, VET can deliver the skills needed in the country to boost Australia’s workforce in the coming years.”

“Apprenticeships are a cornerstone of the VET sector, and a high-quality apprenticeship pathway will continue to be critical to ensuring that Australia is able to respond to emerging skills needs and increasingly dynamic labour markets.”

Skilling Queenslanders for Work is a Miles Labor Government employment program that funds community organisations across the state to deliver local training and employment projects to disadvantaged Queenslanders, to assist them in gaining the skills and qualifications they need to enter the workforce and stay in it.

Community organisations are encouraged to join this initiative to support the state’s most disadvantaged job seekers. Programs across Queensland have supported First Nation’s people, people with disabilities, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, women, and mature age job seekers into employment opportunities that set them up for life.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Training and Skills Development Lance McCallum:

“We know the cost-of-living is putting pressure on Queenslanders – this initiative provides essential support to help people secure ongoing employment to improve their livelihoods.

“For some, this may be the first formal qualification they’ll have ever gotten, and for others their very first job.

“The community services sector has seen first-hand the damage that cuts by the LNP can cause, so Queenslanders should rightfully be asking serious questions of David Crisafulli about whether he will cut this program again.”

“In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, this initiative is more important than ever, the last thing Queenslanders need is another huge cut to this program by David Crisafulli and the LNP.”

National Skills Week from 19-25 August, will this year encourage all Australians to discover how Vocational Education and Training (VET) can be the ultimate game-changer in their own or their families’ careers and lives as well as highlight the game-changing impact skills has on Australia’s future and economy. Hence why this year’s theme is VET – It’s a Game-Changer! 

Whether you’re a high school leaver, looking for inspiration of what courses to study to lead you on an exciting and rewarding career pathway, you’re a parent looking to guide your child, you’re a worker looking to upskill, re-skill or even switch careers and pursue a new passion, National Skills Week is designed to give you the tools, inspiration and information you need to take control of your future. Learn about practical, real-world skills that you can apply immediately in the workforce, ensuring you are job-ready from the jobs of today and for the future.

The week will highlight the significant contributions of women in trades, the importance of Indigenous workforce participation, and the need for accessibility in remote areas. It will also highlight the most in-demand, highest growth industry sectors and sub-sectors such as manufacturing and digital skills as well as address skills shortages across a myriad of sectors.

The 2024 Queensland Training Awards 

The prestigious Queensland Training Awards have been shining a spotlight on excellence in training and the transformative power of skills since 1962.

Across a range of categories, the annual awards recognise individuals and organisations that strive for and have achieved success, best practice and innovation in vocational education and training (VET).

The awards showcase all that’s great about VET in Queensland, with categories for apprentices, trainees, vocational students, teachers and trainers. 

The link below provides insight into Queensland’s talent across the State for the 2024 Queensland Training Awards.

https://desbt.qld.gov.au/training/qta/winners-and-finalists

Meet the VET success stories around the state available for interviews with media:

Kyezaya Namai-Sabatino (Outback, QLD)

Awards: Australian School-based Apprentice or Trainee of the Year Award 2023

Qualification: Certificate II in Engineering

RTO: TAFE Queensland

School: Western Cape College Weipa

Employer: MRAEL

Host Employer: Rio Tinto Weipa

Kyezaya completed a Certificate II in Engineering as a MRAEL School-based Trainee at Rio Tinto in Weipa, Queensland. Hosted with their diesel fitting team at the Andoom Heavy Equipment Workshop, Kyezaya has found working with heavy machinery fascinating. 

In addition to undertaking his vocational pathway, Kyezaya was the School Vice-Captain and Sports Captain at his school and also involved in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aspirations program, where he was a state finalist in 2022. Kyezaya’s strong work ethic has seen him learn many of the elements of his trade, and his course has affirmed his desire to become a tradesperson in the future.  

Gabrielle Clift (Moreton Bay, South QLD)

Awards: 2023 Apprentice of the Year Award (Finalist)

Qualification: Certificate III in Light Vehicle Mechanical Technology

RTO: MTA Institute

Employer: Highfields Mechanical

Gabrielle completed a Certificate III in Light Vehicle Mechanical Technology while working at Highfields Mechanical. Early in her career, she has already impressed many with her skills and knowledge of the industry. In 2020, she won Capricorn’s National Rising Star Award as well as MTA Institute’s Apprentice of the Year, that included the chance for 2 weeks of work experience with Triple Eight Race Engineering, which she undertook in 2022. Gabrielle impressed so much that she was asked to join the crew at the Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 500, and is now working for Triple Eight full-time.  

Gabrielle is also a member of MTA Queensland’s Auto Women Mentor Team. “Between Auto Women, Autocare, MTA Queensland, and Capricorn events, I try to be involved in as many programs as possible. I want to show everyone that vocational education and training is a genuine and engaging career option,” Gabrielle says. 

Gabrielle is excited to continue to spread the word about the benefits of working in the trade—and that there’s more than just being a “grease monkey.” Gabriella says that “There is so much more to the automotive industry than meets the eye, and we are constantly evolving.” 

Chloe Cameron (Rockhampton, QLD)

Awards: 2024 Trainee of the Year (Winner)

Qualification: Certificate III in Water Industry Operations

Training provider: Simmonds and Bristow

Employer: Rockhampton Regional Council

To build her environmental management and water quality career, Chloe completed a full-time traineeship while studying part-time at university. Through hands-on experience in various water treatment roles and guidance from an environmental scientist mentor, Chloe’s initiative and collaborative skills have positively influenced her workplace’s processes. She also engaged with other industry professionals at the Water Industry Operators Association conference and shared new insights with her team.

Sari Conti (Brisbane) 

WorldSkills Competitor (Skillaroo) Lyon, France, September 2024

Skill area: Fashion Technology

Course Completed: Diploma of Applied Fashion Design and Merchandising

When Sari Conte’s grandmother (or Nonna) immigrated to Australia from Reggio Calabria, Italy in 1957, she had big dreams of becoming a seamstress and making beautiful dresses. Unfortunately, as was common for the era, Nonna Conte gave up her small business aspirations to focus on her family – but her dream lives on through Sari, who is making waves as a young fashion designer.

During her first four years of high school, Sari was awarded Dux – the student with the highest grades in the year. With the world at her fingertips, she decided to explore her sartorial sensibilities through the TAFE at Schools program. Sari found the experience so exciting and satisfying that she left school in Year 11 to start a Diploma of Applied Fashion Design and Merchandising.

While her career is just getting started, Sari has already achieved several successes, including selling one of her designs at the debut of her very first collection, and then that design featuring on the runway at the Brisbane Fashion Festival later that year. Sadly, Sari’s Nonna passed away just months before she won Gold at the Nationals in 2023 – a devastating loss that threw her training schedule into disarray. Now Sari is looking to honour her Nonna’s life and legacy in Lyon.

“Losing my Nonna just two months before the Nationals was one of the hardest things I’ve been through. It was hard to keep my motivation up, but I knew to honour her life and legacy I had to make the most of this opportunity,” Sari commented.

Elliana McRae (Brisbane)

WorldSkills Competitor (Skillaroo) Lyon, France, September 2024

Skill area: Restaurant Service

Employer: Queensland Legislative Assembly

Training Institute: TAFE Queensland

Supported by: Queensland Government

Elliana McRae is on a mission to educate the public on what restaurant services entails – and it’s much more than just setting tables.

When considering her career-path while at school, Elliana aspired to be a flight attendant. Her careers councillor suggested she study hospitality management to build the foundations before applying with an airline – something she did. But before she could take to the sky, Elliana’s teacher noticed her natural talent for hospitality and suggested she take part in the WorldSkills Australia program.

Under the guidance of her mentor, Deb Smith, and former-Skillaroo, Emilia Montague, Elliana has honed her skills and developed a winner’s mindset that saw her take Gold at the 2023 Nationals. She’s now ready to take on the best the world’s hospitality industries have to offer and is particularly looking forward to showcasing her creativity in the fine dining component.

“I love my fine dining day module, in which I get to make the salad as an entrée for my guests. There is something very empowering about being able to not only serve my guests food, but also show them how it is made and change the flavour, depending on how I construct it based on their preferences,” Elliana comments.

Issued by The Capital Group on behalf of National Skills Week 2024.