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Help to get skills checked

THE Australian Government plans to establish a national skills web portal to help new arrivals and potential skilled migrants get their overseas skills and qualifications recognised in Australia.

The web portal will be developed in conjunction with state and territory governments, the Department of Education, Science and Training and Department of Workplace Relations. It will have links to other relevant websites.

The change will address recommendations in the Report of the Review of Settlement Services for Migrants and Humanitarian Entrants which found that many new arrivals had difficulty getting their overseas qualifications recognised in Australia.

The new web portal will help new arrivals and potential skilled migrants identify how to get their qualifications recognised in Australia.

It will be of benefit to the productive capacity of the Australian economy, skilled migrants and employers.

The Government will also enable full-fee paying overseas trainees to undertake a pilot apprenticeship programme in regional Australia.

On successful completion of their apprenticeship, trainees will be able to apply to migrate to a regional area.

Employers of trainees will be eligible to benefit under the New Apprenticeship Incentive Programme (NAIP).

The change will help address the shortage of tradespeople in regional Australia.

Regional Australia and particularly regional employers who are experiencing difficulty in filling apprenticeships will benefit from the change.

Longer term the proposal will increase the supply of qualified tradespeople in regional Australia.