The government have finally launched their plans for replacing the Skills Voucher program and it may have some merit- however like most things lets hope we dont get caught in the administration details.

The Productivity Places Program aims to reduce the skills shortage by providing training opportunities for those industries that require employees. The program will deliver better training outcomes for individuals and also ensure training better suits the needs of employers. More than 90 per cent of the training places will be at the Certificate III level and above.

A feature of the Program is the role Skills Australia will play in advising the Government on areas of skills shortage and the expanded role of Industry Skills Councils which will work with business and industry and provide advice on training options and skills development.

The eligible qualifications on offer will be selected by

For the 1 April 2008 phase, priority occupations are:

• occupations identified as being in shortage, based on Surveys of Employers who have Recently Advertised vacancies (through the SERA survey series undertaken by DEEWR, updated every 6 months); and

• occupations that surveyed employers indicate are most difficult to fill (based on the results of one-off surveys of employers at the regional/industry level).

These Priority Occupations will be matched with corresponding nationally recognised qualifications and training opportunities.

Sounds pretty good in theory right? The first opportunities 20,000 however are to go to the long term unemployed through job networks, from July 2008 the rest of the workforce will have opportunities to upgrade their skills through "Free Training"

The government have placed some thought into the program addressing ongoing skills shortages and believing that increasing the Certificate level to 3 and above will provide employers with quality outcomes. Ultimately however it will be the Registered Training Organisations who when delivering the trainnig need to ensure the outcomes match the students and employers expectations.

Lets hope the Government have improved their application process for RTO's in applying for this funding and RTO's do not see this as a further "grab for cash" such as the workskills vouchers delivered.