The Skilling Australians Fund was established as an ongoing arrangement by the Australian Government in 2017 to ensure the businesses that benefit from employing migrants are also skilling Australians.
From 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2022, the Fund was managed through the National Partnership on the Skilling Australians Fund.
Under the National Partnership the Fund has assisted in the delivery of state and territory projects as set out in individual bilateral agreements between the Australian Government and the six participating states and territories. These projects aimed to deliver improved employment outcomes by supporting Australians to obtain the skills and training they needed in industries and occupations in demand, by increasing the uptake of apprenticeships and traineeships, pre-apprenticeships and pre-traineeships, and other employment-related training opportunities.
Over the term of the National Partnership, the Commonwealth provided over $617 million, matched by the states and territories, for projects that have supported over 216,000 additional apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities.