This research project was commissioned to explore professional development opportunities for aged care advocates, as well as the skills, competencies and training required to work effectively in the role.

This document is the first report released by the newly formed National Skills Commission. The focus is on Australia’s labour market, workforce changes and current and emerging skills needs.

Recognition of prior learning (RPL) in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) system is the process of assessing someone’s relevant prior learning and existing skills to grant formal recognition. This report explores the nature of RPL that is taking place in Australia from a variety of dimensions.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which swept across the globe in the early months of 2020, has rapidly accelerated long-standing trends in labour markets and economies around the world. Income inequality, precarious work and the digitisation of the economy are now issues that policymakers must grapple with immediately, or risk economic ruin and social upheaval.

This report highlights the results of the largest study of current and projected employment in the renewable energy industry in Australia, which has boomed in recent years. With this expansion, the industry has reported skills shortages, but found a lack of data an impediment to future workforce planning.