Matching education to our in-demand industries

Some students take the time to explore options available to them, others like Bailey-Anne Bell know earlier on what their desired career looks like.

For Bailey, who is currently studying for a Diploma of Nursing, it’s working in an industry that helps people.

‘My mum was a nurse, I really enjoyed watching her do her thing when I was younger,’ she said.

As well as following the progress of her mum's career, Bailey spent prolonged time in hospital sick as a child.

‘I remember the nurses being very kind to me as a kid.’

Now nearing the end of her education, Bailey's drive to help others remains strong. However, her experiences undertaking her course have left her unsure if the industry, as it's taught, is right for her.

‘I don’t feel very equipped to go into the field, nor do I feel that I have a positive representation of what it will be like,’ she said.

As thousands of young people in Victoria consider the career path they will take, a parliamentary inquiry by the Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee is looking to increase and improve upon the resources available to these students to ensure the cultivation of important skills and boost employment numbers.

Announced in June 2025, the inquiry is considering what action is needed to match students with industries that are crucial to the state’s economy and that have skilled employment needs into the future.

Identified in-demand industries include social assistance, construction and healthcare, with the Victorian Skills Authority expecting 86,000 workers to join that sector in the next three years at an annual growth rate of 2.8 per cent.

Of these thousands of expected workers, only 30 per cent are estimated to have completed vocational education and training, a key area for investigation by the Committee, led by Member for Bellarine Alison Marchant.

‘Data shows that there are skill shortages,’ said Marchant. ‘At the moment the biggest challenge is how industry, training providers and the education system talk to each other.’

There are eight MPs on the Committee from various parties and electorates. After calling for submissions in July, they received more than 130 contributions from students, education institutions and members of the public, highlighting key themes to explore.

‘Students aren’t aware of in-demand jobs available at the moment,’ said Marchant when outlining some of the evidence emerging from submissions. ‘We do need to get better at giving career advice early on.’

Career counselling is an area Bailey-Anne Bell identified as needing improvement after her own experience moving through high school.

During her secondary education she studied under VCAL, now known as the VCE Vocational Major, which allowed her to undertake a community service placement to further her passion for helping others. However, the program that was offered ‘didn’t seem fast-paced enough’ for her.

After receiving no additional support from career advisers, she dropped out of her VCAL program to pursue other education.

The movement of VCAL to the VCE Vocational Major has been ‘groundbreaking’ according to Marchant as it ‘already shows great signs of engaging students’.

However, she sees a need for career advice to start as early as Year 7, so students get such advice earlier on and can build upon it.

‘I don’t know how a student is going to make a really good decision without some good career advice,’ said Marchant. ‘It has to start early in secondary schools.’

Another theme amongst submissions is the difficulty for regional students to access resources and undertake essential placements.

For Committee Deputy Chair Kim O’Keeffe this is an area that's close to home. As the Member for Shepparton, she has observed firsthand the difficulties these in-demand industries and their students face day-to-day.

‘We have a lot of skill shortages regionally in the health sector,’ she said. ‘Regional areas are less likely to receive quality care and education.’

A lack of resources in regional areas has been recognised by local organisations such as the Committee for Greater Shepparton as a factor limiting the number of regional students taking up study for in-demand industries such as healthcare.

In its submission to the parliamentary inquiry, it identified the growing demand for skills to support emerging needs such as home-based care and aged care services. Challenges to meeting this demand include limited local study options, transport and accessibility issues, as well as a ‘fragmented economic base’ which has led to a lack of coordination and cooperation between student placement and resources.

Barriers for students such as transport, accommodation or access to training and placements can be a make-or-break deal, according to Kim O’Keeffe.

‘There are barriers and challenges to get regional students the same opportunity, and we need to look at breaking them down,’ she said.

As students and their experiences remain a priority for this inquiry, the Committee has taken a bold step. In a parliamentary first for Victoria, a group of youth associates has been employed to help gather evidence from young people across the state about their lived experience with the issues being examined.

Rowan Farren is just one of ten youth associates working with the Committee to provide essential groundwork and youth voice.

‘Our role as associates is to conduct interviews and present lived experiences of young people in our respective electorates to the Committee,’ Rowan said. ‘Youth associates will ensure that Parliament is able to understand the voices of young people, through the research that will be compiled and presented.’

As a regional student himself, Rowan has seen firsthand the struggle that students face in regional Victoria due to socio-educational disadvantages that hamper access to resources and opportunities.

‘Without sufficient resources and providing elements of co-design with industry, and students themselves, training and education will continue to struggle to keep pace with the changing needs of our society’s key industries,’ he said.

An area identified by both the parliamentary committee and youth associates to meet resource demand is the development of TAFE institutions across the state.

‘TAFE has issues linking students to industry,’ Alison Marchant said. ‘We’ve got different cohorts that are going to need different support, which is something this inquiry is deliberately looking at improving through access to TAFE.’

Marchant sees both a change in the education system and parents guiding students as the steps needed to get students into the best industry training.

‘Parents guiding young people need to see TAFE as a first option,’ she said. ‘I do think as the VCE Vocational Major expands we will see a shift.’

Despite the challenges he has observed, Rowan remains optimistic that institutions such as TAFE have a ‘high ability to impact key industries especially at the entry levels of essential careers’. He believes the work of the parliamentary committee, with input from the youth associates, can assist students.

Both Marchant and O’Keeffe are excited about the inclusion of youth associates in the Committee's work.

‘We have created a youth sub-committee to really get that young youth voice,’ Marchant said. ‘It’s a great example of getting different voices in a different way’.

‘The whole idea of having youth associates is to hear a variety of perspectives,’ O’Keeffe said, noting that it has been ‘a really good way of doing it’.

Looking forward, Bailey-Anne Bell hopes for the contribution of young people to continue in industry discussion for students, with the hope that future students can have the ability to talk to current students who can explain their lived experiences.

‘I know a lot of people have dropped out because they didn’t know how time consuming or inflexible the course might be,’ she said. ‘If I’d been made more aware I could have set myself up properly for studying.’

Committee members such as Kim O’Keeffe are also hopeful that the inquiry will lead to positive outcomes.

‘All students, regardless of their circumstances or background, deserve an opportunity to become the trained, skilled workers that are needed,’ she said.

‘It’s the hope of the Committee that our recommendations can align with the concerns of students and schools where we can then work hard to achieve them.’