Tuesday, 26 August 2025

Ministers statements: digital jobs

Danny PEARSON (Essendon – Minister for Economic Growth and Jobs, Minister for Finance) (14:22): I rise to update the house on the Allan Labor government’s plan to support workers and businesses to drive productivity, encourage innovation, attract investment and create more jobs. Last week, alongside my good friend the Minister for Police, I visited iBuild Building Solutions in Heidelberg West to announce that applications are now open for the digital jobs program. We want to make sure more Victorian businesses and workers are future-fit, and our successful digital jobs program is doing just that.

The program has already helped Victorian businesses build their digital capability through industry-backed training and has now equipped more than 6000 Victorians with up-to-date digital skills, which is why we are now expanding the program to construction and advanced manufacturing workers, adding more than a thousand free places in training courses over the next two years to support workers that have been traditionally under-represented in the transition to digital jobs – older workers, women and culturally diverse Victorians. Fifty-nine per cent of participants are women, 63 per cent speak more than one language and 40 per cent are over 40 years of age. Victoria is leading the way in digital technology investment and preparing workers for jobs in AI, and this program will support workers and businesses to keep pace with the rapid changes in technology.

We have recently seen massive investments into our economy from major international companies like NEXTDC, Mondelēz, Ego Pharmaceuticals and Amazon, and they know the future is bright here in Victoria, which is why they are creating hundreds of jobs in this state. Their investments are a massive vote of confidence in our economy, and this means more jobs, higher value employment and a more secure future for you and your family. As a government we are absolutely committed to supporting Victorian workers every step of the way to get the skills that they need and to encourage businesses to invest in this great state.