The Business Council of Australia (BCA) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to a business case for a National Skills Passport.  

Australia needs to better develop the skills and capabilities of its people to drive long-term prosperity. Ensuring we have the competencies needed for the jobs of today, and the future, is the responsibility of our education and training systems. These systems must work seamlessly to provide lifelong access to skills and training to secure new, higher-paying jobs and better opportunities.

A skills passport represents a critical pathway for an individual to capture, store and share their lifelong learning achievements. It would enable them to showcase their full suite of experience to potential employers with ease, and provide clearly understood evidence of prior knowledge and skills. With a skills-based approach, passports could help facilitate a diverse employment journey, by guiding workers to upskill, reskill and change careers. Enabling a more dynamic labour market will directly benefit the individual, businesses, and the broader Australian economy.

To successfully do this, skills passports will need to be much more than a ‘transcript service’. We must move past a narrow focus on formal qualifications that align with traditional occupations or industries and think about skills standards, competencies and advice. Learning should be a lifelong pursuit, with people accessing – and receiving credit for – industry-responsive training and experience throughout their career. 

Read our full submission here.