The Esperance community is set to benefit from a multimillion-dollar investment in new training facilities through the construction of South Regional TAFE's new Esperance campus. The new campus will be built neighbouring the secondary school, providing accessible pathways for secondary students to vocational education and training (VET) programs. Construction will also support the local building and construction industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The construction contract has been awarded EMCO Building, which will generate opportunities for local industry and job opportunities including apprenticeships and traineeships, under the Western Australian Industry Participation Strategy (WAIPS). Local Aboriginal organisation, Tjaltjraak has been involved in the design process, and will be involved in the public art on display at the new campus.
Media statement 

To support WA tourism businesses to reactivate and adapt to a gradual reopening of the travel market, the WA Government, through Tourism WA, has committed $10.4 million to the Western Australian Tourism Recovery Fund, under the WA Tourism Recovery Program.
This Fund gives eligible small tourism businesses including accommodation providers, tour and transport operators and tourism attractions or experience businesses an opportunity to apply for a $6,500 cash payment.
For more information, application guidelines, and terms and conditions, visit Tourism WA’s Industry support page. 
Premier McGowan’s media statement 

Many of Western Australia's elite athletes have now returned to training in preparation for next year's Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

Western Australia's best swimmers resumed training at HBF Stadium on 7 April thanks to the strong support of venue operator VenuesWest and the State Government.

The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is implementing a phased return to operations after being closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

WAIS has received an exemption from the Closure and Restriction (Limit the Spread) Directions (No. 2) made under the Emergency Management Act 2005 (WA).

The first phase will see the return of the most elite athletes from swimming, athletics, water polo, wheelchair basketball and artistic swimming to swimming training and one on one training for athletics and wheelchair basketball.   Read more

The Western Australian Government has released a roadmap to carefully ease COVID-19 restrictions, to start getting Western Australians back to work safely and begin the process of re-starting the State's economy.
The four phase plan was developed in conjunction with the National Cabinet framework and is based on the best health advice for Western Australia.  Read more

The new National Skills Commission (NSC) has taken the first steps to identifying its priority objectives, following a four-month stakeholder consultation.

The NSC has released a paper, ‘This is what we heard’ summarising the outcome of the consultations.

“There was widespread and consistent support across stakeholder groups for a mechanism that would revitalise leadership of VET,” the paper said.

“Different stakeholders proposed that the NSC provide strategic leadership across a broad range of areas, including VET policy, standards, funding and pricing, and improving linkages with other education sectors.”

The paper said there was also strong support for the NSC to lead an economy-wide focus on skills and workforce development, rather than just a focus on qualifications “which would limit capacity to consider other learning approaches such as micro-credentials, non-accredited training and informal learning.”

“The focus on skills was also identified as the enabler to address the long-standing challenges in the sector including quality, training products, apprenticeship regulation and overall investment,” it said.

The consultation included 13 workshops attended by more than 500 people, 35 individual consultations with sector leaders, round-tables with small and medium employers, and 59 submissions to a discussion paper.

Read more and download the paper.

The Department of Training and Workforce Development has developed a new Out of Contract Register to assist apprentices and trainees who have recently fallen out of their training contract as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The free register will help connect employers with apprentices and trainees by providing a quick search tool on out of contract or suspended apprentices and trainees in Western Australia.
The list will be added to as further apprentices and trainees are contacted and agree to be added to the register.  
The register is available on the Jobs and Skills WA website, and will also be provided to Jobs and Skills Centres, Australian Apprenticeship Support Network providers and group training organisations, ensuring that apprentices and trainees are given maximum opportunities to get back into training. 

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released on 5 May shows that the Accommodation and Food Services industry continues to be the most impacted by COVID-19, with a drop of around one in three paid jobs in the industry from mid-March to mid-April.

The Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia estimates also showed that between 14 March and 18 April (the five weeks after Australia recorded its 100th confirmed COVID-19 case) total employee jobs decreased by 7.5%, while total wages paid by employers decreased by 8.2%.

Head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, Bjorn Jarvis, said: “The new data shows that jobs in Accommodation and food services worked by people aged 20-29 and people over 70 decreased the most (-40.8% and -43.7%).”  Read more

National Cabinet agreed on 1 May that sport and recreation will play a significant role as Australia emerges from the COVID-19 environment due to the associated health, economic, social and cultural benefits it brings.

National Cabinet considered and endorsed ‘National Principles for the Resumption of Sport and Recreation Activities [PDF 350 KB]’ which will help provide a pathway for a staged return of community and professional sport, as well as recreational activities.

Evidence to date suggests that even with similar mitigation steps, outdoor activities are a lower risk setting for COVID-19 transmission.   Read more