Training Priorities Plan 2026–2027
The Training Priorities Plan 2026-2027 outlines how we will deliver the skills Queensland needs.
It delivers the longer-term objectives of the Right Skills Strategy 2025–2028.
The plan outlines how we will invest in training that responds to industry needs. It will support state and national training priorities and address critical skills shortages.
The annual plan will support:
- skilled workers for businesses to grow
- free and low-cost training for all career stages
- access to skills and jobs for Queenslanders to get ahead
- a workforce ready to deliver on our state’s priorities.
This year’s annual investment includes:
- $338 million for apprenticeships and traineeships
- $296 million to support Queenslanders to obtain their first qualification
- $164 million for higher-level qualifications
- $80 million funding for Skilling Queenslanders for Work
- $301 million for public training providers
- $10 million for industry-led projects
- $69 million to continue construction of four new TAFE Centres of Excellence across Queensland.
Over 430,000 job opportunities are projected in Queensland by 2028. The Training Priorities Plan sets out 36 actions we'll deliver in 2026–2027 to help Queenslanders harness these opportunities, across three priority areas:
The right skills for Queensland’s economy
We're investing in training that responds to industry needs, so businesses have the skilled workers they need to grow.
- Invest an additional $51.7 million for apprenticeships for Queensland’s housing, construction and health sectors
- Support upskilling with skill sets and higher-level qualifications with additional investment of $52.6 million
- Offer free training and Free Apprenticeships in priority skills
- $3 million to expand Industry Skills Solutions into new industries including tourism and advanced manufacturing
- Meet the needs of regional economies with the $5 million Local Skills Solutions program
- $3 million for industry-led micro-credentials to address priority skills gaps
- $11 million in industry-led initiatives which increase the employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in sectors with high skills demand
- Support employers to engage or re-engage 2,500 construction apprentices through the TradieStart apprentice incentive
- Support small businesses to retain their construction apprentices through the Small Business Apprenticeship Program
- Deliver the Queensland Resources Workforce Plan
- Build a digital workforce by championing the 20% Alternative Pathways Pledge to fill more entry-level digital roles through alternative pathways like vocational education and training (VET)
- Implement the skills commitments made in response to the Queensland Productivity Commission’s report on Opportunities to improve productivity of the construction industry
- Enhance labour mobility by working with industry and the Australian Government to deliver skilled migration solutions
- Deliver a skilled workforce faster with improved recognition of prior learning, starting with construction workers
The right skills for Queenslanders
We're improving access to skills and jobs so Queenslanders can get ahead.
- Help jobseekers experiencing barriers to entering and staying in the workforce with an enhanced Skilling Queenslanders for Work program
- Deliver skills for jobs through an expanded $14.3 million Indigenous Workforce and Skills Development Grant
- Prevent crime through employment pathways delivered by a Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative for released offenders
- Pilot a Student Support Network to help VET students benefit from completing their training
- Expand Reboot Your Trade Training to help more out-of-trade apprentices resume their training and employment across Queensland
- Fund another round of Set for Success grants to support organisations to trial innovative ways to help students succeed
- Help students who partially completed their training to re-engage with their pathway
- Expand Career Tasters to more locations and industries so Year 10 students and disengaged young people can try a vocational career
- Scale up school participation in the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy to promote careers in the resources industry
The right skills delivered by a robust training system
We're building a workforce ready to deliver on our state's priorities.
- $8.4 million until 2028 to help aspiring VET teachers get qualified and support registered training organisations to take on trainees
- Fund new industry ideas to attract, develop and retain VET teachers
- $5.4 million over 3 years to support projects to secure VET teachers in clean energy, manufacturing and construction sectors
- Deliver mobile training in construction, health care and battery technologies to strengthen the workforce in regional and remote Queensland
- Invest $50 million to extend Community Service Obligations for TAFE Queensland to support access to training in regional communities
- Reduce barriers to training by trialling additional travel and accommodation support for apprentices in North and Far North Queensland
- Support training excellence with a learning platform to share best practices and professional development for training providers and VET teachers
- Support quality foundation skills training by upskilling VET teachers in assessment, referral and delivery
- Commence construction of the TAFE Centres of Excellence in Caloundra, Petrie, Rockhampton and the Southern Moreton Bay Islands to strengthen training in construction, advanced manufacturing and marine qualifications
- Deliver an expanded Great Barrier Reef International Marine College in Cairns to enhance maritime training
- Get started on future energy training hubs in Roma, Mount Isa and Warwick to build local workforce capability and meet statewide workforce demand
- Deliver applied research and innovative training solutions through the TAFE Centres of Excellence – Construction Tech, Health Care and Support, and Clean Energy Batteries
- Explore how to build better pathways between VET and university, including in information and communication technology and engineering
This plan will also help deliver the skilled workers needed to embrace opportunities. This includes housing, infrastructure, and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.