24745 (2026). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Minister for Tertiary Education

24745 (2026). Hon Willow-Jean Prime to the Minister for Tertiary Education: What analyses, if any, were done to compare whether funding would be better directed to the Apprenticeship Boost or “Industry Skills Boards – Aligning Funding with Strategic Activities”?

Hon Penny Simmonds: The Apprenticeship Boost reprioritisation was informed by forecast expenditure and demand for Apprenticeship Boost. No formal comparative analysis was undertaken specifically to assess whether funding would be better directed between the initiatives. However, funding available for the Industry Skills Boards – Aligning Funding with Strategic Activities initiative is proportionate to estimated costs of the specific activities the initiative is intended to fund and base funding for Industry Skills Boards. This reflects that Apprenticeship Boost was forecast to be underspent while remaining demand-driven, and that the reprioritised funding could be used to support Industry Skills Boards to undertake their Strategic Workforce Analysis and Planning function during their initial establishment phase.