Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill 2023

The majority voted in favour of a motion to pass the bill in the Senate. In other words, they voted to read it for a third time. This means that the bill will now be sent back to the House of Representatives, where our MPs will decide on whether they agree with the Senate amendments.

What does this bill do?

According to the bills digest summary:

• The Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill 2023 (the Bill) amends the Jobs and Skills Australia Act 2022 (the JSA Act) to provide for governance arrangements and functions of Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA).
• The JSA Act established JSA as a statutory body within the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) and set out its interim functions and staffing arrangements, including establishing a JSA Director to commence JSA’s work.
• This Bill establishes the permanent arrangements for JSA, following consultation.
• The Bill amends the JSA Act to establish the role of the JSA Commissioner and JSA Deputy Commissioners, establish a Ministerial Advisory Board, and expand the functions of JSA. It also sets out transparency measures in relation to JSA’s work plan and reporting and provides for a review of the operation of the JSA Act in 2 years.