Queensland's highly skilled workforce

Print this page

In this guide:

Queensland has a highly skilled, motivated and employment-ready workforce. Queensland's enviable lifestyle and low cost of living attract skilled workers from overseas and make it easier for companies to retain valuable employees.

Your business or investment will benefit from Queensland's increasing population, which has seen growth in the number of skilled professionals in the workforce, as well as increasing numbers of:

tertiary institutions, schools and training providers
Queenslanders with bilingual skills.

At the same time, Queensland businesses continue to benefit from a stable industrial relations climate.

Queensland's highly skilled workforce, world-class training institutions and workplace relations environment combine to create an ideal destination for business and investment.

Tertiary institutions, schools and training providers

Queensland's world-class training institutions help to produce a trained and qualified workforce, and create opportunities to further develop your employees' skills and knowledge.

Queensland's universities

Queensland's universities offer world-class education and are keen to work with local companies and tailor courses to suit their specific skills requirements. As a result, Queensland universities have developed a reputation for excellence in the higher education sector.

Queensland is home to 9 of Australia's 37 universities, including some of the largest and newest universities in the world. Students in Queensland can choose from more than 800 bachelor degrees. More than 190,000 students enrol annually in courses and more than 50,000 international students from 165 countries attend Queensland universities.

Research conducted at Queensland universities has achieved worldwide acclaim. Queensland universities make a significant contribution to economic growth within the state, bringing more than $1 billion into the Queensland economy each year.

Technical and further education (TAFE) colleges

Queensland TAFE colleges are Australia's most prominent vocational education supplier, with more than 250,000 students enrolled annually in employment and training programs. Queensland TAFE colleges offer education in more than 800 skill areas to students in more than 80 locations across the state.

Schools

Queensland has more than 730,000 students enrolled in more than 2300 primary and secondary schools.

Skills Queensland

Skills Queensland partners with industry to ease skills shortages. A statutory body, Skills Queensland is responsible for ensuring Queensland's skills system meets the needs of employers, individuals, industry and the community.

Skills Queensland:

provides advice on industry-specific skill and workforce development priorities through Industry Skills Bodies
provides industry, employers, union and vocational education and training sector stakeholders with a direct line of sight on skills and workforce development issues
coordinates and drives consideration of key reform issues through the Skills Queensland Industry Reference Group.

The Queensland Government's Skills Formation Strategy analyses and addresses current and future workforce issues to achieve long-term solutions. The Skills Formation Strategy gives industries and communities an opportunity to work with one another, with Skills Queensland, government agencies and other stakeholders.

Bilingual skills

A key strength of Queensland's workforce is the abundance of multicultural and bilingual workers. Queensland attracts skilled workers and students from many countries internationally, particularly from the Asia-Pacific region. Consequently, Queensland has a large, skilled workforce of bilingual speakers who can communicate effectively with international customers and clients. Your business or investment will benefit from this capacity, which will make you more internationally competitive, and attractive to customers overseas.