About the program

The objective of Skills Solutions Partnerships Program Round 2 is to bring industry and TAFE or dual sector universities together to rapidly stand up new short courses and on-the-job training solutions that meet industry’s skilling needs in priority sectors.

It is anticipated that the program will develop a new pipeline of industry endorsed training products that have the potential to be integrated into the training system, will benefit multiple businesses in the sector (or other sectors) and are scalable to support a significant number of workers.

What you get

Successful Expression of Interest applicants and their partners will be invited to participate in a co-design process to strengthen their shared understanding of the training gap, agree on a training solution, and scope a rapid pilot project that could be delivered to test the proposed solution.

Upon successful completion of the co-design process, partnerships will have the opportunity to apply for a grant of up to $500,000 (with funding to be matched by the project partners) to pilot their new training solution.

Grant applications will then be competitively assessed, with successful pilot projects to be delivered by the end of May 2026 and project evaluation to be completed by the end of June 2026.

Priority Sectors

The priority sectors outlined in the Victorian Economic Growth Statement are eligible to apply:

• Advanced manufacturing and defence
• Agribusiness
• Circular economy
• Health technologies and medical research
• Digital technologies.

Please refer to the Program guidelines for more information.

Project and partnership requirements

Expression of Interest applications are invited from partnerships of eligible businesses, industry associations, and Victorian TAFEs or dual sector universities. The partnership must include a Victorian TAFE or dual sector university. The partnership can be new or existing and with formal or informal arrangements.

Partnerships should include multiple businesses and/or an industry association representing multiple businesses to ensure broader impact across the relevant industry sector.

Program guidelines

Skills Solutions Partnerships Expression of Interest Guidelines (PDF 567.41 KB)

Skills Solutions Partnerships Expression of Interest Guidelines (DOCX 960.35 KB)

Further information

To discuss your project ideas, email the Skills Solutions Partnerships program team at skillssolutions@ecodev.vic.gov.au.

Expressions of Interest (EoIs) open on Monday 19 May 2025 and will close at 23:59pm (AEST) on Friday 27 June 2025.