“Australia is battling skill shortages right across the economy and this is weighing on productivity and economic growth,” Universities Australia Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said.

“We need to be doing all that we can to lift productivity and move towards a sustainable and faster growing economy, and that means having more skilled workers.

“A national skills passport will help in this regard, particularly if it builds on the existing qualifications recognition infrastructure that universities and other tertiary providers already use.

“This has the potential to expand access to recognition of prior learning and get people into jobs faster while opening up further study options.

“Australia’s changing labour market needs more highly skilled workers, which is why we need to be doing more to recognise the skills of people and make it easier for them to up-skill and retrain to drive workforce growth.

“We have long called for a national skills passport and thank the government for taking this important step.

“Universities have done significant work on this idea, so we are ready to roll up our sleeves to work on the passport and get it moving fast.

“We already educate millions of highly skilled workers each year and are keen to ensure that the initiative progresses in a way that best meets Australia’s skills needs.”