“APPEA is very pleased to note the extra 500 Commonwealth supported engineering places at university,” chief executive Belinda Robinson said.

“Our high tech industry employs, and needs to employ more, quality engineers,” she said.

Robinson said the Australian upstream oil and gas industry was facing a severe shortage of skilled and knowledgeable workers, now and into the future.

“The $3000 voucher system offered through Skills for the Future will hopefully provide incentives to those adults who need to improve their literacy and numeracy standards, or to learn a vocational skill, in order to apply for one of the many jobs available in the oil and gas industry,” she said.

“Many of our current employees have years of experience, but little or no nationally recognized or accredited qualifications. The funding under Skills for the Future to support Australians in the workplace who wish to upgrade their qualifications to Diploma or Advanced Diploma level is a great incentive.

“As well as providing evidence of underpinning knowledge required to perform tasks competently, these qualifications give a great confidence boost, particularly for older workers.”