The Australia India Business Council (AIBC) Education Summit in 2025 was organized at the Investment Centre Victoria, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne on 11 September where Andrew Giles took the opportunity to reassure Indians living in Australia. The two nations are making inroads into the area of bilateral relations with focus on deepening educational and skills partnerships between Australia and India.
The theme of this year’s summit was “Shaping the Future of Skilling between Australia and India“— to highlight policy, collaboration, and commercial opportunities in the fast-evolving educational landscape.
To participate in the Summit Jayant Chaudhary, the Hon. Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Minister of State for Education, arrived from India kickstarting his Australian tour with an address at the Australia India Business Council event in Melbourne. Minister Chaudhary spoke about the initiatives of the Govt of India aimed at equipping India’s vast human resources with skills to make India Viksit Bharat by 2047. He also stressed the significance of the growing Australia-India partnership for mutual benefit.
Australia’s Minister for Skills and Training Hon Andrew Giles MP was in attendance. Minister delivered the keynote address. Minister Gile – @andrewjgiles – outlined the complementarity of strengths of Australia and India and expressed deep appreciation of the Govt of Australia for the contribution of Indian diaspora.
The event brought together not only leaders from government, but also leaders from the academia, education institutions, and industry. In addition to the thought-provoking addresses, there were also panel discussions on policy, collaboration, business potential in education and vocational training and above all a networking lunch promoting connection among delegates.
Minister Giles, took this opportunity to reassure Indian Australians that they were welcome in their new home country and they “belonged” here.
“And I’m determined, alongside every member of the Albanese Labor Government, to say to every Australian with links to India – you belong”, Minister Giles told the audience.
Continuing in the same vein, Minister Giles said:
“I come to my role as Skills and Training Minister as someone who wants to solve problems and bring people together.
“To ensure we keep turning around the skills shortages Australia is facing, which were at the worst levels we’d seen in half a century at the time of our Government coming to office.
“The 2024 Jobs and Skills Report found that 33 per cent of occupations were experiencing national skills shortages.
“It is in this area that the Migration Program is helping, especially in boosting key sectors like construction, healthcare, education and engineering.
“Research shows that skilled migration, particularly employer-sponsored migration, contributes strongly to productivity by offering a pipeline of skilled workers, and by injecting new ideas and innovation into the labour market.
“Ensuring a supply of appropriately skilled workers and matching those skills with jobs remains a key challenge.
“Assessing authorities play a role here too”.
If only someone could tell what Andrew Giles is saying to those placard holders at the rallies on August 31.
Minister Jayant Chadhary wrote on X.com:
Began his Australia Tour 2025 in Melbourne with an address at the @AIBCevent on “Shaping the Future of Skilling between Australia & India.” He highlighted India’s vision of #ViksitBharat2047 through large-scale skilling initiatives and the importance of – collaboration in this journey. Hon. Minister for Skills & Training, Australia,
@andrewjgiles , underlined the complementarity of both nations and the contribution of the Indian diaspora.
Had a meaningful interaction with Hon’ble
@andrewjgiles, Minister for Skills & Training of Australia, along with the
@MSDESkillIndia delegation. We explored the Mechanism for the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications between India and Australia, #CoE in Mining sector with Australia as a key partner, vocational training and apprenticeship frameworks, and need for skill taxonomy for our evolving labour markets. This visit reaffirms our commitment to the Aus-India partnership in the TVET and education sectors.
@HCICanberra @MEAIndia @PMOIndia @EduMinOfIndia
The event’s strategic focus was on transnational education delivery, especially for Australian VET providers, institutional partnerships and the mutual recognition of qualifications and programs such as agricultural skills mapping and women’s STEM fellowships.
The summit is part of growing bilateral education ties, underpinning both economic prosperity and mutual understanding between the two countries.