THE SKILLSFORECAST
Reading the signals on the future of work, learning and capability
A monthly live interview series exploring the forces reshaping work, learning and capability in Australia and beyond. One guest. One big topic. Real conversation. Free to attend.
What is The Skills Forecast?
The Skills Forecast is a live monthly interview series hosted by Kerri Buttery — one of Australia's most trusted voices in digital capability and workforce readiness.
Each episode brings one guest into a genuine, in-depth conversation about the forces reshaping how Australia works, learns and builds capability. We cover vocational education and training, schools, higher education, AI and technology, workforce policy, skills shortages, and the employer perspective — wherever the conversation needs to go.
Sessions are live and free to attend. Registered attendees can ask questions in real time. Every episode is recorded and published as a podcast episode after the live session.
This is not a webinar. There are no slides, no sponsors, no pitches. Just Kerri, a guest worth listening to, and the questions the sector is actually asking.
Kerri Buttery
Kerri has spent her career at the intersection of education quality, digital capability and workforce readiness — working across schools, RTOs and corporate L&D. She is the founder of VETNexus, a specialist consulting and eLearning firm serving the Australian VET sector and Queensland secondary schools. As host of The Skills Forecast, she brings practitioner depth and genuine curiosity to conversations about where education and work are heading next.
Connect with Kerri on LinkedIn →Six conversations. July to December.
One episode a month, each with a single guest and one big topic. Register for what's next, and catch up on what you've missed.
The AI Signal vs the Noise — What Educators Actually Need to Respond to Right Now
Guest: Toby George JonesThe AI conversation in 2026 is loud, contradictory, and often unhelpful. Australian companies are announcing thousands of job cuts and pointing to AI as the cause — but the data tells a more complicated story. Kerri sits down with Toby to cut through the hype and give you the signal you actually need: what's really changing, what to respond to, and what you can safely ignore.
Register now →
The VET Sector at a Crossroads — What the Next Five Years Demand of Us
With new standards, persistent skills shortages, rapid technology change and a National Skills Agreement still bedding in, the VET sector is in one of its most complex periods in memory. Andrew gives his honest read on what the sector is getting right, what it's getting badly wrong, and what providers need to do now to be fit for purpose.
AI in the Classroom and Beyond — What It Actually Looks Like in Practice
AI in education is everywhere as a topic — but what does it look like in real classrooms and training environments? Julian, whose experience spans both schools and VET, gives an honest account of what AI literacy looks like on the ground: what leaders need to decide first, what student engagement really looks like, and the pitfalls nobody warns you about.
Where VET Ends and Higher Education Begins — and Why That Line Is Disappearing
The boundary between vocational and higher education is blurring faster than either system is ready to admit. Claire, one of Australia's most astute observers of the tertiary landscape, explores what genuine integration actually looks like, who benefits, who resists it, and what the student at the intersection of both systems really experiences.
The Skills Australia Doesn't Have — and What the Training System Needs to Do About It
Fifty-one percent of Australia's persistent skills shortages are in trades and technicians. A 370,000 digital worker shortfall is projected. Green skills are needed for a million roles in five years. Kerri talks to a workforce expert close to the national data about where the gaps are most acute, why the system isn't closing them fast enough, and what needs to change.
2026 in Review — The Year the Future of Work Got Real
Kerri brings the year's conversations together — the forecasts that held, the ones that proved wrong, the moments that surprised the sector, and the signals pointing to 2027. This is the episode where the audience gets a voice too: what did you learn in 2026, and what do you want The Skills Forecast to explore next year?
Listen anywhere, anytime
Every episode of The Skills Forecast is published as a podcast after the live session. Subscribe on your preferred platform and you'll never miss a conversation.
Want to be a guest on The Skills Forecast?
If you work in education, training, workforce development, AI or a related field and you have something genuinely useful to say about the future of work and learning in Australia — we'd love to hear from you.
Get in touch →