Following public consultation on the Education and Training (Vocational Education and Training System) Amendment Bill, the Education and Workforce Select Committee will report back to Cabinet in September, prior to the expected passing of the Bill in October 2025, to enable the eight Industry Skills Boards to begin on 1 January 2026.

The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) held a public consultation earlier this year and the feedback has been considered in setting up eight ISBs, which will cover the following broad industry areas:

• Automotive, transport, and logistics
• Construction and specialist trades
• Food and fibre (including aquaculture)
• Infrastructure
• Manufacturing and engineering
• Services
• Health and community
• Electrotechnology and information technology.

The ISBs will be industry-led vocational education standards-setting bodies and will also temporarily manage the work-based training currently managed by Te Pūkenga as required during the transition to both this new industry training system and the re-establishment of a network of regionally governed polytechnics.

Industry Skills Boards will have three main funding sources. They will receive some core public funding, they can choose to charge fees to fund their quality assurance functions, and industries can also choose to support them through a levy.