COUNTDOWN ON FOR BRISBANE HOSTING RECORD BREAKING NATIONAL SKILLS COMPETITION

With just under 12 months until the 2025 WorldSkills Australia National Championships and Skills Show, host city Brisbane is preparing for the biggest iteration of the event in its 44-year history.

Co-located with the Brisbane Careers and Employment Expo, over 25,000 visitors are expected to attend the three-day celebration of Australia’s skills, trades, vocational education, and training industries. Visitors – predominantly high school students and their families – will be able to discover exciting future career opportunities through interactive events, demonstrations, and the opportunity to speak with employers and industry experts.

A highlight of the event, the National Championships, will see the nation’s best young apprentices, trainees, and students competing in a series of high-pressure competitions designed to test and showcase their skills and abilities. Close to 60 skill categories will be represented in the Championships, including bricklaying, automotive mechanics, cyber-security, cookery, healthcare, and many more.

Those who win gold in Brisbane may be eligible for selection as a Skillaroo in Team Australia, who will take on the national champions from more than 65 countries at the 2026 WorldSkills International Competition in Shanghai.

Queensland’s skills sector has played a critical role in WorldSkills Australia’s 44-year history. The state is set to host the most competitions in this year’s Regional round, and 5 of the 33 Skillaroos heading to the French city of Lyon for the 2024 International Competition are Queenslanders.

WorldSkills Australia thanks the Queensland Government for its support of the 2025 WorldSkills Australia (WSA) National Championships and Skills Show.

The 2025 WorldSkills Australia National Championships and Skills Show will run between 12 -14 June 2025 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. School and Visitor Registrations will open in September 2024.

Quotes attributable to Queensland Minister for Employment, Training and Skills Development Lance McCallum:

“It’s an exciting time to be a Queenslander! Our Big Build is a record investment of infrastructure and a decade of golden opportunity for out workforce to get in to good jobs with better pay.”

“We’re not just hosting a competition; we’re hosting the future–these future tradespeople are the ones who will shape Queensland’s industries and drive our economy forward.

“From Free TAFE and Apprenticeships to Free Tools for First Years and our new plan to subsidise training for over one million Queenslanders, there is no better place in Australia, let alone the world, to be a future tradie than Queensland.”

Quotes attributable to Trevor Schwenke, WorldSkills Australia CEO:

“Brisbane 2025 is on track to be the biggest and best National Championships and Skills Show we’ve ever staged. We have seen a huge positive response from the Queensland Government, TAFE QLD , the State’s skills sector, and our partners and we look forward to working with them to show visitors the exciting vocational career opportunities that are out there. 

“The National Championships are such an exciting and vibrant event, for both competitors, volunteers and spectators. As our 2024 Skillaroos enter the final stage of training and preparation for Lyon in September, I can’t wait for Brisbane to reveal the 2026 Shanghai team.”