Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program: the NSW targets explained
The ISLP sets apprentice, learning worker, youth and women in trades targets on NSW Government construction contracts. Which ones apply depends on the contract value, and the data has to come up from every trade partner (subcontractor) each quarter.
What is the Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program?
The Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program (ISLP) is the NSW Government's set of skills and diversity targets for construction contracts. Under Procurement Board Direction PBD 2023-01, contracts over $10 million must target 20% apprentices in the trades workforce, and contracts over $100 million add targets for learning workers, under-25s and women in trades.
NSW Government Agencies
Departments, separate agencies and statutory bodies procuring construction under the Public Works and Procurement Act 1912 must apply PBD 2023-01. It applies to individual contracts, not whole programs.
Head Contractors
Targets are written into tender documents and contract terms, and contractors commit to reporting each quarter. Bidders are assessed on their capacity and past performance against these requirements.
Trade Partners
Contractors must collect the data from their trade partners, including off-site prefabrication workers where relevant. On projects over $100 million, trade partners should check with the head contractor which targets apply, even where their own contract is under a threshold.
Funded And Joint Projects
The guidelines also reach projects run by another party where a NSW agency makes a significant contribution. A project over $100 million jointly funded with the Australian Government should meet and report the targets whatever the NSW share.
What the Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program asks for.
What you report, and when.
Contractor Target Report
To the contracting agency
Agency Report
To Training Services NSW, by email
Women In Trades And Non-Traditional Roles
To Training Services NSW
Local Region Employment And Training
To Training Services NSW
- Total Project Workforce Register
- Worker Profile Data (Age, Gender, Postcode, Employer)
- Headcount, Hours And FTE By Target
- Apprentice And Trainee Training Contract Details
- Learning Worker Training Records
- Site Sign-In Records Or Other Data Validation Method
- Trade Partner Workforce Returns
Using One Denominator
Apprentices and women in trades are measured against the trades workforce, while learning workers and young people are measured against the total project workforce. A single percentage worked out on all hours will misstate two of the four targets.
Counting Every Short Course
Non-accredited microcredentials cannot make up more than 5% of the learning worker target, and at least 15% of learning workers must do accredited training. Microcredentials also need at least three hours of learning and recorded assessment, so a toolbox talk will not qualify.
Missing Off-Site And Trade Partner Workers
The project workforce covers contractor and trade partner staff, on site or off site, in any occupation. Teams that only count site sign-ins can end up with a wrong baseline for every target that sits on top of it.
How Catchment manages the Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program.
The Four ISLP Hours Targets
SocialProAdopting the built-in ISLP framework creates Apprentice Hours, Learning Worker Hours, Women in Trade Hours and Under-25 Hours targets. Each work package switches on the ones it reports against, so a $40m package need not carry the over $100m set.
Worker Attributes Do The Counting
SocialProMonthly hours count towards every target a worker's attributes match, so one apprentice under 25 counts for both apprentice and under-25 hours. That suits the ISLP rule that apprentices sit in both the apprentice and learning worker figures.
Trade Partner Data With A Review Step
SocialProEach package submits a monthly report, and the head contractor accepts each section or sends it back with a comment before the period locks. Trade partners report free of charge, and HammerTech hours can come in through the inbound integration.
A Home For The Quarterly Paperwork
GovAssureThe framework adds the Skills, Training & Diversity Plan, the Quarterly Report to Training Services NSW and the Final Completion Report as document requirements. Packages get report reminder and overdue emails for their monthly reporting, and each period's filing stays against the report.
An Export For The Agency Return
SocialProTarget progress exports to PDF or spreadsheet, which gives you the record to report from when you complete the agency's template. Catchment does not email Training Services NSW for you.
Adopting this framework on a project generates these targets and documents. You can edit them to match your contract.
Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program questions.
What are the ISLP targets?
On contracts over $100 million: 20% of the trades workforce to be apprentices, 20% of the project workforce to be learning workers, 8% to be under 25 and 2% of the trades workforce to be women. Local employment outcomes are also reported. Contracts from $10 million to $100 million carry the apprentice target, plus reporting on women.
What is a learning worker under the ISLP?
A learning worker is someone who needs to gain qualifications or skills to meet the needs of the infrastructure project, with or without existing qualifications. It includes apprentices, trainees, other VET training and microcredentials, and on-site cadets or undergraduate engineers may be included. Once classed as a learning worker, a person keeps that status for the project.
Is the ISLP mandatory?
Yes for the agencies covered by NSW Procurement Board Direction PBD 2023-01, which was issued in August 2023 and became mandatory from 1 September 2023. Procurements that started before that date follow the October 2021 Training Management Guidelines. Contractors are bound through their tender and contract terms.
How often is ISLP reporting due?
At least every financial quarter for the entire project. Contractors report to the contracting agency, and agencies report to Training Services NSW by email. Reports give headcount, hours and FTE where specified, using a method the contractor sets to validate trade partner data.
Does an apprentice count towards more than one ISLP target?
Yes. The Training Management Guidelines say all apprentices, including school-based apprentices, are reported against both the apprenticeship target and the learning worker target. A person under 25 also counts towards the young people figure for as long as they are engaged on the project.
Will Local Jobs First replace the ISLP?
That has not been settled in anything we could find. The NSW Government said in October 2026 that the Local Jobs First Bill had passed and would bring a Future Skills Guarantee setting required numbers of apprentices, cadets and trainees on government projects. Until new rules are published, PBD 2023-01 stays listed as the active direction, so check your tender documents.
- Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program (NSW Department of Education, nsw.gov.au)
- PBD 2023-01 Skills, training and diversity in construction (NSW Procurement Board)
- Training Management Guidelines September 2023 (NSW Department of Education)
- ISLP Training Management Guide (resources page) (NSW Department of Education)
- Minns Labor Government delivers landmark Local Jobs First reforms (NSW Government ministerial release, 14 October 2026)
- Aboriginal Procurement Policy (NSW Treasury, buy.NSW)
Reviewed 4 November 2026. General information to help you plan reporting, not legal advice. Policies change, so check the current version with the policy owner before you rely on it.
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