Mining and Auto Skills Shortage Focus of New Jobs and Skills Council
13 December 2022
VET reform and stronger outcomes for learners and employers solution to nation’s skills and workforce challenges
The Australian Minerals and Energy Skills Alliance (AUSMESA) will lead the way in addressing skills shortages in the critical resources and automotive sectors as one of the nation’s new Jobs and Skills Councils (JSCs) announced by Skills and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor today.
Chief Executive, Dr Gavin Lind, welcomed the announcement and said work would begin immediately to fortify the two sectors that contribute significantly to Australia’s jobs, exports, revenue and lower emissions targets.
“The strength of Australia’s resources and automotive sectors is critical to our nation’s economic, social and environmental future, and we will improve collaboration between industry and training providers and act as a source of intelligence on issues affecting their industries,” Dr Lind said.
“We recognise the critical role the vocational education and training (VET) sector plays in supporting Australians to access secure, well-paid jobs, and we will improve the speed to market of qualifications ensuring training products are aligned to the skills in demand in the resources and automotive sectors to increase workforce productivity and deliver more learners into jobs.
“It is our role as a JSC to provide industry with a stronger, more strategic voice, and to assist the Australian Government to deliver a collaborative, tripartite training system that brings employers, unions and governments together to find solutions to skills and workforce challenges.”
Dr Lind said AUSMESA would build on its past success and strong existing partnerships with industry to ensure a better fit between skill needs and training programs to combat skills shortages across both sectors.
“We look forward to working closely with Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), drawing on JSA’s workforce analysis and projections, to undertake planning for the resources and automotive sectors, creating a consistent understanding of the skills landscape and how skill gaps can be addressed in each sector,” Dr. Lind said.
“We thank Minister O’Connor and the Australian Government for their confidence in AUSMESA and the opportunity to deliver on these important reforms, and we will be calling urgent meetings with industry stakeholders over the coming weeks.”
Nicky Firth, Chair of the AUSMEA Board of Directors, said AUSMESA would continue to identify skills and workforce needs, map career pathways across education sectors, and develop contemporary VET training products for the resources and automotive sectors.
“The AUSMESA Board will now expand as part of this important strategic network of industry-owned and industry-led JSCs to provide strategic leadership to address challenges, improve system responsiveness, build stakeholder confidence and drive high-quality outcomes for the VET sector, learners, and business,” Ms Firth said.
“Our work is critical to lift the nation’s resources and automotive sectors and drive Australian jobs, exports, revenue, and lower emissions targets now and into the future.”
