Skills focus for big resources projects

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Frustrated jobseekers finally have some answers for how Australia is going to upskill, reskill and train the existing Australian workforce. With no shortage of people wanting to work in the mines, it hasn't always been clear how to break into a mining jobs or find employment with oil companies.

Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills, Senator Chris Evans has reiterated initiatives aimed to increase the number of skilled workers in the resource sector, following a tour of the country’s key projects.

Early this month, Mr Evans returned from visiting projects run by Rio Tinto, Woodside and CITIC Pacific in the Pilbara town of Karratha where he looked at the demand for skilled workers.

The minister said initiatives such as the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA), launched by AMMA in late 2011, was key to ensuring the sector’s demand for tens of thousands of high skilled workers is met.

“Nowhere are skilled workers more in demand than in our burgeoning resources sector,” Mr Evans said.

“The Gillard government is working with stakeholders to increase the number of trade professionals, engineers and geoscientists, strengthen workforce participation of local communities, and forge stronger ties between industry and education.”

6 Ways to better skills
 

The government aims to encourage more people to gain the necessary skills required by the resource sector by:

• Improving employment pathways for Indigenous people in the Pilbara through the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) and Australian Government Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Indigenous Employment and Enterprise Development;
• Forging stronger ties between industry and education through an industry-led web portal – OresomeResources;
• Increasing competency based progression through the 400 adult apprentices engaged by Bechtel Australia, 50 diesel fitters engaged by MacMahon, and 25 apprentice fitters engaged by Anglo American Metallurgical Coal, under the industry led National Apprenticeship Program;
• Government funding of more than $20 million under the National Workforce Development Fund to support training for more than 4,000 learners in the resources sector. This includes more than $2.5 million for qualifications for the operation of oil and gas assets in WA;
• Improving the attraction and retention of women in the resources sector through the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA), launched in Perth on 9 November 2011. The key focus of the project is to provide a catalyst for organisational change that promotes increased female engagement in enterprises in the resources and construction sectors; and
• The Australian Council of Engineering Deans working with universities and industry peak bodies to increase the industry engagement in engineering degrees, including interdisciplinary project work for second year engineering students.

Were you aware of all the projects currently under way to increase skills in the Australian workforce? 
 

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