Chairman’s Report

MTA CHAIRMAN, FRANK AGOSTINO

As we find our feet in the new COVIDnormal, it is interesting to decipher what challenges may lie ahead as pointed out by the 'Directions in Australia’s Automotive Industry – An Industry Report 2021' (https://mcusercontent.com/b8dcbd3b2b1c2f58d5b01b826/files/f059a9c4-d0ba-0a5a-aeb2-826968b46880/2021_Directions_in_Australias_Automotive_Industry_pp.pdf), produced by the Motor Trades Association of Australia (MTAA).

It is only the second edition of its kind and further explores the main issues first uncovered in 2017, providing a great snapshot of Australia’s automotive industry, including trends, challenges and their likely impacts.

It is extremely useful having statistics when advocating to government and industry stakeholders on key issues, providing an evidence-based argument on the size and scope of the current challenges facing us as an industry.

The report also gives us guidance on what has been the most important factors effecting those in the automotive industry recently, what is currently working and not working, and the challenges that lie ahead.

Standing out across the board is skill shortages and we thank David Pisoni MP, Minister for Innovation and Skills for joining us at our latest Industry Advisory Committee (IAC) as guest speaker to cover off this important topic - Skill Shortages in the Automotive Industry: The Government of South Australia’s response and looking to the future. We were also fortunate to hear from Ms Rachael Jensen, Industry Engagement Consultant, Systems Performance, Further Education and Pathways within the Department for Education.

Speaking on the topic of pathways to further education and employment, Rachel covered the recent VET policy reform and more specifically the link between schools, Registered Training Organisations and industry – we now look forward to how the Department for Education and the MTA can work together to ensure we attract and retain the best talent into the automotive field.

There was much robust discussion when conducting an overview of current skill shortages in the South Australian and Northern Territory automotive industries and the Council was presented with a summary of activities currently underway and that could be addressed going forward.

These include:

School pathways, which includes a combination of work experience and industry working with schools directly.

• Mature age apprenticeships and the possibility of creating an employment board.

• Trade assistant qualifications.

The other main issue identified as a major challenge for the automotive industry is emerging and future technology – this includes the transition into hybrid and electric vehicles.

The pace of change is rapid and governments around the world are taking different approaches, including whether to subsidise or back certain technology over others.

The report identified five key pillars of technology that have already been heavily invested in over the past decade, those being:

• electric mobility

• hydrogen technology

• connected vehicles

• autonomous vehicles

• shared mobility.

Significant investment is required by industry for the upgrading of equipment and skills, plus infrastructure and community awareness by governing bodies.

The MTA is already working together with all stakeholders to prepare for the impact future-technology vehicles will no doubt have on society, readying our industry to have the skills and supply chain necessary to not be caught out when the shift takes off.

Although much work lies ahead, there is lots to be positive about and I am personally excited to see how we as an industry can turn these challenges into opportunities – as the opening sentence of the Industry Report states, ‘For the first time in modern history, the industry is at a revolutionary turning point.’