Challenges, skill gaps and opportunities As indicated earlier, the five government and community safety sectors are currently faced with a number of workforce development challenges, many of which are common across all five sectors. These challenges include the ageing workforce, competition from other sectors and the need for up-skilling of staff. Whilst working towards addressing these challenges, organisations are also focussing on changing work practices as a result of environmental considerations, emerging technologies, funding cuts and efficiency targets. Below is a summary of current and emerging skills gaps for each sector and an overview of current and proposed strategies to improve skill levels and address skills shortages. Correctional services Current and emerging skill gaps Respondents indicated that they have experienced particular difficulty in retaining and recruiting correctional officers over the last 12 months, with one respondent highlighting Aboriginal and regional correctional officer recruitment as a particular issue. This trend is expected to continue, with respondents also indicating that they anticipate recruitment challenges for correctional officers over the coming five-year period. The 2012 Environmental Scan also identified labour demand in the areas of senior management and psychologists. Whilst there was insufficient data to conclusively indicate that this trend is continuing, these areas were again recognised by some respondents.
In addition to the skills shortages identified by our enterprise survey, IAC members also suggested that skills in the following areas were becoming increasingly required: >> dealing with an ageing prisoner population >> mental health issues >> community-based monitoring. Fifty per cent of respondents from the correctional services sector indicated that they encountered language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) gaps within their organisation. It was commented that this was sometimes observed in new custodial recruits.
Strategies to address skill shortages and boost skill levels Respondents from the correctional services sector indicated that the most common workforce planning activities being performed were workforce forecasting (75% of respondents), career development and succession planning (75%), and training needs analyses (75%). A further 50% indicated that they had formal planning and development strategies integrated with their business plan.
Environmental Scan 2013
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