27
2018 National Manufacturing Summit
The Hon Doug Cameron (Shadow Minister for Skills, TAFE and Apprenticeships).
Penny Prasad (Director, The Eco Efficiency Group).
facilitate information sharing and collaboration between government, employers, trade unions and training providers,” he said.
to Cameron, finding the best way forward will be complex. “It will be both intellectually and practically challenging - but it needs to be done.”
The Hon Doug Cameron (Shadow Minister for Skills, TAFE and Apprenticeships) Shadow Minister for Skills, TAFE and Apprenticeships, Doug Cameron, addressed the increasing demand for technical skills throughout Australia’s manufacturing sector—an area where is Australia is falling short, according to Cameron.
“We need a system built on quality, collaboration, depth, reliability and transferability that: equips people with knowledge and education for good working lives; skills the workforce for existing and emerging jobs; produces skills that power innovation and good jobs; provides greater social engagement and inclusion by guaranteeing access to quality lifelong learning and further education; in apprenticeships, provides a contract for employment and a contract for training with nationally recognised portable skills; and recognises the importance of highly skilled TAFE teaching professionals.”
“Demand for deeper technical skills for the workforce, particularly in advanced manufacturing, is growing. This is taking place in the context of accelerating technological change such as automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the internet of things, additive manufacturing and synthetic biology,” said Cameron. “The change is rapid and requires the generation and acquisition of complex, high order technical knowledge and skills. This suggests a need for robust, deep and transferrable qualifications to provide a strong base for life-long learning and skill development. Equally we need a strong culture of training and development in our workplaces.” “Instead we face a series of inter-dependent factors that are constraining and undermining our skill formation system. The system is characterised by low investment and fragmentation – and a growing propensity for short and partial qualifications increasingly directed at training to the enterprise.” According
The Hon Karen Andrews (Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills) The Summit was closed with a speech by Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, Karen Andrews, who spoke about rebuilding confidence in the manufacturing industry. “Australia’s manufacturing industry has come through a difficult period, in the face of both domestic and global challenges,” said Andrews. “The Turnbull Government is committed to seeing an extra 300,000 apprenticeships over the coming four years through the Skilling Australians Fund and I expect that many of them will find on-going employment with Australia’s various manufacturers.”
David Lake (President, Weld Australia) asks a question.
“
Rebuilding confidence in the industry will grow the demand for skilled workers as well, presenting an opportunity to thousands of Australian apprentices and trainees.” Andrews said five states and territories have already signed on to the Skilling Australians Fund, which commenced on 1 July 2018, injecting an estimated $3 billion into the VET sector in state and federal funding. “The Skilling Australians Fund will kick-start Australia’s skilled labour sector, sparking what is possibly one of the largest recruitment drives we’ve seen for apprentices. I expect the influx of new skilled workers will boost industries like the manufacturing sector.” “I am confident the apprentices in the coming years and the qualified workers they will become will have the exact skill sets needed by the manufacturing sector to deliver major projects to world standard and beyond,” said Andrews. Other keynote speakers included Michael Sharpe (Director – East, Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre), Penny Prasad (Director, The Eco Efficiency Group), Gordon Wymer (Chief Commercial Officer, Snowy Hydro), and Geoff Crittenden (Chief Executive Officer, Weld Australia).