Emerald Jobs Summit
Niel Jacobsen, Arthur Blewitt, John Baker and Mike Rafferty
AgriFood Skills Australia hosted its second Jobs Summit for the Central Highlands Region in Emerald on 6 November.
The summit attracted around 80 industry and community representatives from a cross section of major regional industry sectors: cattle, agriculture, mining, transport and civil construction. It attracted local, state and federal government agencies, regional jobs centres, employment groups and vocational training and education providers.
The summit is part of a wider national effort to identify and address the regional challenges of attracting developing and retaining a skilled workforce.
The Queensland summit follows on from the Regional Jobs Summit at Narrabri in July, 2009; and a comprehensive review of this whole-of-region approach to skills and workforce development at the National Conference in Sydney in September.
The Emerald summit examined outcomes from the Central Highlands Skills and Labour Shortages Survey, which included feedback from local employers regarding:
- Recruitment
- Training
- Retention
It found that 50 per cent of businesses are planning to expand and 70 per cent of businesses already have unfilled vacancies.
Background
The Central Highlands has a regional population of more than 30,000 people but a total of 200,000 across the larger Fitzroy region.
A series of massive new projects planned in and around the Central Highlands, costing $110 billion over the next five to 10 years, are expected to generate in excess of 20,000 jobs mainly in construction work.
Proposed projects include three new coal mines and a power station on the western side of the Central Highlands, expansion of existing coal mines in the region, new and expanded port facilities in the Gladstone area and LNG pipelines and port facilities.
These giant projects are expected to create a powerful pressure for workers, which will have an impact across the entire region.
AgriFood CEO Arthur Blewitt, said the company was seeking to inject fresh energy and new thinking into the Central Highlands region in what has become a major national effort to promote jobs in regional areas across Australia in collaboration with local industry and regional bodies. AgriFood would continue to provide logistical support for the Queensland jobs push in the medium term.
"The aim of the summit in Emerald is to identify and address the challenges of attracting, developing and retaining a skilled workforce in the Central Highlands Region," Mr Blewitt said.
"There is strong competition for jobs in the region as the Central Highlands mining, agricultural, transport and building industries lead the recovery from the economic downturn. But we are aware that new approaches are needed to ensure a sustainable approach to attracting, skilling and retaining the workforce.
"This is now a priority for us as the nation recovers from the global economic crisis and as regional areas like the Central Highlands seek to provide jobs and increase the workforce. Having the right skills is a high priority of course, but what is even more important is being able to attract workers and their families to come and live in regional areas. "
Mr Blewitt said some of the questions being addressed in Emerald would focus on how businesses - big and small - would be able to attract new workers and identify opportunities to up-skill existing workers.
"The Summit aims to build collaborative partnerships between local employers, regional education, training and employment organisations and all levels of government to address these important issues," Mr Blewitt said.
"Delegates at the national conference appreciated the whole-of-region approach to skills and workforce development. There are significant challenges facing the Central Highlands and that is why this regional Summit is being held in Emerald."
This is among several initiatives by AgriFood Skills Australia that are generating widespread interest and support across large regional and rural areas of Australia.
The Central Highlands has a resident population of nearly 30,000 with extensive vocational education and training facilities and schools that are ready to support the skills development to create a strongly motivated workforce.
Delegates acknowledged the merit of a cross-industry approach to skills and workforce development and the benefits that could flow from such an approach.
The summit identified a need for greater cooperation in business-to-business dealings, high cost of housing and living, difficulties attracting young families, particularly to Emerald, and the need for upgraded infrastructure and support services to support the mining boom.