Defence Business: What’s on the skilling horizon? | ADM March 2012
Katherine Ziesing | Canberra
In September 2011, then Minister for Defence Materiel, Jason Clare, asked Skills Australia to work with the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) to prepare a comprehensive workforce strategy for the Australian Defence materiel supply industries. These are organisations in the private sector which contract to the Department of Defence to provide goods or services to support Defence capability.
The purpose of the Defence Industry Workforce Strategy will be to provide a series of recommendations for building and supporting the supply of skills to these industries.
In preparing the Discussion Paper, Skills Australia worked with the DMO, and other stakeholders including State Governments, peak industry groups (including the Australian industry Group’s Defence Council), major firms in Australia’s Defence materiel supply industries and with unions.
The Discussion Paper provides a preliminary assessment of the skills outlook for the Defence materiel supply industries and provides an environmental scan, including discussion of the Defence policy framework in Australia, the long term economic environment against which planned increases in Defence outlays will occur, and examines the nature of the Defence materiel supply industries and the industries’ workforces.
It also discusses important issues for planning such as future trends in Defence procurement. It examines the potential impact of Defence procurement plans for demand for related skills over the next decade. Other issues covered include:
- Examines the supply of skills available to the Defence materiel supply industries;
- Provides an initial examination of skill gaps in key occupations for the Defence materiel supply industries;
- Presents some initial conclusions about possible strategies to address skill gaps;
- Presents questions for discussion; and
- Foreshadows further work planned by Skills Australia in preparing its final report.
Key conclusions
The aim of this work is to develop a comprehensive workforce strategy to better position Australia’s Defence materiel supply industries to participate in growth in acquisitions; sustainment and garrison supply procurements over the next decade. To compete for these Defence procurements, the Australian Defence materiel supply industries will require workers with the appropriate skills and abilities. Most skills to support the industries are readily available in Australia, and the Defence materiel supply industries workforce of around 30,000 employees is a relatively small proportion of Australia’s current workforce of over 11 million people.
However, the Defence supply industries have very specific skills needs in some areas where skills gaps would need to be addressed. Over the next decade, the Defence materiel supply industries will also face significant competition for skilled labour from the resources sector and large-scale infrastructure projects including the National Broadband Network.
Skills Australia’s initial analysis suggests that some skills gaps will occur, most notably in electronics/electrical engineering and in some specialised software engineering skills.
The Discussion Paper argues that there is a case for action by Federal and State governments, industry, and the union movement, to work together to develop and implement options to address these gaps. Potential areas which could be addressed include increasing the number of young people studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics at school, which will have a direct impact on the nature of their post-school studies and their potential career paths. Alongside this push is the improvement of career pathways to the Defence materiel supply industries, which would also bolster the supply of skills to the industry.
Areas for further discussion
This paper has been developed to provoke discussion and debate. The key questions identified by Skills Australia for discussion include:
- How can government and industry collaborate to collect and share better data on the nature and extent of the Defence materiel supply industries?
- How can government and industry develop more reliable and comprehensive workforce data on the Defence materiel supply industries?
- What are the critical specialist occupations for the Defence materiel supply industries and how can government and industry work together to maximise the availability of the skills?
- How can government, industry and the training sector work together to manage competing demand for skilled labour over the next decade?
- What strategies can be employed to encourage more young people to study science, technology, engineering
- and mathematics?
- What role can ex-ADF personnel play in meeting the skill needs of the Defence materiel supply industries?
- What can improvements can be made to skilling programs for the Defence materiel supply industries?
- What role can scholarship and cadetship programs play in skilling for the Defence materiel supply industries?
- What options exist to address skills supply in occupations where skills gaps have been identified?
- With these issues in mind, how can the Defence materiel supply industries:
- Improve attraction and retention of staff?
- Match existing external skills supply to future employment opportunities?
- Better promote career opportunities to the emerging workforce?
Public submissions
To assist this debate, Skills Australia is inviting public submissions on the Strategy by 5 April 2012. Consultations will also be held across the country this month. The insights gained from these submissions and consultations will be incorporated into the final report, which is due in June 2012.
Consultations will occur in: Canberra (27th February), Melbourne (5th March), Perth (7th March), Adelaide (13th March), Darwin (15th March), Brisbane (20th March), Sydney (23 March), Newcastle (28th March) and Hobart (29th March).
A background paper to this Discussion Paper and information on the submission process can be found on the Skills Australia website at www.skillsaustralia.gov.au.
Skills Australia context
Skills Australia is an independent statutory body, providing advice to the Minister for Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research on Australia’s current, emerging and future workforce skills needs and workforce development needs.
Skills Australia’s primary function is to provide advice on Australia’s current, emerging and future workforce skills needs and workforce development needs.