NRSET Recommendation 5: Strengthening Workforce Participation

Recommendation 5.1 – National strategy to enhance language, literacy and numeracy skills of job seekers

This initiative is being led by the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIISRTE).

DIISRTE will chair the Foundation Skills Working Group to develop the National Foundation Skills Strategy for Adults. The strategy will be submitted to the Standing Council on Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment (SCOTESE) at the end of 2011.

The Resource Channel contacted the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education requesting a progress statement on this initiative but at the time of publication, a response had not been received.

Recommendation 5.2 – Sustainable job outcomes for local people in the Pilbara and Bowen Basin

This initiative is being led by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA).                                                                          

The Workforce Development Centre in the Pilbara will initiate local measures to increase local participation in resources projects, and the MCA-Australian Government Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Indigenous Employment and Enterprise Development will increase Indigenous participation.  In Queensland, the Workforce Development Plan for the Bowen and Galilee Basins will address the workforce needs of the resources industry, while the Queensland Resources Council (QRC)- Queensland Government-Australian Government MoU will focus on Indigenous participation. 

Recommendation 5.3 – Meet workforce needs of resources projects based near regional population centres

This initiative is being led by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).                                                                            

Regional Education, Skills and Jobs Coordinators will work together with other coordinators, regional communities and local businesses to develop integrated regional skills and employment plans. Key success factors of current brokerage models will be identified and promoted, for replication more widely in other regions and projects. States and territories and the Australian Government will work together to ensure services and funding are not duplicated.  Australian Government co-funding for training new and existing workers is available to regional organisations and enterprises through the Australian Government Skills Connect service.

The Government is providing funding of $19.1 million over three years, to 30 June 2014, for 34 Regional Education, Skills and Jobs Coordinators to work in regional communities across the country. The 34 coordinators have been employed and are working to develop Regional Education, Skills and Jobs Plans for each of the 46 non-metropolitan Regional Development Australia regions.  These plans include strategies to improve participation and outcomes in education, training and employment in regional Australia. The Regional Education, Skills and Jobs Coordinators are working to ensure communities are aware of the opportunities available including developing links across Government programs to meet local education and labour market opportunities.

The Coordinators will ensure regions can access and gain maximum benefit from suitable Government initiatives. They will also look for opportunities to solve local problems in education, skills and jobs development through better connections of stakeholders and programs. The Plans, built from local knowledge, meet local needs and can be drawn upon to inform the delivery of a range of Government policy and programs. The Regional Education, Skills and Jobs Coordinators work closely with Local Employment Coordinators where these are present in a local region.

The Regional Education, Skills and Jobs Plans are currently being finalised and are expected to be published in July 2012.  The plans for resource sector regions feature strategies to maximise employment and skilling of local people, consistent with the National Resource Sector Workforce Strategy.  Some regions without a mining industry but with a high labour supply have included strategies to connect their workforce to resource sector opportunities, through engagement with resource sector companies, supporting FIFO connection and skilling pathways.

The Resource Channel contacted the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations requesting a progress statement on this initiative but at the time of publication, a response had not been received.

Recommendation 5.4 – Industry based Fly-in Fly-out (FIFO) coordinator in Cairns

This initiative is being led by the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education - SkillsDMC and Advance Cairns.

A pilot project has been established in the Cairns region to help connect suitable workers in regional areas with available mining and construction jobs in remote locations via FIFO operations.

Mr Jeremy Blockey has been appointed by SkillsDMC as the FIFO Coordinator in Cairns, Queensland for a period of two years. Mr Blockey is working to develop links between resources projects in remote locations and potential employees in the Cairns region, to capitalise on FIFO job opportunities in resources and related construction industries.

The Coordinator will develop training and employment pathways for local unemployment job seekers and skilled workers to move into remote jobs through FIFO.

SkillsSMC in partnership with Advanced Cairns are working with resources and construction companies as well as employment and training organisations to pilot the role of a FIFO Coordinator in Cairns. The Australian Government is providing $561,000 to support this project.

FIFO Coordinators will:

• assist companies attract and connect potential employees to available work on mining, construction and infrastructure projects in remotes area;
• establish training and employment pathways for suitable job seekers and workers affected by industry restructuring; and
• link companies operating remotely with airline and airport services, to facilitate the connection of FIFO workers.

Recommendation 5.5 – Attracting and retaining women in the resources and construction sectors

This initiative is being led bytheDepartment of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIISRTE) and the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA).

In March 2012, AMMA launched the Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA) which will implement a series of strategies to increase the attraction and retention of women in the resource industry, uniting a range of peak industry bodies and sector stakeholders in the cause.

National resource industry employer group AMMA is working in partnership with industry and the Federal Government’s Critical Skills Investment Fund for the project, which will action recommendations from the National Resource Sector Workforce Strategy.

AWRA will build on many of the industry initiatives and networking groups already taking action for female resources workers and provides an opportunity to unite all these organisations under one banner and take a nationally coordinated approach to increasing the attraction and retention of female workers in the resource industry.

Implementing workplace policies, systems and procedures that heighten the attractiveness of the resources sector for female workers is just one strategic focus of AWRA.

Under the direction of the AWRA Leadership Committee, the Alliance will also facilitate and promote the appropriate cultural change required to accommodate greater female participation on resources projects.

Recommendation 5.6 – Stronger links between employers, training providers and employment services providers in the Pilbara and Rockhampton

This initiative is being led by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).            

A Pilbara Indigenous Coordinator will be appointed under the MCA-Australian Government MoU on Indigenous Employment and Enterprise Development in partnership with the WA Government. The WA Government will also establish a Workforce Development Centre in the Pilbara. Regional Action Plans will be developed and a Partnership Facilitator will be appointed in the Bowen Basin (Rockhampton) under the QRC - Queensland Government - Australian Government MoU.

Recommendation 5.7 – Better integrate Indigenous businesses into major projects in Western Australia

This initiative is being led by theNational Steering Committee of the MCA-Australian Government MoU.

Under the MCA-Australian Government MoU, the project will identify and extend leading practice models to support the engagement of Indigenous businesses in minerals industry and Government supply chains in key mining communities. This project will also seek to pilot a small contractor’s initiative in the minerals industry and related supply chain industries. The project will be based in the Pilbara initially, with extension to other MoU regions as appropriate.

The MoU has now moved into the operational phase with strategies to be implemented from both the national and regional level over the next three years.

Regional coordinators are now working in those places specifically covered by the agreement. These include:

• the Pilbara, East Kimberley, the Wiluna Shire and part of the south west of Western Australia;
• the southern half of the Northern Territory; and
• western Cape York in Queensland.

The Coordinators will help guide long-term action, bringing together stakeholders at the local level to identify and progress employment and enterprise development opportunities for Indigenous Australians in mining and related industries.

At the national level priority actions include:

• Strengthening employment outcomes in the mining and related sectors for Indigenous Australians with high level employment preparation needs; and
• Identifying and extending leading practice models to support the engagement of Indigenous businesses in the minerals industry and Government supply chains.

These actions will be piloted in the Pilbara with a view to replicating them in other areas.

The MoU provides a pathway to bring together the mining industry and Indigenous and community representatives in a collaborative and coordinated way to look at Indigenous employment, training and business development opportunities.

Actions under the MoU will help meet “Closing the Gap” commitments to increase Indigenous economic development and address Indigenous disadvantage.