Competing for the future minerals’ workforce Tania Constable PSM, Chief Executive Officer, Minerals Council of Australia
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n the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mining and resources sector continues to provide stability for Queensland – supporting the jobs of 372,000 people and contributing $82.6 billion to the state’s economy.
However, our industry’s capacity to continue growing, competing and thriving in a dynamic global economy relies heavily on employers across Australia being able to access and use the right people with the right skills at the right time. Competing for talent The nature of work in Australia is changing. The pace of change has been increased by the pandemic and 12
BBMC Yearbook 2020
businesses and workplaces across all sectors in Australia are sitting up and paying attention. Whilst Australia’s minerals sector is a global leader in innovation and safety, we are actively competing with a range of sectors to captivate the interest and imagination of emerging talent. Across the mining process – from exploration through to operations, processing, transport and trading – technology is transforming the way we mine. So as the nature of work changes and evolves, workers will need skills and capabilities that are adaptable, transferable and relevant to the needs of the future economy. The MCA has long advocated for more flexible, higher quality and responsive education, training and workforce development to build the minerals workforce of the future. For Australia’s resources sector to continue to underpin our economic recovery, we need to find
new, innovative ways of how to achieve this sooner rather than later. In late 2019, the Mining Skills Organisation Pilot (MSOP) was announced as the third Skills Organisation pilot – along with digital technologies and human services care – funded through the Australian Government’s $585.3M Skills Package. The pilots will work to strengthen Australia’s Vocational Education and Training system (VET) by ensuring it remains responsive, respected and flexible – providing learners with the skills needed to succeed in modern workplaces and employers with the workers needed to grow a strong economy. Supporting regional communities Regional Australian communities need more support from the resources sector than metropolitan communities, as the nation rebounds from the pandemic, which has hit young Australians and their job prospects hard.
