Cradle Coast Region Pathfinder – Growth Strategy

CRADLE COAST REGION PATHFINDER REGIONAL GROWTH STRATEGY

RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS The Pathfinder project is a partnership between the Regional Australian Institute (RAI), the Cradle Coast Authority (CCA), each of the nine local councils of Burnie, Central Coast, Circular Head, Devonport City, Kentish, King Island, Latrobe, Waratah-Wynyard and West Coast and with support from the Australian Government.

The RAI developed Pathfinder to help regional leaders cut through complexity and focus on the initiatives that can have the greatest impact for their region. It is designed to inform local leaders about the strengths and weaknesses of the region’s economy and set out an agreed set of collaborative actions to take the region forward.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The RAI team acknowledges all the people and organisations who have contributed feedback and ideas during the development of this report. We have included a list of key informants - however this represents just a small fraction of the local time, effort and thought that has supported the development of this work. We are indebted to everyone for their input.

Independent and informed by both research and ongoing dialogue with the community, the RAI develops policy and advocates for change to build a stronger economy and better quality of life in regional Australia – for the benefit of all Australians. The RAI was established with support from the Australian Government and is currently funded by all states, the Northern Territory and the Australian Government.

DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT This research translates and analyses findings to enable an informed public discussion of regional issues in Australia. It is intended to assist people to think about their perspectives, assumptions and understanding of regional issues. No responsibility is accepted by the RAI, its Board or its funders for the quality of advice or decisions made by others based on the information presented in this publication.

RAI RESEARCH AND POLICY Project Team: Dr Kim Houghton Geraldyne How Steve Gleeson

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Contents The Cradle Coast Regional Futures Plan (Futures Plan) .................................................................... 4 More Jobs, and Better Jobs in the Cradle Coast region ..................................................................... 5 More Jobs / Better Jobs ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Significant regional challenges ......................................................................................................... 8 Approach ........................................................................................................................................ 11 A Connected Region........................................................................................................................ 12 Pathfinder Process – Agreeing Priorities and Actions ................................................................................... 14 Pathfinder Focus - Foundations For The Future ............................................................................................... 15 Priority areas ................................................................................................................................... 15 Immediate Actions - The Foundations For The Future ..................................................................... 17 Appendix A – Identifying Priority Areas ......................................................................................... 23 Improve educational attainment ....................................................................................................................... 23 Innovation and entrepreneurship ...................................................................................................................... 26 Build on industries with a competitive advantage ......................................................................................... 29 Leverage regional strengths to develop the tourism industry ..................................................................... 32 Capture employment opportunities in service sector growth ...................................................................... 33 References ....................................................................................................................................... 35

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THE CRADLE COAST REGIONAL FUTURES PLAN (FUTURES PLAN) Establishing a shared roadmap to guide collective action around regional development Tasmania’s Cradle Coast comprises places, communities and industry sectors linked by strong geographical, social, cultural and economic relationships and mutual interdependence. The region contributes 21% of Tasmania’s GDP and boasts several competitive advantages.

The regional and local economies of the Cradle Coast are in significant transition. The region is enjoying a period of economic growth and public and private investment, yet still experiencing a range of deeply entrenched economic and social challenges, including: persistent comparatively static population levels; high underemployment; low educational attainment and lower overall living standards.

While there are related sector specific and government strategies, there is currently no coordinated regional strategy or approach to addressing these identified challenges, and no mechanism for aligning State and Federal Government decision-making with identified regional priorities and investment opportunities.

In response and with financial support from the Australian Government’s Building Better Region’s Program, the Cradle Coast Authority (CCA) has committed to developing a Cradle Coast Regional Futures Plan (Futures Plan), aimed at establishing a shared roadmap to guide collective action around regional development.

The Futures Plan is aimed at improving the living standards of all residents in the region by boosting regional growth and fostering a more resilient economy. It will identify actionable investment priorities with the highest potential return to the community – with a focus on more jobs and better jobs. The actionable priorities will focus on what we need to do better together and or differently now and won’t be about duplicating or complicating existing effective approaches.

The project will facilitate engagement between local and regional leaders to build a strong level of commitment and shared responsibility for implementing identified essential actions.

The Futures Plan is being developed in three phases. The first and second phases are intended to establish an informed picture of regional growth opportunities; while the third is an innovative project model designed to facilitate regional collaboration.

Phases 1 & 2 - Regional Pathfinder (Feb to July 2018): • Establish a robust evidence base • Identify investment and economic development priorities for the region • Provide key stakeholder engagement to identify and road test / validate a suite of potential growth options for the region • Finalise the Pathfinder Report as an input into the Regional Futures Plan Phase 3 – Developing the Futures Plan and associated leadership and oversight for its implementation (August to November 2018): • Facilitate the necessary relationships and networks to support productive change • Development of an agreed Regional Futures Plan – with a focus on targeted, practical and actionable initiatives • Develop a governance system to serve as both the forum for the Plan’s development and the means for its implementation • Development of a Regional Development Toolbox—a suite of online regional development resources to accompany the Futures Plan.

The Plan will be completed before the end of the 2018 calendar year, with implementation via the collaborative model to extend into subsequent months and years.

The CCA is the peak body serving the needs of this region on behalf of its nine local government partners. Through regional leadership and shared understanding, the CCA is uniquely placed to help connect communities, business and government and guide collective action.

The CCA acknowledges and appreciates the support of the Australian Government in the development of the Regional Futures Plan.

Peter Murden, Regional Development Manager RAI PATHFINDER | CRADLE COAST REGIONAL GROWTH STRATEGY

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MORE JOBS, AND BETTER JOBS IN THE CRADLE COAST REGION The West and North West Tasmania regional economy is projected to add around 3,800 jobs by 2022. To realise this potential, the Cradle Coast region will have to develop and rely on competitive strengths, target priority constraints and work collectively.

Pathfinder brings together the knowledge and experience of local leaders and stakeholders, building on current strategies and regional strengths, and addressing regional weaknesses to identify shared priorities for growth and what the region needs to do collectively about it.

This regional approach enables action on challenges that are too big for any particular council or local body to influence on their own and seeks to maximise the likelihood of government support to achieve results from actions.

The Pathfinder project brings a sharp focus to the agreed priority areas which will have place based outcomes and also contribute to regional impact - enabling a ‘scaling up’ of economic development ambitions and resources.

More Jobs / Better Jobs Consultation across the Cradle Coast region in the RAI’s initial assessment stage of Pathfinder has highlighted the importance of secure local jobs as the key to the region’s economic future.

Unemployment and underemployment rates are relatively high, wages are relatively low, part-time work is growing, education and skills are lacking and the workforce is ageing.

All of these factors heighten the uncertainty produced by the threat of technology and automation on jobs, which is expected to impact heavily on manufacturing, agriculture and retail.

Creating more jobs, and better jobs in the Cradle Coast region is critical, and the Pathfinder process centres on five areas for action: the emerging services sector, the need for more full-time jobs, facilitation of workers in industries in transition, greater involvement in innovation and entrepreneurship, and improving educational attainment.

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The Cradle Coast region has a heritage in the ‘traditional’ industries of manufacturing (processing, machinery and forestry) and agriculture. Significant change in each of these industries has challenged the region and the businesses in each industry which have adapted are strong. On top of these foundations, the region is developing a diverse economy encompassing retail, tourism, health and professional services.

The restructuring of the region’s foundation industries has mirrored the same changes that have affected much of regional Australia’s manufacturing and agriculture industries. The Cradle Coast region has successfully transitioned towards advanced manufacturing and agribusiness (including aquaculture and forestry) with niche food production and strong processing capabilities. The region’s future growth is dependent on the competitiveness of these industries supported by a population equipped with the skills to take on future opportunities (such as renewable energy).

There is also a large and emerging services sector, particularly in health care and social assistance, which is projected to grow significantly faster than other industries. But coming along with this change in shape of the economy is a drift from full-time to part-time jobs, and a consequent loss of spending power by the region’s residents.

More jobs, and better jobs - but where do the jobs and workers come from?

More jobs and better jobs essentially means getting the most out of the change happening to the region’s economy and labour market, taking action to stop the downward trends by stimulating more full-time employment across Cradle Coast with more skilled work and workers earning higher incomes.

Increasing educational attainment within Cradle Coast will assist in building the relevant skills base in the local population to secure these better jobs and the resultant increased incomes are likely to influence decisions to stay, live and work in the region. More jobs and better jobs, combined with the liveability of Cradle Coast, will also strengthen the capacity for business to attract skilled workers from other locations as required.

Forecasting by the Commonwealth Department of Jobs and Small Business shows that there is the potential for a net increase of around 3,800 jobs in the region through to 2022. This is significant increase on current trends, which would see a net increase of just 2,140 jobs over this period. The difference represents one estimate of the value to the region of addressing the underlying weaknesses in the labour market and economy that are the focus of this Growth Strategy report.

The challenge and the opportunity are captured in the chart below which shows the expected growth in the number of jobs in each industry through to 2022 as modelled by the Department of Jobs and Small Business. More than half the industries in the region are expected to see net job growth, but at a small scale of around 0 to 400 net new jobs over 5 years. Job growth is dominated by the Healthcare and Social Assistance industry, projected to grow by over 1,200 net jobs. This growth reflects a national trend driven both by our ageing population and increasing consumer preferences for more diversity in health care and social services. These drivers are also strong in the Cradle Coast region and the jobs will be a mix of public and private sector services, and high and low wage positions across the spectrum from personal care to highly technical specialist services.

The size of the circle around each industry shows the current level of employment, with Health Care and Social Assistance, Retail and Manufacturing the industries currently employing the most Cradle Coast residents (further details on the industry mix and growth trends are in the accompanying Pathfinder Technical Report).

The chart shows that economic fundamentals of the region are strong, and there is the opportunity for the region to add a net 3,800 jobs through to 2022. But the challenge is to ensure that local demand supports this potential through sustained modest growth in both headline population and more RAI PATHFINDER | CRADLE COAST REGIONAL GROWTH STRATEGY

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importantly the size of the workforce – both of which are currently shrinking. And then that the workforce is well-placed in terms of skills and capabilities to take on the jobs that are coming, especially in full-time and well paid work for the higher skill occupations.

2016 Jobs in Industries (size of bubble) and Projected Employment Growth 5 years to May 2022 1600 1400 Health Care and Social Assistance

1200 1000

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing

Accommodation and Food Manufacturing Transport, Postal and Administrative Warehousing and Support Retail Trade Rental, Hiring and Real Public Administration Estate Services and Safety Construction Financial Education and Training and Arts and Recreation Insurance Services Other Services

800 600 400 200 0 -200

Mining Wholesale Trade Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services

Information Media and Telecommunications

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

Figure 1 Industry employment growth projections for Cradle Coast to 2022

Source: 2016 jobs in industries from ABS Census 2016 (Place of Work) & Department of Jobs and Small Businesses Labour Market Information Portal Projected Employment Growth for North & North West Tasmania.

Review of current economic specialisations, growth forecasts and regional industry trajectories has also found new directions emerging in five ‘traditional’ industries. Market changes and technological developments are bringing new opportunities to these industries in the Cradle Coast Region: •

•

•

•

Advanced manufacturing – State Growth is working on a transition in the northwest of Tasmania to a specialization in defence industry manufacturing. This builds on the work of the Caterpillar Taskforce, leveraging combined efforts and resources to further diversify industry skills and build capacity in the local workforce. The global nature of the defence industry provides an expanded market for the existing skills and industrial capability base.

Agribusiness - The agriculture, forestry and fishing industry is not projected to grow as much in terms of job numbers. Even so, the region has a strong specialization in agribusiness production, processing and services, and an added competitive advantage of climatic conditions to grow niche produce. Therefore, there is potential for supporting the growth in the agribusiness sector, greater value-adding and expanding market access.

Aquaculture – Whilst there is still much debate and discussion about the regulation of the aquaculture industry, primarily around sustainability and environmental impact, it remains on a solid growth trajectory. The main companies involved in aquaculture in Tasmania continue to invest new and expanded marine farming operations, including in the north west of Tasmania, which should result in new jobs being created.

Forestry – After a period of significant decimation of the forestry industry in Tasmania, the transition has been triggered and growth in occurring with substantial investment being made to establish new operations. Plantation forests, innovative farming models and advanced harvesting

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•

and milling technologies provide a more sustainable and sophisticated future, yet still providing substantial job numbers due to volume and demand.

Renewable energy – Tasmania sees the potential to be the ‘Battery of the Nation’ in Australia’s national energy market. The north west of Tasmania would have a significant role to play with its wind potential and as the point of connection for the proposed second Bass Straight interconnector.

The energy sector evolution and transition to renewable energy, involving the transfer of supply to Australia from coal-fired plants to more modern facilities and sustainable methods, provides opportunity for the north west of Tasmania to develop large scale enterprise to meet demand.

SIGNIFICANT REGIONAL CHALLENGES To drive future economic growth in Cradle Coast, some broad concerns across the region have to be addressed.

These concerns will be familiar to regional leaders, having been identified many times in recent decades by elected representatives, commentators like Saul Eslake, and most recently a review of the Tasmanian Economy by Deloitte Access Economics.

‘To fully capitalise on our strengths and set up a prosperous future Tasmania must first address some underlying structural factors and think longer term.’

Be BOLD Tasmania - TASfocus Special Edition. Deloitte 2018

Familiar as they are, these concerns are proving difficult to address. While Tasmania has and is seeing some very innovative approaches to dealing with the underlying structural factors, it is clear that this needs to be a long term and sustained project encompassing the whole state. The Cradle Coast Region has the opportunity through the Regional Futures Plan to foster significant improvements in coming years.

Unemployment rates in Cradle Coast are above Tasmania’s average (King Island being the exception) and youth unemployment rates are particularly high in West Coast and Devonport. Part-time work is also increasing while the number in full time jobs fell from 2011 to 2016. More detailed information on the region’s demographic and economic trends and challenges is included in the accompanying Pathfinder Technical Report.

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Unemployment & Youth Unemployment Rates 2016 20.0% 18.0% 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0%

Unemployment Rate_2016 Unemployment Rate_CCR 2016 Youth Unemployment Rate_CCR 2016

Youth Unemployment Rate_2016 Unemployment Rate_Tasmania 2016 Youth Unemployment Rate_Tasmania 2016

Figure 2 Unemployment rates in Cradle Coast LGAs in 2016

Source: ABS 2016 Census of Population and Housing

The average weekly individual income in 2016 showed that the region had a lower proportion of people earning a high income compared to Tasmania as a whole. Most of the people earned $300$399 or $400-$499 weekly, which is considered to be low income (earning less than $500 per week)i.

In order to lift incomes and reduce unemployment a skilled workforce will be necessary. However, current education attainment levels present a challenge for the region as the Cradle Coast has lower levels of high school completion (28.7%) and university qualifications (7.9%) compared to Tasmania’s average (40% and 13.3% respectively). The level of education is an indication of the workforce’s skill level and therefore the lower levels suggests an urgent need to improve educational engagement, retention and attainment to tap into future growth opportunities in jobs that require higher skill levels.

Fortunately, the region does have strong technical qualifications base that will be necessary to support several industries.

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Human Capital Indicators Cradle Coast

Tasmania

45.00% 40.00% 35.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% University qualifications

Technical qualifications

High School completion rate

Adult Learning

Figure 3: Human Capital indicators for Cradle Coast Region

Source: The Regional Australia Institute [In]Sight data tool - http://www.regionalaustralia.org.au/home/tools-andproducts/insight/

The region is also faced with a shrinking working-age population due to a combination of negative population growth, ageing population and out-migration. Eight of the nine Cradle Coast councils showed a decrease in working age population size between 2011 and 2016 with the region having a 3% decrease on average. Concurrently, the number of people above 65 years has increased. A shrinking pool of people can greatly decrease the availability of skilled labour to fill positions.

% Change in Working Age Population 2011 and 2016 Tasmania Cradle Coast West Coast (M) Waratah/Wynyard (M) Latrobe (M) King Island (M) Kentish (M) Devonport (C) Circular Head (M) Central Coast (M) Burnie (C) -16.0% -14.0% -12.0% -10.0% -8.0% -6.0% -4.0% -2.0% 0.0%

2.0%

4.0%

6.0%

Figure 4: Percentage change in working age population (15 - 64 years) between 2011 and 2016

Source: ABS 2011 and 2016 Census of Population and Housing

Exacerbating the economic impact of a shrinking workforce, there has been a significant increase in part time employment in the region as the number of people with part time jobs grew by approximately 1900 jobs between 2011 and 2016. In 2011, part time jobs accounted for 36% of RAI PATHFINDER | CRADLE COAST REGIONAL GROWTH STRATEGY

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employment in the region and this rose to 40% in 2016. King Island was an exception, showing similar proportions in both years. The greatest change was in Burnie.

Table 1: Comparison of full time and part time jobs between 2011 and 2016

Cradle Coast Region Employment Status

2011

2016

Change in job numbers between 2011 and 2016

Employed, worked full-time

24,308

23,941

-367

Employed, worked part-time

13,758

15,700

1,942

Source: ABS 2011 and 2016 Census of Population and Housing

Addressing the attraction and retention of workers is critical and often relates to expanding local employment opportunities as young people tend to move to cities in search of educational opportunities and to establish their careers.

All of these factors further heighten the uncertainty produced by the threat of technology and automation on jobs, which is expected to impact heavily on manufacturing, agriculture and retail. The importance of securing more and better local jobs has been regionally agreed as the key to the region’s economic future.

APPROACH The councils of the Cradle Coast already working together and with other bodies in a coordinated effort, is an acknowledgement that the problems of the region (albeit localised in the specific LGAs) are too big for any one council, government, business, institution or other body to solve on their own.

Strategically, the most attractive and effective way to harness the support and resources of the state and federal governments, and inspire the actions and investment from industry and other stakeholders, is to collaborate on an agreed, short, clear list of priority areas.

Concerted, focused and intentional public and private sector action will be required to provide the influence to support the decision making needed to yield growth across the Cradle Coast in line with the agreed priorities.

This Pathfinder process has shown that the Cradle Coast needs a more collaborative and coordinated approach to creating more jobs and better jobs. Regionally agreed and supported priorities will enable the region to access help (people and funding) from sources other than those accessible to Councils or others acting individually. Collective and coordinated regional representation is more likely to unlock and better leverage government funding and support and industry investment. But this is a significant change to the usual approach of institutions working in silos in managing their own affairs rather than cooperating regionally.

Bringing in more resources, and getting greater impact from existing resources, are the two means by which the regional approach will add value. The actions taken to address the priority areas will have a mix of regional and place-specific impacts, depending on the needs of communities. The regional approach is expected to bring additional resources in to address aspects of the priority areas that are affecting individual places.

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By taking a regional perspective to drive, resource and support localised, place based sets of priorities, this Growth Strategy is tailored around action from within. The examples of actions outlined later in this document have been chosen to reflect what can be done by the region with existing (or with modest additional) resources. It is expected that these will be pursued alongside addressing more externally-controlled issues like freight, air traffic, and electricity for example.

This emphasis on local action means interventions can happen at the local level now, and that collective success from the local outcomes should create regional impact and momentum with flow on effects across Cradle Coast.

A CONNECTED REGION Rather than representing a multitude of small places, the region exemplifies a series of interconnected geographically distributed economies. As such, the nine councils in the region are not independent of each other and a coordinated effort will benefit all residents across the region. The information in this section is drawn from work done by the RAI in late 2017 for the Cradle Coast Authority, which is included in the last section of the Pathfinder Technical Report which accompanies this growth strategy document.

The investigation of the nature and extent of the connections between places across the region shows that there is essentially an overlapping and integrated regional economy between the two airports at Burnie and Devonport. This large regional urban hub is important for the region as a provider of jobs, goods and especially services to residents right across the region. The analysis shows that while the communities of Circular Head, West Coast and King Island are relatively contained and they benefit less from direct interconnectedness, they do benefit from the level of services provided by the urban hub. And it is this relationship that underpins the need for the region to both plan regionally and act locally to address the constraints on growth that this Growth Strategy and the forthcoming Regional Futures Plan respond to.

Interdependent Councils can work collaboratively to create economies of scale and reduce duplication on place making and place shaping challenges and opportunities.

There is a distinct concentration of workflows within the Cradle Coast region, particularly around the cities of Devonport and Burnie. This reinforces the role Burnie and Devonport play in the Cradle Coast region, just as Launceston does for the region further east.

The flows between places identify the most popular locations for people to live in or travel to for work, demonstrating the level of connectivity in places across the region. Increased settlement in some places, characterised by high liveability, is providing workers for neighbouring places. The worker flows suggest a connectivity within the region and the ability people have to travel to work and live in a different area. An interactive map showing the worker movements between SA2s and LGAs in the Cradle Coast region is available here http://dev-regionalaustralia.org.au/rb/SA2/. Clicking on a location brings up a table showing the movements in and out of that place and the maps show the scale of all flows – again highlighting a place if it is clicked on.

Burnie, Devonport and Central Coast are the key centres that experience significant flows from and to their surrounding areas. Due to Central Coast being positioned between Burnie and Devonport, there is a lot of movement between these areas. Jobs in Burnie are generally filled by people who live outside Burnie, mostly travelling in for work from the west such as Waratah-Wynyard (2026 people) as well as some people travelling to (75) and from Circular Head (80). Burnie also draws from the western side of Central Coast with approximately 2124 people travelling into Burnie for work. There are fewer people travelling from the eastern side of Central Coast to Burnie (around 550). Instead, for the eastern half of Central Coast, most people travelled to (1048) and from (633) Devonport. Devonport also has strong links further to the east, with high numbers of people travelling to (966) and from RAI PATHFINDER | CRADLE COAST REGIONAL GROWTH STRATEGY

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(1746) Latrobe, as well as to places in the south like Kentish. Most people travelled from Kentish into Devonport to work (805).

Looking more widely, it is clear that the flows and number of connections do seem to be limited by geographical distance.

Looking at longer distance flows, the Census shows that there were 419 people living in Devonport who worked in Burnie, and another 233 who commuted the other way. More of these longer distance commuters were in higher income jobs than were the shorter distance commuters.

A more detailed discussion of the region’s connectivity is available in the accompanying Pathfinder Technical Report.

The desire for a Regional Futures Plan, the Murchison Plan for the western part of the region, and other regional actions like those following the Caterpillar manufacturing operations and Edith Creek dairy closures, show that the region has the willingness and capacity to work together to overcome significant economic challenges.

The emphasis is on acting now and achieving outcomes early.

The responses to the closures of some operations at the Edith Creek Dairy and manufacturing at Caterpillar are good examples of the capacity within the Cradle Coast Region to transition and adapt, which can be harnessed and built upon for future growth. The State Government provided significant assistance to businesses and community in the affected regions to assist in the development of alternative employment options. The established local networks and evident capability in advanced manufacturing, agribusiness and tourism are all strengths which can be built upon. And the University of Tasmania is demonstrating its commitment to tailoring what it does and how it does it in the region to achieve greater impact, with initiatives such as the Northern Transformation and University College.

As results and momentum build and resources increase from early local actions and results, the scale of activity and issue being targeted can increase, and the regional benefit more fully realised and enjoyed. The Futures Plan process will catalyse new collective leadership and support approaches underpinning a collective regional approach, which will make it easier for people to work together on the important things they are not achieving independently. Coordinated collaboration from within the Cradle Coast will achieve positive change in the region, increase attractiveness to those outside the region, and influence the policy and decision makers within state and federal governments on behalf of the region.

‘These big long-standing challenges need attention and leadership now. They may or may not be vote winners. But they need to be actioned. ….. our biggest risk is doing nothing at all. To ensure Tasmania continues to head in the right direction we believe we need a plan centered on population, education and reform that links in infrastructure, the future of work and health. We are not attempting to cover all of this or outline the plan in this report – that is a far bigger piece of work. We are trying to get the attention back on these systemic issues that we need to address and that as a state we have failed to address in the past. We believe we should be looking forward, thinking longer term, have a plan and being bold.’

Be BOLD Tasmania - TASfocus Special Edition. Deloitte 2018

The Pathfinder Process has taken regional leaders through a detailed assessment of the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities facing the Cradle Coast economy. Leaders have agreed on goals and

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priority areas, and a wide range of stakeholders have indicated support for a set of actions to underpin the Regional Futures Plan.

Pathfinder Process – Agreeing Priorities and Actions Assessment of Priorities

Initial Economic Assessment

Goal Setting and Priority Review

Regional Engagement Round 1

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Priority Refinement

Regional Engagement Round 2

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Final Report

Pathfinder Focus - Foundations For The Future

PRIORITY AREAS Based on data analysis and consultation with stakeholders across the region, five interrelated priority areas were identified and agreed, each contributing to the broader concerns mentioned and aiming to achieve more jobs, and better jobs for the region. These are focused on: Improving educational attainment so the local workforce has the skills to fill local jobs; Enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship for a more vibrant business ecosystem; Building on industries with a competitive advantage for economic growth; Leverage regional strengths to develop the tourism industry; and Capture employment opportunities from the emerging service sector.

More jobs and better jobs essentially means more full time employment across Cradle Coast with more skilled work and workers earning higher incomes. These five priority areas have been agreed as the means by which these goals will be advanced.

The crosscutting nature of these agreed priority areas reinforces that they cannot be dealt with in isolation or individually. Improving educational attainment relative to workforce readiness, for example, is foundational for all identified priority areas. Improvement will assist in building the relevant skills base in the local population to secure better jobs, and the resultant increased incomes are likely to influence decisions to stay, live and work in the region.

Improvements in each priority area will take time, effort, and a collaborative approach across the region in order to gather the resources necessary. As noted earlier, these priorities reflect long running weaknesses in the State’s economy, and regional action will need to be focused, resourced and ongoing. A mix of achievable local interventions alongside wider regional strategic work would be beneficial, and consideration is being given to preparation of a regional workforce plan to provide a guiding framework for several of the priority areas and an evidence base for approaching governments for additional resources.

Discussions undertaken through the Pathfinder process confirmed that there is work being done and resources available in many areas, but the key gaps are: • • • •

skills and workforce (most industries) coordination and integration across education and employment pathways in the region targeted development support for scale up enterprises overcoming internal and external perceptions about the capability of the region and enterprises and how good the education and employment opportunities are.

‘There still remains a perception that you have to leave Tasmania for opportunities or to be successful. Whether this comes from schools, parents, or peers we need to call this out.’

Be BOLD Tasmania - TASfocus Special Edition. Deloitte 2018

The actions table below sets out a menu of actions that can be undertaken now – largely using resources already available within the region. Feedback from stakeholders identified in the actions list RAI PATHFINDER | CRADLE COAST REGIONAL GROWTH STRATEGY

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as a reality check has confirmed their willingness to be involved. The actions list is not yet prescriptive, though, as further discussions are needed to firm up the nature and extent of each stakeholder’s involvement. More details on the nature of the priorities, the rationale for emerging actions and examples of other places that have sought to address similar challenges are included in Appendix A: Identifying Priority Areas.

The CCA is keen to involve stakeholders in refining this work program via a co-design process whereby issues and actions and discussed openly and designed by those with an interest. It is expected that this will happen through the refinement of the Regional Futures Plan over the next few weeks and months.

This will clarify responsibilities and resources, and also how stakeholders would like to manage and monitor the actions underway Pathfinder brings an emphasis on actions (projects) that can be started quickly and within available resources, and this is reflected in the actions outlines in the table. So in addition to the actions in the following table it is likely that the Regional Futures Plan will set out activities to address more complex challenges over the longer term.

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IMMEDIATE ACTIONS - THE FOUNDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE Education PRIORITY The adventure of education to employment - making it the road more travelled.

Intention

Actions

Change perception of Cradle Coast region.

• Actively message and promote regions’ advantages through schools.

Improve coordination and cooperation between educators and business.

• Consider developing/supporting a regional education cluster to provide a more coordinated / integrated approach.

•

Investigate/pilot the development of a regional Local Learning and Employment Network (based on the learnt experiences from Victoria).

• Map and support existing links/activities in schools by industry, employers, other educators, not-for-profits and other providers.

Build more connection between young people, schools, employers and other educators.

• Extend Burnie’s BIG concept across the region - with place based translation.

• Promote the Northern Transformation innovation and reframe pathway perception.

• Work with Skills Tasmania and education cluster to develop a regional workforce plan.

• Investigate merit of the online Talent Communities Platform – like the GGLLENS case-study.

Improve collaboration, alignment and integration between post-school education providers Right people, right time, right place - Ensure education/training is delivering employment ready workers.

Re-affirm VET and vocational training in general.

• Provide clarity to young people on options and benefits of different vocational streams - VET, UTas Assoc. Degrees, TAFE certificates.

• Establish some agreement across the education sector to maintain clarity of streams and options to students, and to improve alignment and integration, as they seek enrolments.

• Advocate for school based apprenticeships and traineeships.

• Lobby for Jobactive and government policy change to endorse the broader Cert II’s rather than specific Cert III’s - e.g. CII Community Development which provides broad exposure to options, as opposed to CIII Aged Care which is narrow and specific (will vary by industry/sector).

• Consistent with region’s enterprises, promote VET and vocational training as real and valid options.

• Lobby State Government to have VET grades count towards ATAR. • Expand youth entrepreneurship support in schools - including motivating aspiration.

‘Breed our own’

• Increase promotion of and engagement with Children’s University.

(quote from a local employer during workshop)

• Expand local industry/employer promotion in schools: I.E. What’s good about the industry, the jobs and the work place?

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Why ‘we want you’.

What we can offer.

How to get there.

Remove barriers to training skilled tradespeople.

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• Negotiate for all industry/trade related training be delivered at venues and by providers most relatable to and beneficial for participants - across industry, TAFE, UTas and private providers.

• Communicate and demonstrate university context for skills training as an option and part of the ongoing development of tradespeople.

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Industry PRIORITY ‘Trade’ routes - education pathways, roads and passages - lead to good jobs, good businesses and good lifestyles.

Intention

Actions •

Actively message and promote regions’ advantages through schools and recruitment.

•

Develop online regional investment prospectus/showcase.

Promote value of VET and trades for employment options.

•

Promote to workers’ families the value of a trade and the opportunities it provides.

•

Promote to schools the value of a trade and the opportunities it provides.

Increase middle level management capacity.

•

Revive the UTas front line management program.

Harmonise planning requirements.

•

Lobby LGAs to harmonise relevant planning permits across the region: e.g. road use permits for heavy vehicles.

Make roads ‘fit for purpose’ - fit for industry, fit for regional development.

Prepare for ‘precision forestry revolution’ and other emerging sectors (e.g. renewable energy, aquaculture).

Resource school engagement on career pathways.

•

Lobby State Government to build/upgrade roads to remove constraints on expanding agri-business and forestry.

•

Support a forestry skills ‘committee’.

•

Support an emerging industries cluster.

•

As part of an expanded BIG Project approach - Solicit regional industries to allocate funds from Corporate Social Responsibility budgets to youth engagement in schools to increase employability.

•

Support the work of TMEC and other key assets (UTAS / Rural Clinical School etc) help extend the reach and impact of their resources.

Change perception of Cradle Coast region.

Build on strengths.

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Business PRIORITY Helping build healthier businesses helps start new businesses – an ecosystem.

Intention

Actions

Change perception of Cradle Coast region.

•

Actively message and promote regions’ advantages through business networks and markets.

Create better businesses.

• •

Focus networks and support for existing business owners on excelling at core business principles.

Ensure business building services are available in the region in the ‘scaling up’ gap between start-ups and large businesses.

Develop young entrepreneurs.

•

Expand youth entrepreneurship support in schools – including motivating aspiration..

Harmonise planning requirements.

•

Lobby LGAs to harmonise relevant planning permits across the region: e.g. new small businesses.

•

Facilitate clusters, connections and relationships between compatible businesses/owners and encourage sharing of ideas - e.g. like that evident between Henry’s Ginger Beer, Rhuby Delights and TB Berry Patch.

•

Provide support to improve clusters and collaboration within identified hotspots of economic activity.

•

Engage willing business people to initiate cluster building and support them to do so.

•

Lobby Tasmanian Government support for development of a network of innovation hubs/centres of excellence across the region.

Develop supportive clusters.

Stimulate Innovation

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Service Sector PRIORITY Attract the right people - early: Train them the right way - often: Reward them well - always.

Intention

Actions

Change perception of Cradle Coast region.

•

Actively message and promote regions’ advantages through service sector and schools.

•

Lobby to remove disconnect between the funding model for qualifications and industry requirements - I.E. achievement of the compulsory Cert III isn’t achieving the right people for the job.

•

Engage with parents returning to work whose maturity can be an advantage in the sector.

•

Engage with schools to begin industry exposure and promotion early, to inform educational pathways.

•

Advocate for school based apprenticeships and traineeships.

•

Lobby to have the State Government make the allied health ‘gap’ education free.

•

Incentivise mature aged workers to remain in the workforce.

•

Establish a Caring Services Cluster - Develop networks across employers, educators and schools to synthesise sector.

•

Prepare a workforce development strategy.

Getting the right people.

Getting the right skills.

Retain people and skills longer.

Making the right connections - defragment.

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Tourism PRIORITY People, product and promotion - putting it all together to provide a world class visitor experience across the region.

Intention

Actions

Change perception of Cradle Coast region.

•

Actively message and promote regions’ advantages through marketing.

Inspire product and business development.

• •

Run sessions on the sharing economy (eg Airbnb) as an entry point for tourism business.

Construct a ‘hack’ type format to run a tourism event to support latent entrepreneurs in exploring and pursuing product development and start-ups.

Know what’s out there.

•

Map the tourism ecosystem across the region - actively seek to fill the ‘experience’ gaps.

Improve sector cooperation. PRIORITY

•

Learn from regions who demonstrate cooperation and competition success.

More collective action - More resource attraction.

• •

Develop commitment to and regional oversight/resources to support implementation of the immediate actions.

Assess investment ‘attractiveness’ and focus on improvement.

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APPENDIX A – IDENTIFYING PRIORITY AREAS

This Appendix summarises the issues underling each priority area, the regional context, the reasons attention is needed, strategic directions, and examples from around Australia of interventions used effectively by other regions in addressing similar challenges.

Improve educational attainment Aim To improve education attainment levels, particularly for high school completion, vocational training and university qualifications, and to provide clearly defined, relevant employment pathways across the region.

Current Situation Educational attainment has been flagged as a major issue for Tasmaniaii, and various initiatives are underway. One initiative that commenced in 2015 was the Years 11 and 12 Extension schools. It allows students to complete Year 11 and 12 at their local high school in regional areas compared to having to enrol in separate colleges after Year 10iii. The Tasmanian government is also increasing the age at which people leave school. From 2020, students would have to undertake education or training until they complete Year 12, attain a Certificate III or turn 18 years of ageiv. Year 10 and Year 12 completion rates have increased for current age cohorts and as discussed below are approaching national average levels.

The Cradle Coast region’s population overall currently has lower levels of high school completion and university qualifications compared to Tasmania’s average. The West Coast and King Island have significantly lower levels on these two educational measures. The region does have a higher proportion of the population with technical qualifications compared to Tasmania, providing a solid skills base for several industries.

Young people’s educational outcomes may be being held back as reports suggest that even after graduating from higher education they are finding it difficult to find full-time employmentv. This together with increasing cost may be a deterring factor for young people to pursue post-compulsory education. The lower levels of education attainment can have implications for businesses trying to fill positions with people that have relevant skills, productivity levels, and unemployment and participation rate in the workforce.

Job trends nationally show that the majority of job growth has been in occupations that require higher qualifications and at higher skill levelsvi. Specifically, professionals had the largest employment gains, accounting for 37% of total new jobs in the last five years to November 2017. This trend is likely to continue in the future and is reflected in the projections for Tasmania as a whole as well as the Northwest.

By 2022 the healthcare and social assistance industry alone is expected to grow by around 17 per cent across West and North West Tasmania (further details in the accompanying Pathfinder Technical report). This is greater than both agriculture and manufacturing combined. Coupled with a growing dependent population, the delivery of health services will be an important area for growth opportunities. This will require a supporting skilled workforce in new industries requiring different skills and qualifications.

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While the Census picture of the share of Cradle Coast residents completing Year 12 is bleak, these total measures reflect the highest year of schooling of all residents in the region and so are biased by the large number of older residents who left school early. Looking into the current cohort of high school students, the picture is much more positive. Assessment of Tasmanian Government figures for the region shows that 83% of 2014 Year 10s in the region went on to finish Year 11 in 2015 and 75% went on to finish Year 12 in 2016. This Year 12 completion rate for the region was above that for Tasmania as a whole (70.8%) though still below the national average (82.9%). Schools in the region are already demonstrating the impact of innovative approaches – including the Collaborative Education project at Ulverstone high school.

Additionally, the University of Tasmania (UTAS), which has a campus in Cradle Coast has also recently introduced Associate Degrees and access state wide, changes which are aimed at overcoming issues such as duration and costs of a Bachelor’s degree and which were developed to be relevant to industry needsvii. This will also provide an avenue for students who might have originally missed out on higher education to go back to school.

These current trends show that participation through to Year 12 is improving rapidly, and an important test will be how this translates into VET and tertiary education participation. The current Year 12 trends show that the low average completion rates are a product of low completions amongst previous generations. A topic of debate in the region is the extent to which family aspirations for children either favour or discourage Year 12 and further education.

Challenge Young people’s educational outcomes are critical for future prosperity and it is critical that educational attainment in the Cradle Coast region is improved. Action will need to involve schools, vocational education providers, tertiary education providers, employers and families. Victoria’s Local Learning and Employment Networks (www.llen.org.au) have been bridging these interests for over a decade, have developed and delivered dozens of programs tailored for local areas, and have shown that this is a long term game.

Strategic Direction Strategies to improve educational outcomes will be critical in supporting the region’s growth, so regional actions need to address barriers to participation, retention and completion of high school, vocational and higher education. Links should be established to help high school students continue on to pursue further education. Strategies should also further engage and inform Year 9 and 10 students on education and the links to local career pathways. UTAS associate degree programs should also be evaluated to identify areas to strengthen further. VET programs (both in school and post school) are a key service for many skills shortages in the region and would benefit from tighter alignment with industry needs as well as with easier accreditation with tertiary qualifications.

Case study: Geraldton Universities Centre (GUC) viii The GUC (www.guc.edu.au) is an independent and not-for-profit organization that supports university courses in Geraldton on behalf of partner universities such as Central Queensland University, University of Southern Queensland and Charles Sturt University. It is seen as a model of how universities could deliver university qualifications in regional communities, as online delivery of courses has often been criticized for lacking support for students, resulting in lower completion rates compared to on-campus students. Therefore, while courses are offered online to allow regional and distance learning, the GUC acts as a physical site where students can get support and access resources and technology.

Case study: Geelong Careers ix Launched by the Geelong Region Local Learning and Employment Network (GRLLEN), Geelong Careers (www.geelongcareers.org.au ) is a website and mobile app that provides information and RAI PATHFINDER | CRADLE COAST REGIONAL GROWTH STRATEGY

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resources on careers and employment in the region. The product reflects two years of consultation with a range of various stakeholders in the careers space. It provides live job feeds related to currently trending industries and occupations in those industries for the region, key sector trends, as well as career pathway data. It is targeted at improving educational attainment and transition outcomes by connecting students to trending industries in the G21 region.

Case study: Gateway to Industry Schools Program x The aim of the program is to help young people transition from school to further education and/or employment. The project encourages partnerships between schools, industry, training (VET) and universities to provide career opportunities across businesses based on primary industries. As such, students will be able to gain valuable experience in the industry, providing them with information that will help them make decisions after leaving school, and at the same time, raise the profile of careers in the industry.

For example, in Queensland there are around 43 Agribusiness Gateway to Industry Schoolsxi.

Potential Action Areas • Improving coordination and cooperation between actors in the school-post school-employment system through a regional education and job support cluster to help improve coordination and cooperation. Consider preparing a regional workforce plan.

• Improving student links to secondary and tertiary education opportunities to ensure students have information on the availability and accessibility to education options.

• Demonstrating the value of education for future job opportunities so as to identify the benefits of further education on future employment – includes working with families where post school education has not been valued in the past.

• Better financial and student support services in schools as well as for distance and online learning. Student support services such as access to learning skills services, academic support, career coaching may help to increase retention and completion rates in schools. Consideration needs to be given to supporting mature aged and other non-traditional background students.

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Innovation and entrepreneurship Aim Fostering more entrepreneurship and innovation which contributes to a vibrant business ecosystem.

Current Situation The rate of creation of new businesses across the region has been close to or higher than Tasmania’s average, although levels in King Island, Waratah-Wynyard and Kentish were significantly lower. A high level of business entries suggests higher levels of entrepreneurship in the region, as well as a supportive business environment that can further help to attract new innovation to the region. However, in recent years, the number of business exits has been higher than entries in most of the region. Helping new businesses form and existing businesses survive for longer in the region will deepen the economic base, promote the growth of local business connections and will further develop a supportive business environment.

Two other measures of local innovation and entrepreneurship are also low in the Cradle Coast region.

The Regional Australia Institute’s [In]Sight index (http://www.regionalaustralia.org.au/home/tools-andproducts/insight/) shows that there are also comparatively lower numbers of trademark applications per resident in the Cradle Coast LGAs (other than Devonport and King Island), as well as limited knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). KIBS are businesses that provide knowledge-intensive support (such as accounting, legal, marketing, and design services) to other businesses.

A good depth in KIBS demonstrates a skilled workforce and knowledge produced by KIBS also contributes to innovation. Within the Cradle Coast region, lower trademark applications and KIBS point to lower levels of entrepreneurial activity and innovation. Ensuring a vibrant business and entrepreneurial environment is an important factor in retaining and growing businesses in the region.

There are several entrepreneurial programs and activities running in the region including NextGen and Club Kidpreneur, Big Idea Challenge and UHack. Existing business support resources in the region include the Braddon Business Centre that provides a range of business advisory services such as how to start a business, finances, as and marketing and management to small and medium business owners.

Switch Tasmania was also established to provide free business assistance and developing entrepreneurs in the region. Also, the Cradle Coast Authority recently appointed an Industry Development Manager to focus specifically on supporting local innovation and entrepreneurship, assisting in developing the pathways required and collaborative clusters. An Enterprize Tasmania service on the northwest coast would be beneficial to the region. Feedback from entrepreneurs showed endorsement of the range of business assistance services available in the region, a need to fill some gaps in the service mix, and the need for more effort to embed knowledge of these services in existing business groups and networks.

Challenges The region is dominated by small to medium businesses, with around 93 per cent of total businesses in the region either self-employing or employing 1-4 employees. The region hosts a number of worldcompetitive larger businesses as well, showing increasing engagement with global supply chains. So, it is the web of micro, small and medium businesses that need to be the focus of increased performance expectations and support.

Strategic Direction Actions should prioritize innovation and entrepreneurship through the support of new business start-ups in the region as well as providing resources to support existing businesses. This can be through local entrepreneur networks to help provide opportunities for people to collaborate and network, as well as RAI PATHFINDER | CRADLE COAST REGIONAL GROWTH STRATEGY

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workshops and information sessions to help people start and grow their businesses. Additional work with young people and schools would help pave the way for a more active entrepreneurial culture in the region.

Case study: theSPACE Cairns xii theSPACE Cairns is aimed at building a vibrant start-up and innovative community. They offer a range of training programs and assistance to entrepreneurs and businesses, as well as a coworking space. They also have entrepreneur programs in schools to engage students as budding entrepreneurs. Their Emerging Entrepreneurs program was an initiative that helps to teach students skills on how to develop their ideas into businesses, such as business plans and developing business opportunitiesxiii. It can also help these students develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

Case study: Start-up Gympie Region xiv The 12 month program is targeted at supporting the start-up and growth of new businesses and also helping established businesses to continue developing. Workshops, networking events and information sessions are delivered with the aim of establishing a strong network of growth oriented start-up businesses.

Case study: Mandurah Entrepreneurial Capacity Building Program xv To tackle the high level of unemployment, the City of Mandurah started a series of free entrepreneurial workshops in 2014, which have been very successful. There are a number of programs each targeting different groups such as Mumpreneur101, Artpreneur101, Design Your Own Job Program and a Migrant Women Program. In May 2017, a Shirts with Attitude program was introduced which is an entrepreneurial skills and development program targeted at those aged 16+. The program’s success has resulted in the establishment of around 50 full-time businesses and 65 per cent of all participants registering an ABN with most operating part time.xvi Case study: Joint membership to local and state Chamber of Commerce xvii The City of Mandurah supports the Peel Chamber of Commerce with $12,000 per annum to ensure all local chamber members have joint membership to the Chamber of Commerce & Industry WA. This helps to provide additional business support such as human resourcing and accounting that the WA Chamber of Commerce provides. In turn, this also helps in a direct reduction of small business overheads and an increase in small business engaging with local community initiatives.

This can help keep small businesses going in the city.

Case study: $20 Boss xviii The $20 Boss program was developed by the Foundation for Young Australians together with the National Australia Bank, which provides secondary school students with $20 of start-up money to create, budget, market and operate their business idea over the school term. Through the program, it aims to equip young people with enterprise skills.

Potential Action Areas • Close a gap in the business support ecosystem by offering assistance to established businesses wanting to scale up – ie beyond the new start stage and beneath the Enterprise Connect turnover threshold.

• Look at ways of streamlining and improving access to State and Federal Government resources and programs.

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• •

•

•

Lobby State and Federal Government to support regionally led and networked approaches to innovation.

Establish strong networks and resources to support new start-ups and retain existing businesses through extending activities such as workshops, financial training, mentoring and e-commerce.

Links between start-ups and mature business owners may also encourage exchange of ideas and new innovation.

Support a range of entrepreneurial initiatives such as accelerator programs to help businesses start-up and incubator programs to continue supporting start-up growth. These initiatives will help translate entrepreneurial spirit into viable new businesses and help grow businesses to encourage further innovation.

Promote entrepreneurial skills and innovative thinking in schools to change attitudes towards selfemployment and nurture entrepreneurship. Linking schools with inspiring entrepreneurs for career sharing sessions, entrepreneurial programs, and projects to establish their own businesses can provide students with opportunities to develop skills that can be translated to real businesses.

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Build on industries with a competitive advantage Aim To build on the competitive advantages the region has in manufacturing and in agribusiness to take advantage of the growing global demand for high quality products.

Current Situation Agribusiness – which includes agriculture, forestry and aquaculture, as well as food, beverage manufacturing and processing industries – is a key driver for the region’s economy. The region has already established a name for its high quality and safe agricultural output which is aligned with the global trend of increasing demand for high quality goods and safe agribusiness products.

The region has a clear specialization in agribusiness production, processing and services, which accounts for approximately 13% of employment in the region (around 5,000 jobs). Among the nine councils, Circular Head and King Island show the strongest specialization in agribusiness processing as they are the top 2 LGAs across Tasmania. Central Coast, Devonport and Latrobe are also within the top 10 LGAs in Tasmania.

Cradle Coast has rich agricultural surroundings and suitable climate to grow a diverse range of agricultural produce. Locally grown niche produce which is highly sought after or not readily grown elsewhere in Australia, such as poppies and pyrethrum, stone fruits, abalone and wasabi, are also an added competitive advantage. State Government agronomic research has identified that the region is especially good for high value crops like sparkling wine grapes, raspberries, blueberries, pyrethrum, industrial hemp and potato. The region is also well-suited to controlled environment horticulture like cherry tomatoes and capsicums. An important asset in this regard is the Tasmanian Institute for Agriculture and the research and development that this organisation undertakes in the region.

Forestry has long been an important industry, and while there have been significant structural changes in recent decades, future investments look promising. Aquaculture too has great growth potential if environmental and logistics concerns can be managed. There is great potential for the region to continue growing the agribusiness sector through value-adding and expanding international market access for niche and bulk products.

Cradle Coast also has a strong tradition in manufacturing and the industry is an important contributor to the economy. The region’s history of minerals processing, energy intensive industry, heavy engineering and fabrication is going through a transition to advanced manufacturing. The region has a relatively large number of small and medium scale high technology manufacturers, a large machinery manufacturer with national and global reach, as well as an international design office for Caterpillar.

Challenges One challenge for the agribusiness and advanced manufacturing sectors across the region is the shortage of adequate skills to fill jobs in the future. Both industries suffer from an unjustified image problem in relation to the quality of job and career prospects on offer. Both industries have difficulty in attracting young people, and in being seen as offering viable jobs for their long-term career paths.

It will be critical to ensure that there is a pool of skilled workers to take on jobs in the advanced manufacturing sector, and that the need to for seasonal workers in agribusiness can be met.

Another challenge is market access for smaller scale businesses, and the potential benefits of active business clusters in both industries to provide a platform for scaling up capability.

King Island has a particular challenge in front of it. The Island has an emerging golf tourism market and plans by private owners to build another world-class course and add high-end accommodation.

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on King Island, requiring approximately 80 full time workers (some seasonal). Both these prospective business developments, which have national and international attraction value, are constrained by the lack of residential accommodation on the island to house the workers.

Strategic Direction Actions to continue developing and tapping on the region’s competitive advantage in agribusiness and advanced manufacturing should focus on initiatives that promote training and skilling of future workforce. Collaboration between businesses/industry groups should be encouraged to develop stronger business networks and sharing of knowledge for best practices and applications of research and development underway in the region. Further value-adding opportunities should also be explored and assistance provided to help businesses access global export markets.

Case study: Hay Inc. Rural Education to the Agriculture Industry xix Operated by Hay District community members, Hay Inc. provides opportunities for young people to gain base line skills through hands on training related to stockmanship of both sheep and cattle as well as farming skills. Youth can use this as a spring board to a career in the agriculture industry.

Case study: Toowoomba Surat Basin Enterprise (TSBE) Food Leaders Australia (FLA) initiative and Emerging Exporters Program xx The FLA helps to support businesses in food and agriculture production, processing and exporting to capitalise on local and global markets. It also helps to bring investment and export opportunities into the agriculture sector.

One of the programs by the FLA is the Emerging Exporters Program, which helps develop businesses within the agricultural supply chain to grow their business and explore global export markets. This involves workshops and one-on-one coaching, tailored to emerging exporters in the food and agribusiness sectors.

Case study: Gympie Gold Regional Produce xxi It is a group of representatives from agribusiness, tourism and food companies that come together to develop and promote the Gympie Gold Regional produce brand, which focuses on showcasing the region’s exceptional quality, gourmet, fresh and value-added range of produce. It is an initiative by the Gympie Regional Council and is a free-to-join label established to boost recognition of local produce.

For example, as part of the brand, a food trail map was launched by the local council aimed at helping small producers have the opportunity to be known by the public and market their producexxii.

Case study: Industry Cluster HunterNet xxiii HunterNet is one of the most successful industry ‘cluster’ of a network of manufacturing, engineering and specialist services companies located in the Hunter and Central Coast regions of NSW. It involves over 200 companies that deal with national and international infrastructure and asset management, energy & resources, defence and advanced manufacturing supply chain. It provides members with opportunities to take part in activities that smaller enterprises would not have been able to such as training and development, networking and joint marketing initiatives. HunterNet also has a subsidiary group that manages training and development of apprentices and trainees for its members.xxiv.

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Potential Action Areas • Promoting industry and school-based training programs to help ensure there is a skilled workforce to fill jobs. Current business leaders can be connected to schools to provide school leavers with information and knowledge on the industry. Incentives can also be provided to businesses to support apprenticeship programs.

• Promoting greater collaboration between businesses and industry groups to encourage the sharing of information and best practice knowledge to help maintain region’s competitive advantage.

• Explore possibilities for value-adding to agribusiness and manufacturing and developing new niche products in order to maintain and further enhance the region’s competitive advantage.

Includes wider use of resources at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture and the UTAS Agriculture Associate Degree, the Centre for Food Innovation, Ferment Tas and other production and processing innovations.

• Prioritising support for SMEs and family businesses as well as assisting emerging exporters.

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Leverage regional strengths to develop the tourism industry Aim Grow the tourism industry in the Cradle Coast region by broadening the product mix and tapping into new markets responding to the region’s natural assets.

Current Situation Tourism accounts for 7.6 per cent of employment across the region, although the influence of tourism on local employment varies across the councils. Tourism is not a major employer, but tourism activity is spread across the region, and is one of few industries with growth potential in some of the more isolated parts of the region.

The region has a natural environment and high quality food production and presentation that can be leveraged to promote unique tourism experiences that are in line with the global tourism trends where travellers are looking for experiences. Currently, the region has promoted a variety of activities for tourism such as golf tourism in King Island, agri-tourism in Kentish, as well as the Cradle to Coast Tasting Trail. However, it is important to establish activities that draw people to stay in order to achieve greater gains rather than just being a “drive-through” destination.

Challenges Visitors are predominantly domestic overnight visitors. In recent years, international visitor numbers have been increasing but their average length of stay in the Cradle Coast region is below the average for Tasmaniaxxv. Attracting more tourists and encouraging a longer length of stay will require fresh tourism products and experiences tailored for new markets.

Strategic Direction Actions should include exploring opportunities for new and unique positive experiences to offer.

Innovative marketing of the tourism experience available in the Cradle Coast region could help reach new markets – such as those presented by the new mountain biking trails. Developing a tourism workforce and targeting skills shortages, particularly in the face of increasing usage of digital technologies for travel planning, will be necessary to support growth in the industry.

Case study: Fraser Coastxxvi Collaboration between industry and government to position the Fraser Coast as the ‘Home of Australian Fishing’ with targeted marketing to national and international markets, saw operators respond with a lift in the number and quality of fishing based tourism product. The collaborative marketing and development activities, playing to their regional strengths, helped operators capture the commercial benefits of visitors wanting fishing experiences.

Potential Action Areas • Encourage networking between local business groups and various stakeholders to explore opportunities for collaboration to offer new and unique tourists’ experiences.

• Support development of new tourism products and experiences designed to appeal to new markets.

• Promote training of skills and business capacity for local tourism operators to increase service standards and quality of experiences.

• Promote Cradle Coast region events through innovative and creative marketing.

• Explore opportunities for private-public partnerships to improve tourists’ experience.

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Capture employment opportunities in service sector growth Aim Increase employment in emerging service sectors, particularly through expected job growth and new business formation in the healthcare and social assistance sector.

Current Situation Although the Cradle Coast already employs a large number of people in the healthcare and social assistance sector, by 2022 it is projected to grow by around 17 per cent across West and North West Tasmania. Capturing this large growth in this industry will be a significant contribution to more jobs and better jobs for the region.

The next wave of health and social services jobs will be a mix of public and private sector jobs, and a mix of high wage/high skill and low wage/low skill jobs. It will be important for the region that locals are well positioned to take advantage of the jobs growth expected, especially the higher skill and higher wage jobs. An underlying issue could be the perception that this industry does not offer a wide range of career and income options, when the reverse is true.

This mix of growth occupations means that improvements in training and skills pathways will require careful analysis and planning. The approach for professional qualifications like nursing and pharmacy will be different from strategies for disability support workers for example.

The region is faced with an ageing population so regional demand for better and increased healthcare services will grow significantly. This will include aged care, allied health services and specialized medical services. Apart from the greying population, and work related to solving health problems, personal wellbeing and avoiding health problems is another area with strong employment growth potential. The ability to meet this demand for the region will be dependent on attracting and retaining professionals in the region.

Other service sectors with growth projections for the region are education (also a mix of public and private jobs) and administrative services – predominantly business-to-business services such as human resources, payroll and other office services.

Challenges Ensuring a supply of highly skilled workers to support the future growth in service industries will be necessary. Additionally, technological and medical advancements will also mean that upskilling of the current health workforce will be needed. Evolutions in digital health will also require the region to be adaptive and innovative. Some parts of the region have less health services infrastructure and are therefore likely to see less employment growth in the sector.

Strategic Direction Strategies should support the development of skills needed in service sectors, with particular focus on healthcare and social assistance, which will allow this industry to be a major job creator in the region.

The industry sees a wide range of opportunities and business owners are in most cases willing to work more collaboratively, though the competitive nature of funding/service delivery models make it difficult.

Case study: Growing the Health and Community Services Workforce xxvii The Geelong Region Local Learning and Employment Network (GRLLEN) 'Growing the Health and Community Services Workforce' project has been running for several years and aims to encourage young people to consider a career in Health and Community Services. This involves work experiences in various organizations as well as working with the education/training sector to

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develop and deliver some new courses, which provide pathways into VET, and university related programs.

Case study: Border Medical Recruitment Taskforce (BMRT) Model xxviii To combat skills shortages, regional areas are setting up recruitment taskforces with the aim of providing practical support for medical professionals that have recently moved. The Central Victorian Medical Recruitment Taskforce has been modelled off the Albury Wodonga BMRT, which focused on attracting professionals early in their careers and supporting existing recruitment pathways. Common activities included finding placements and opportunities for career development.

Potential Action Areas • Building networks and partnerships between business employers and education/training system to ensure suitability of training pathways such that the “right” skills are being taught and people are work ready to fill the positions available.

• Supporting pathways for school leavers to enter the industry in order to promote these new opportunities as potential career paths.

• Attracting healthcare professionals to the region to support skill shortages.

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REFERENCES https://profile.id.com.au/cradle-coast/individual-income?BMID=40&WebID=10 http://www.tcci.com.au/Events/Past-Events/Tasmania-Report iii http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-12/tas-year-12-retention-rate-boost-credited-to-culturalchange/8440540 iv https://www.education.tas.gov.au/parents-carers/parent-fact-sheets/work-tasmanian-governmentschools-senior-secondary-age-students/ v https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/australias-welfare-2017-inbrief/contents/education-in-australia vi https://www.jobs.gov.au/news/australian-jobs-2018-now-available vii http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/university-of-tasmania-offers-shorter,cheaper-courses-focussed/9070704 viii https://www.cqu.edu.au/cquninews/stories/general-category/2016/cquni-continues-partnershipwith-geraldton-universities-centre ix https://www.geelongcareers.org.au/Community/32/ x https://training.qld.gov.au/employers/gatewayschools xi https://www.qff.org.au/blog/gateway-schools-tully/ xii http://thespacecairns.com/ xiii http://tsj.io/2015/05/31/tapping-cairns-schools-for-emerging-entrepreneurs/ xiv https://www.gympie.qld.gov.au/startup-gympie-region xv https://www.mandurah.wa.gov.au/whats-on/news/2017/03/14/07/51/entrepreneur-programsuccess xvi https://www.mandurahmail.com.au/story/5226961/mandurah-business-duo-takes-hat-off-toentrepreneur-program/ xvii http://www.peelcci.com.au/cciwa-joint-membership xviii https://www.fya.org.au/programs/20boss/ xix https://www.hayinc.com.au/ xx https://www.tsbe.com.au/driving-collaboration xxi https://www.gympie.qld.gov.au/documents/40005057/40005560/OCI302.pdf xxii http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/10/28/3878481.htm xxiii https://www.gympie.qld.gov.au/documents/40005057/40005560/OCI302.pdf xxiv http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/10/28/3878481.htm xxv https://economy.id.com.au/cradle-coast/tourism-visitors-nights i

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https://www.visitfrasercoast.com/Experiences/Fishing

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http://www.grllen.com.au/projects/careers-in-community-services-and-health-program http://www.regionalaustralia.org.au/home/2016/03/35061/

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