National Skills Project

Australia's civil construction industry is a cornerstone of Australian industry. Like many other industries, it is facing significant challenges in terms of skilled employees due to issues such as the ageing of the workforce. In the current buoyant economic times, the industry is finding itself in an economic environment that is unrivalled in the industry's recent history. These economic "good times" have seen industries competing for a diminishing pool of skilled employees, particularly new entrants. In such a competitive environment, weaknesses in the civil construction industry's strategy to attract, recruit, retain and develop the skills of its workers have become apparent. What is needed is a new approach to secure the workers of tomorrow - a workforce development based approach.

Such an approach will recognise that industry needs to work in partnership with Government, community and educational institutions if it is to get the desired outcomes. No longer will traditional strategies be effective. In light of this, the Civil Contractors Federation, in partnership with the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) are undertaking a National Civil Skills Project to address a range of workforce development issues facing the industry, including awareness, recruitment and retention, career development and career pathways. A Project Officer has been engaged and is based in the Brisbane branch of the CCF, initially focusing on the development of a survey instrument to explore the barriers to training facing the industry, including the reasons behind the traditionally low levels of apprentice and trainee recruitment in the industry.

The survey will be distributed to members shortly, however for more information, contact John Notali National Project Officer via jnotali@civilcontractors.com or by telephone 03 9851 9900