Skills shortages Queensland - training & funding a priority - iMINCO Mining Training Information

Skills shortages Queensland – training & funding a priority

iMINCO Skills shortages Queensland - Training & funding a priorityThe Queensland mining and construction industries are set to be the focus of a new push for additional funding to beef up skills training.

It’s hoped government cash will be channeled into mining courses to address the skills shortage crisis in Queensland.

The skills shortages Queensland has suffered could turn catastrophic in the next five years unless more apprentices are trained.

Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek was handed a new skills priority report urging him to focus vocational education and training in a variety of industries, including the mining and resource sector.

“extreme shortages of skilled workers in the mining sector”

Highlighting the extreme shortage of skilled workers in the mining, construction and resource sector, it’s hoped the funding will allow a new workforce to be trained in preparation for the future. As the Queensland mining and resource sector leaves behind the crazy days of massive mining investment in infrastructure and ramps up its productivity, a new breed of skilled worker is needed.

“a swathe of new mining jobs in the technology sector”

Technology investments by the big Australian mining companies like BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group have created a swathe of new mining jobs in the technology sector.

Larger mining equipment and more specialised equipment driven by computers and remote operators is quickly becoming the norm, especially in the larger mining projects.

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Addressing the skills shortages in�Queensland, the report has highlighted the need for a large and highly skilled workforce who are well-equipped to maintain and fix all manner of mining machinery, from electrically powered haul trucks, diesel powered machinery and�hydraulic shovels, to�longwall mining systems.

These types of specialist roles in the mining sector can’t be magically pulled out of a hat.� The high levels of skills shortages Queensland has had to contend with has created extra pressure on some of the largest mining and gas projects the state has ever seen.

Recruiting and training new workers requires years of on-the-job, classroom and technical skills training to develop the highly skilled workforce of the future Queensland needs to remain competitive in a global market. This new report aims to highlight the urgency of the need to address funding for urgent skills training to begin immediately.

Qld government allows TAFE to compete in the private sector

In a bold move by the Newman Government, it has now created the environment whereby the once insulated establishments of TAFE can compete for �vocational training and education funds with the private sector from July 1, 2014.

“mining, Coal-Seam Gas and LNG”

High growth areas like mining, coal-seam gas and LNG skills and trades development will attract government funds.

The report, compiled by the ministerial industry commission found the following trades were in dire need of fresh recruits;

  • electricians
  • diesel fitters
  • mechanical engineers; and
  • heavy machinery operators

These areas were therefore considered critical for future skills development in the mining and resource sector in Queensland.

“critical skills shortage needs to be addressed”

Assistant Minister Saxon Rice, who chairs the commission, said the report clearly identified key skills needs in several �sectors and different regional areas, to help develop a plan for how and where training funds would be spent from July 1.

“This is about putting the priorities around where the strongest growth is and where those critical skills shortage needs are,” Ms Rice said.

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