REAP Overview
Background
The genesis of the project was due to the significant economic expansion and the resources boom being experienced in the minerals sector at the time, early 2007. This was having a detrimental effect on the availability of skilled labor in a number of industry sectors Australia wide. Regional Australia in particular was experiencing the loss of skilled labor to the minerals sector, thus impacting social and economic infrastructure in regional communities.
The resources, infrastructure, agriculture and local government sectors recognised that they competed for the same skilled workforce in regional Australia. However, through collaborative efforts, the four sectors developed a number of strategies to attract workers to the sectors, facilitate the movement of workers between sectors to meet demand, and retain the skills in the reg
Project Partners
- Cement, Concrete and Aggregates Australia (CCAA)
- Cement Industry Federation (CIF)
- Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CMEWA)
- Civil Contractors Federation (CCF)
- Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA)
- Minerals Council of Australia (MCA)
- National Farmers Federation (NFF)
- Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA)
Conduct
The Project was conducted in two phases:
Phase 1: Alliance creation and information gathering
- Consultation with Project Partners and stakeholders, to identify the common skills shortages and workforce development issues across the sectors
- A National Forum to develop recommendations for cross-sector action
- A series of regional forums to engage local stakeholders and develop strategies for pilot projects to be implemented in Phase 2
Timeline: February to December 2007
Phase 2: Conduct a number of pilot projects
- Conduct up to five regional pilot projects to implement the strategies identified in Phase 1
Timeline: January – December 2008
Outcomes
It was expected that the projects would:
- Identify the commonalities in the skills shortages across the range of industry sectors involved
- Define the skills and competencies of the occupations of common interest to the sectors
- Develop recommendations for collaborative, pre-competitive strategies that could be employed to attract and retain people in the sectors
- Identify suitable pilot locations
- Provide recommendations for the implementation of strategies to develop the levels of training and experience required for the different career pathways, in consultation with industry associations and agreed Registered Training Organisations.
Project Management
The project was managed by the LGMA Skills Unit, under the direction of John Ravlic, Chief Executive.
Bev Kliger
Project Manager and Consultant
Regional Employers' Alliance Project
Angela Zivkovic
Manager
Workforce Development
LGMA National
angelazivkovic@lgma.org.au
LGMA National
PO Box 5175
South Melbourne VIC 3205
T: 03 9696 6077
F: 03 9682 8977
Benefits to Local Government
The key benefits, for LGMA and Local Government, of being involved with this project are:
- Economic development in regional Australia is struggling as available skills are absorbed by the resources sector. Regional economies are dependent on the availability of skills in their local area and this project should contribute to the strengthening of regional economies
- There will be significant synergies between this project and the implementation of the National Skills Shortage Strategy for Local Government
- The methodologies developed around this project will be very relevant for local government when dealing with other cross-sector skills shortages, such as in health and community services
- This project will position LGMA within federal and state governments and national industry groups as having the capacity to undertake significant projects and tackle issues that are critical to Australian economies.
This project was a Commonwealth-State Skills Shortage Initiative funded through the Strategic National Initiatives component of the 2005-08 Commonwealth-State Agreement for Skilling Australia’s Workforce.
