Welcome to the AREEA Member Portal

Login

Register

Is your company a member of AREEA?  Register now to access the Member Portal

Welcome to the AREEA Member Portal

News, information and resources in one location for your access to ongoing support.

From fact sheets, guides and reference libraries to breaking news, the portal is your comprehensive and exclusive reference tool.

Media Release: Resource industry calls for further collaboration with government on skills, training

16 December 2013

AREEA – Australian Mines and Metals Association

AUSTRALIA’s national resource industry employer group, AREEA, calls for even greater collaboration with the Commonwealth on training, skills and employment initiatives to ensure our country can meet its constantly evolving workforce needs.

AREEA’s call comes after yesterday’s Resource Sector Skills Needs report from the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency (AWPA) highlighted that further government and industry employment partnerships will be critical to the next phase of Australia’s resources activity.

The report found that employment in the oil and gas sector will grow by 57% to about 61,200 workers by 2018 as new resource projects shift from construction to production. It warned that the skills of thousands of mine construction workers are not yet ready for this transition.

“For some time our industry has been preparing for changing skills requirements driven by the transition from large-scale construction activity to an unprecedented level of production and operational activity,” says AREEA executive director Scott Barklamb.

“Since 2011, AREEA has been leading two successful government-industry employment initiatives to assist with this transition, AREEA Skills Connect and the Australian Women in Resources Alliance.

“These initiatives have established a range of valuable programs, events and collaborations that are already addressing some of the key challenges identified by AWPA, most notably transitioning workers from construction-based skills to operational skills.

“AREEA Skills Connect has achieved solid outcomes in working with recently retrenched and long-time unemployed people to get them started in resource careers.

“We have also been working with groups of Indigenous workers to further their skills and training, and launching a range of innovative programs designed to boost the proportion of women in mining careers from the current 15% to 25% by 2020.

“However, the resource industry believes a continued and expanded focus on skills development and helping workers transition to areas of opportunity are critical.

“Further opportunities to collaborate with the Australian Government on skills and employment initiatives will help ensure all Australians can connect with the vast employment opportunities offered by our growing sector.”

The AWPA report also affirmed some of the industry’s wider economic contributions, including accounting for $187 billion or around 60% of the total value of Australian exports; creating 174,400 mostly full-time jobs since 2003; and proportionally employing more than twice the all industries average of Indigenous workers.

For a PDF of this release including relevant media contact, click here.

Create your AREEA Member login

Register