FROM THE CHAIR

As universities with a strong focus on engagement with industry and producing graduates with skill sets that make them ready to enter the workforce the Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) has welcomed budget initiative to upskill existing workers in key industry sectors.

ATN Chair and Vice Chancellor, UTS, Professor Ross Milbourne said the Critical Skills Investment Fund was one initiative which would provide a valuable incentive to industry to up skill existing workers in the resources, construction, renewable energy and infrastructure sectors and to address skills gaps in other sectors impacted by a loss of workers to major projects.

Professor Ross Milbourne, ATN Chair

“Upskilling existing workers is an obvious strategy to address shortage in key areas and a fundamental plank of the ATN position in its submissions to both Skills Australia and the National Resources Sectors Employment Taskforce,” Professor Milbourne said.

“Retraining opportunities for older workers will also be necessary to meet the growing workforce needs of the resources sector as major new projects come on line and the budget initiatives have recognised this.

“For our part, we believe short training courses, improved pathways into tertiary programs from industry, and more use of technology to provide short stints of modular training rather than prolonged study using normal semester formats would go some way towards improving skills in the existing workforce.”

The ATN universities comprise a considerable proportion of Australia’s future engineering capacity, teaching 27% of engineers; 30% of mining engineers at all levels; and 36.5% of undergraduate mining engineers.