INDUSTRY UPDATE
Industry-led initiative to grow national workforce
Over the past two years, the Australian marine industry has witnessed an unprecedented increase in demand for Australian manufacturing, maritime products and services in the recreational sector. As an industry, most would confidently say there is no safer time to ‘bet the farm’ on high-quality Australian- made goods. Additionally, an increase in defence spending that has not been seen in the last 60 years has grown the demand for sovereign capability including Australian built vessels and components. This perfect storm has created a purple patch for the broad maritime industry and in particular the highly specialised subsections. This increase, requiring expansion, comes at a time when our shoreline and shipyards are becoming more and more regarded as a cruising and refit destination for foreign-flagged Superyachts with the passing of the Special Recreational Vessels Bill 2019. It is these newfound opportunities, coupled with a significant increase in both private and public wharf infrastructure investment; a strong resurgence in our maritime tourism industry; and the reported record-breaking year-on-year order sheets by our small pleasure craft manufacturers that provide a high degree of business confidence to enhance business organisational capacity. The marine sector however is not the only industry within Australia experiencing this exponential growth. This demand effectively shifts the marine industry into an arms race with competing sectors to acquire new talent across the multitude of increasing
workplace vacancies. Sectors such as construction, mining and defence have strategically coordinated recruitment and training teams to ensure a steady flow of talent feeds into their industry. The marine industry to this point in time has not had a nationally coordinated effort to compete. Arguably, the most successful jurisdiction for marine recruitment and training in recent times has been Queensland. Driven by Queensland’s state government ‘Superyacht Strategy 2018-23’ and in partnership with all levels of state government, the marine industry along with peak associations and key regional high schools, have been active for several years resulting in considerable progress to increase direct participation within the marine industry. Successes of this initiative have included delivering over 400 fully funded training opportunities for new and existing workers; increased awareness of the sector to a future workforce; and creating key partnerships with multiple high schools to develop in-school pathway programs that align with industry demand. As Australia’s national unemployment rate of 3.5% continues to trend downward, a nationwide approach will be undertaken to enhance support to not only SMEs and supply chains, but inclusive of large primary marine employers. To drive initiatives on a national scale, a partnership between marine industry bodies under Marine Jobs has been brokered to resource a two-year project including a full-time coordinator mirroring the successful Queensland campaign aimed to increase
employment, industry awareness, workforce diversity and capability. Adam Chanter, previously with TAFE Queensland has taken on the position of Maritime Industry Skills Advisor for Marine Jobs. Adam joins the team with 12 years of vocational education industry experience within compliance, commercial partnerships and management across federal and state governments. Prior to this, Adam worked within the Gold Coast’s thriving production and custom marine manufacturing industry. David Good, CEO AIMEX said “We not only welcome the creation of this new role specifically for the marine industry under the umbrella of Marine Jobs, but we also welcome Adam to the team. He brings a wealth of experience with him and we look forward to seeing the upward gear change in how we approach recruitment and developing skills for our specialised industry.” Chanter when commenting on his new appointment said, “Our primary focus shifts quickly to attracting suitable paraprofessionals, existing tradespeople within aligned industries, along with new entrants through marketing and immersion activations as we broaden the scope of activity outside of Queensland to the remainder of the country. We welcome future industry collaboration to the project and encourage any businesses interested in connecting to reach out via the Marine Jobs platform.”
Visit marinejobs.org.au Images courtesy of Marine Jobs
2023 AUSTRALIAN MARINE INDUSTRY DIRECTORY | 29
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