Partnerships between industry, government and training providers will be critical to delivering the workforce needed for WA’s energy transition, a Perth conference has heard.
“In order to train people in trades, you have two barriers: you need the training facilities and you also need the industry to support them,” he said.
“What’s great about the Pilbara, especially, is the industry’s there to support them.”
Yara Pilbara and the Clean Energy Skills National Centre of Excellence (CESNCE) have signed a memorandum of understanding to identify workforce and skills needs across the clean energy sector, with a focus on the Pilbara.
The partnership will prioritise training opportunities for Aboriginal people and women while strengthening links between industry, education providers, local communities and traditional owners. It will also support the development of industry-led training programs aligned to major projects, including Yara’s Yuri Renewable Hydrogen to Ammonia Project.
O’Rourke said greater industry involvement was essential to building a workforce pipeline capable of meeting future demand.
“It doesn’t matter how much infrastructure TAFE has; it will never be enough. The best facilities are actually not the 20-year-old facilities that TAFE has, but actually the current facilities that industry has, and this collaboration is really, really important,” he said.
“Just drilling down a little bit more into the energy and oil and gas industries in this space, those industries have been actually really proactive in terms of ensuring that they have worker pipelines all the way from probably about 20 years ago creating ACEPT, the Australian Centre for Energy and Process Training in Henderson, as well as the that a whole lot of other things that surround that facility.
“We need more of that.
“We need other industries to step in, and we need many more trainees and apprentices on the electrical side. 94% of electrical tradespeople are male, only 6% of them are female. So, we also need to get greater diversity just simply to open up the pipeline for more people to come in.”
Building the future workforce
“Building a future-fit workforce will ensure we can take full advantage of the opportunities on the horizon as Australia and our trading partners decarbonise,” she said.
O’Rourke said interest in trade careers should be encouraged earlier, giving young people more opportunities to explore practical skills before entering the workforce.
“At schools, we need to encourage people to be creative and interested and explore everything that exists within a school environment for them to be able to understand if an apprenticeship might be something that they want to do. But I also look at the years before that,” he said.
“Not to sound like an older person, but I don’t see parents, probably my age, giving their children, male and female, the opportunity to play around with hand tools and barrel tools and building things in the backyard to discover an interest and a keenness to be able to understand if it’s something that they would like to carry through.
“I wonder about we, for that next generation, continue to give them space; how do we give people the opportunity to start playing around with that kind of stuff instead of forcing people into apprenticeships at 15 or 16, because that’s maybe the only option that exists for them.
“How do we create that interest earlier?”
Powered by CCIWA, Apprenticeship Support Australia (ASA) can facilitate employment, manage training and offer support and advice to companies seeking apprentices to boost their workforce. Call 1300 363 831 or email [email protected].
CCIWA’s Industry Capability Network can connect your business with suppliers with the right capabilities for your project. Contact the ICNWA team on (08) 9365 7623 or by email at [email protected].
