The Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King, is meeting with industry, unions, local government and peak body groups, for a roundtable on jobs and skills in the nation’s regional areas.
This is the first of four roundtables Ms King will host, with infrastructure, aviation and surface transport sector meetings scheduled for late August.
The roundtables will explore skills shortages, supporting and adapting to the net-zero transition, capitalising on regional and technological opportunities, and attracting diverse and talented workers, amongst other topics.
Ms King said these discussions will bring together representatives that directly support, live, learn, work and hire within each of these sectors, including governments, peak body and industry groups, airlines and airports, transport operators and training institutes.
“As a member for a regional electorate, I am pleased to begin the roundtable meetings talking to people about the needs of regional Australia,” Ms King said.
“I’m committed to ensuring voices from right across these sectors are heard and represented to ensure we achieve these outcomes. The roundtables will ensure a wide range of views is reflected at the Jobs and Skills Summit in September.
“I know the challenges and opportunities each of our sectors and regions face is unique – there isn’t a one-size-fits all for a nation as proudly diverse as ours.
“I look forward to listening to a range of the people that learn, live, work and hire within each of these sectors and across our regions, as this will be critical to ensuring positive changes in our jobs, skills and workforce landscapes.”
The first virtual regional roundtable, held on 16 August, will consider solutions to encourage skilled workers to move to and stay in the regions, as well as improving liveability, housing affordability and services like healthcare to support regional workforces.
“Our goal is to build robust, better-trained and more productive workforces – from those underpinning our transport sectors like aviation, to those in our furthermost regions,” Ms King said.
“We also want to create more opportunities for Australians to get ahead and reach their aspirations, while bolstering incomes and living standards.”
The next roundtable will bring together infrastructure sector stakeholders on Friday 19 August in Sydney.
That will be followed by a roundtable on aviation on 23 August in Canberra and a final roundtable on surface transport in Sydney on 25 August.
Discussions from these roundtables will inform discussions at the Federal Government’s Jobs and Skills Summit, to be held at Parliament House in Canberra on 1–2 September.
The summit will inform the Employment White Paper, which will help shape the future of Australia’s labour market.
