Conference to help secure the future for our railways

As support gathers for green and efficient rail systems Australia-wide, how many of us have stopped to consider who will build and manage them?

The issue is the subject of a conference to be hosted in Tweed by Southern Cross University, the Australasian Railway Association and the Cooperative Research Centre for Rail Innovation on Thursday, November 26 and Friday November 27 aimed at addressing critical skills shortages for the rail industry.

The Rail Skilled Migration Forum is set to be attended by more than 60 specialists from the government and private sectors across Australia, and will include presentations from Mr Robin Shreeve, CEO of Skills Australia and the Australian National Engineering Taskforce reporting to the deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, as well as senior representatives from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Southern Cross University’s Dr Ros Cameron, who is coordinating the event, said importing skilled workers from overseas was being seen as an important solution to a critical problem.

“The rail industry has been tasked with the most ambitious infrastructure agenda in recent history, yet skills shortages in key areas have the potential to affect the industry’s ability to perform,” said Dr Cameron.

“Certain engineering and technical skills shortages remain critical for rail and the Australian economy in general. The rail industry specifically is in competition with other industries such as mining, construction, electricity, water and gas to recruit from a dwindling international pool of individuals with these highly sought after skill sets.

“Engineers are on the government’s Critical Skills List and Engineers Australia recently estimated that there would be a loss of 70,000 engineering professionals in Australia in the next 2 years due to retirements. New engineering graduates from Australian universities cannot meet the growing demand for these critical skill sets and new migrant engineers make a significant contribution to Australia’s economy including the rail industry.

“A dialogue between key industry representatives, government bodies, professional organisations and education providers is crucial to allow them to access the latest information, solve skilled resourcing issues by recruiting from overseas and develop innovative ideas for the future.”

The forum is intended as a first step in the establishment of a Skilled Migration Creativity Hub to investigate potential international educational partnerships and innovative projects targeted at addressing the rail industry’s critical skills shortages. Work will also begin on a website designed to provide a one-stop-shop including all available information on skilled migration for the rail industry.

The project team includes researchers from Southern Cross University, the University of Wollongong, the Australasian Railway Association, QR Limited, Trans-Adelaide and Rail Corp.

“There is no ‘quick fix’ solution to critical skills shortages, especially given the complexities of global and national skills shortages, ageing workforces, fluctuating global financial markets,” said Dr Cameron.

“Nonetheless, this project is a priority for the rail industry because it has the potential to address these issues in the medium and long term by building a multi-stakeholder hub of innovation.”

Photo: Dr Ros Cameron (high resolution image available on request)