RevMax Pty Ltd

Response:

Engagement with industry experts is paramount and the stated intention to build a tripartite advisory body to promote genuine consultation at all levels of government, unions, industry and education providers will allow for broader perspectives to inform outcomes. We believe that the Workforce Specialist panel will add considerable value to the Government’s intention of taking an economy-wide approach, considering the impact of vocational education and training, higher education, migration and broader factors in meeting Australia’s skills and workforce challenges. The Workforce Specialists will play a unique role in engaging and working with all interested and relevant parties as they will be independent and focussed on alleviating skills shortages as experienced by industry. The Workforce Specialists will be in a prime position to inform stakeholders about current critical requirements being experienced by industry.

The outlined group of stakeholders to be engaged is extensive and whilst the list is not exhaustive, it is a solid foundation. If the proposed ongoing structure runs as a statutory body with independent research analysis and advice it is imperative that all results and reports are made available to the relevant, registered stakeholders to ensure that decisions made are evidence based. Setting foundational reporting requirements and the ongoing collection, management and analysis of this information is critical to the success of Jobs and Skills Australia’s ability to provide advice to government. Collection of this information will rely on standardised reports being submitted in a timely fashion by all impacted cohorts.

Response:

A comprehensive blueprint should be developed with key stakeholders to support and grow a quality workforce. The skills sector reform should be kick-started and discussions around a National Skills Agreement based on guiding principles should be restarted.

Government – at all levels – should reinvigorate foundation skills programs to support workers and vulnerable Australians to gain secure employment. Jobs and Skills Australia should explore options to improve the apprenticeship support system and drive-up completions. Specific sub-targets for women in the Australian Skills Guarantee should be included; it should be ensured that the Guarantee includes a focus on the need for digital skills. All parties should work together to reform the framework for VET qualifications and micro-credentials to ensure they are most relevant to labour market needs. Micro-credentials including work-based learning will be placed in a proper framework and be able to be ‘stacked’ into full VET qualifications.

Response:

Broader input into the development and refinement of the workplan could be achieved through collaboration with the newly appointed Workforce Specialist panel. Deep engagement with the Workforce Specialist panel would ensure that up-to-date information is delivered to relevant stakeholders in a timely fashion. A review could also be conducted to ascertain the purpose, structure and objectives of the migration system to ensure it meets the challenges of the coming decade. An increase in permanent migration could be investigated to see if it could help ease widespread and critical skills shortages in priority industries. 

The value of labour hire organisations should also be better understood. Most long term unemployed people require additional assistance to remain in their roles. Labour hire organisations provide 1:1 support which is tailored to the individual and labour hire organisations generally represent the first opportunity of meaningful work to the long term unemployed. Low skilled work is usually managed by labour hire organisations as they have existing processes in place to ensure the long term unemployed are properly and respectfully managed. Engagement with the Workforce Specialist panel will also support the long term unemployed particularly if the co-designed project includes mentoring support.

Response:

Jobs and Skills Australia should work with all levels of government to explore further options on place-based approaches that drive co-ordination at the local level and address barriers to employment among disadvantaged groups and the long-term unemployed. Work with all stakeholders should continue to speed up the development of new remote and disability employment service models. More engagement needs to occur with members of the National Closing the Gap Agreement to examine a Closing the Gap policy partnership on economic participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

All levels of Government should identify priority areas where they can collaborate to support better outcomes across the early childhood education and care system, with a particular focus on workforce shortages. National Cabinet should develop a long-term vision for early childhood education and care reform to better support workforce participation as a national priority.

Government, business, unions and the community must develop a set of best practice principles to guide meaningful work experience opportunities and workplace based mentoring programs for people experiencing disadvantage.

The philanthropic sector should commit to partner with government in its Early Years Strategy over ten years, pending co-development of an investment dialogue. Work should include philanthropic foundations to create a whole government approach to improve early childhood development and education. 

Engagement should occur via workshops, online forums and in-person conferences. Sharing of data in a centralised portal accessed by registered stakeholders would also promote collaboration amongst different cohorts.

Response:

Whilst key priorities drive the development and annual release of workplans by Jobs and Skills Australia, more frequent and less “formal” plans would better serve relevant cohorts and allow stakeholders to flexibly manage short-term changes in requirements. Whilst there will be a focus on the urgent needs of industries, cohorts and regions in distress, longer-term future focussed research will inform decisions made against a set of principles aimed at balancing stakeholder needs, more frequent reports and plans will allow government to develop specific work strategies to alleviate short-term requirements.

Response:

Immediate actions should include the implementation of a digital skills compact with business and unions to deliver apprenticeships that support workers to earn while they learn in entry level technical roles, with equity targets for those traditionally under-represented in digital and tech fields. The Workforce Specialist panel could lead this initiative by working with priority industries delivering a set number of digital traineeships with a focus on opportunities for women, First Nations people, older Australians and veterans transitioning to civilian life. Companies could then commit to employing a proportion of their new employees through a digital apprenticeship scheme. There should be a broad commitment to boost future technology jobs and training, and commitments to cross-jurisdictional energy transition workforce planning.

Response:

The proposals for Jobs and Skills Australia to increase its outreach to seek feedback on and to promote the value and benefits of its products and advice will require greater use and uptake of published insights and advice. This information must be fit for purpose for multiple audiences and dissemination of this information must be frequent and relevant.  Jobs and Skills Australia needs to consider the best vehicles to support employers and unions as they consider how best to improve safety, fairness and productivity in workplaces. 

For example, it might be beneficial to amend relevant legislation to give workers the right to challenge unfair contractual terms. Detailed consultation could be initiated to research process on the concept of a living wage, reporting back to all relevant stakeholders in an agreed timeframe. Setting up local and/or regional working groups of interested and impacted stakeholders would be the most efficient way to increase visibility and use of information. Existing cohorts could facilitate this – for example the Local Jobs program facilitators could be used as the starting point and their existing networks then used to further disseminate products and advice on behalf of Jobs and Skills Australia. Workforce Specialists are another valuable avenue to be used to increase visibility.

Response:

Open source information made available to registered stakeholders via a secure portal would be the most effective way to store, present and publish data and advice. Any generally available format would work; most organisations are able to open and view the Microsoft suite of products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). If information is to be viewed and not amended, using Acrobat to pdf files would work too.

Response:

As a recently appointed member of the new Workforce Specialist panel, RevMax Pty Ltd very much appreciates the opportunity to provide comment and feedback on this critical topic. RevMax delivers a range of projects to meet the needs of identified industries and occupations. RevMax plays a significant role in the new model to support a strategic and holistic approach to meeting business and industry demand through the co-design and delivery of Workforce Specialist Projects and effective engagement with the Government’s other Workforce Australia employment services.

Established in 2011, RevMax has developed an enviable reputation for building solid and trusted relationships with numerous clients and enjoys very strong network connections with Workforce Australia Providers, Industry Bodies, Government Departments at all levels, Registered Training Organisations and Participants.

We would be pleased to further engage with Jobs and Skills Australia to provide advice on current and emerging workforce needs in order to meet the skills of a thriving economy. We are keen to support the Government's commitment to establish Jobs and Skills Australia as an independent body to provide advice on the skills and training needs of workers and employers now and in the future.