Industry Capability branch
How the Industry Capability branch began
In August 2006, Department of Transport and Main Roads (then Queensland Transport) formed the Industry Capability Initiative to partner with the transport and logistics industry to develop and maintain sustainable, workable solutions to the skills and labour shortage. Spanning across road, rail, air and sea, this rapidly growing industry employs 112 000 Queenslanders and contributes the equivalent of 14.5% GDP for Australia and 18.3% for Queensland. That's a A$37.9 billion contribution to the Queensland economy.†
Once the Industry Capability Initiative was established, our first step towards working with industry was to bring them together as a whole to identify and discuss the issues with a holistic, industry wide focus. November 2006 marked the first occasion that industry representatives from road, rail, sea, and air came together with training providers, government, and unions to workshop these issues.
One of the outcomes identified was the need to form the Transport and Logistics Workforce Advisory Group (TLWAG). This is a group of 14 transport and logistics executives that represent the views of industry on skills and labour issues, and lead the work undertaken by the Industry Capability Initiative at the Department of Transport and Main Roads in partnership with industry. This group includes representation from three national bodies to ensure that a national transport and logistics perspective is incorporated in our work.
Our vision is for a high functioning transport and logistics industry that attracts and retains the skills and labour required to deliver on current and future transport and logistics projects and services throughout Queensland.
Our mission is to lead and partner the transport and logistics industry to develop and maintain sustainable, workable solutions to the current and projected skills and labour shortage in Queensland.
Why is there a skills and labour shortage?
Skills shortages are a national and international problem and pose the biggest threat to Queensland's continued economic prosperity. They are an inevitable result of a tight labour market. Australia, Queensland in particular, is experiencing one of the most competitive labour markets in 30 years, with a national unemployment rate of only 4.3% and a Queensland rate of 3.6% in October 2007.††
Skills shortages are also caused by structural changes to the labour market. Major shifts that have occurred across industries, occupations and the work culture in recent years have been extreme, so much so they rival those of the industrial revolution 200 years ago.
Some of these modern work revolutions include:
- resurgence of industries like mining, utilities, construction, transport and storage, and communication services
- rising demand for skilled tradespeople and technicians as a result of booms in resources and building sectors
- higher than average growth of professional and associate professional occupations
- significant growth in non-standard forms of employment, including part time, casual, contract, seasonal, self-employed consultant and labour hire agreements
- an ageing workforce combined with many Australians retiring early.
What we deliver
The strategic objectives of the Industry Capability branch are being addressed through three focus areas:
- Profile
- Partnerships
- People
- youth engagement
- mature age
- target groups
- training.
†Australian Logistics Council, Contribution of Transport and Logistics to the Economy report, 2007, page 1
††Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force, Australia, Cat no 1318.3 — Oct 2007, ABS, Canberra
Last updated 31 October 2009
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