The need to train and foster more engineers in the workforce has been highlighted in the Australian Universities Accord, a final report from which has now been released.
The report contains 47 recommendations and targets to future-proof higher education in Australia.
In addition to acknowledging shortages of professionals such as early childhood educators, teachers, aged care workers, nurses and doctors, the report states that “Australia is going to need greater numbers of engineers and others to transform our energy grid, advance our manufacturing sector, drive new discoveries and innovations, make our agriculture more sustainable and build new public infrastructure for our growing cities and regions”.
To do this, the report suggests targets that include:
- Increasing the tertiary education attainment rate from 60 per cent to at least 80 per cent of Australians in our workforce by 2050
- Increasing the proportion of university educated Australians aged 25 to 34 years from 45 per cent to 55 per cent by 2050
- Increasing the number of 25- to 34-year-olds with a tertiary level vocational or technical qualification to 40 per cent by 2050
It also makes recommendations around how vocational education and training, and universities can work better together; revising funding models including addressing student contributions; and revisiting the way industry and government use university research.
Engineers Australia CEO Romilly Madew AO FTSE HonFIEAust EngExec said the report sets a visionary direction for the future, reflecting a commitment to enhance Australia’s higher education sector.
She said there needs to be a focused approach that leads to tangible outcomes.
“With engineering shortages called out in both the interim and final reports, Engineers Australia stresses the need for any implementation to address the specific requirements of professions experiencing skills shortage, particularly engineering,” she said.
“The engineering profession is critical to Australia’s economic growth. Yet, there is a concerning gap between the current supply of engineering talent and the growing demand in various sectors.
“The Accord is commendable in its ambitious targets. It will be critical to see that the government’s response and its implementation target the acute needs of workforces like engineering, where demand continues to outstrip local supply.”
The right people in the right roles
Professor Vishnu Pareek, Dean of Engineering at Curtin University and Chair of the Australian Council of Engineering Deans, is pleased to see the Accord encourage opportunities for engineers in regional areas and from under-represented groups – such as First Nations students – to gain qualifications.
“It’s very well acknowledged that we are going to face a huge shortage of engineering graduates heading into energy transition,” he told create.
“Currently, fossil fuels are located in specific areas, but when you look at harnessing energy from solar, for example, it’s more diffused so there are opportunities for regional areas to become energy providers.
“It is also well documented that not everyone who graduates in an urban area wants to work in a regional area, so having local people with opportunities to work in their own area will help us meet the challenge of not only finding the skills, but also regional diversity.”
Pareek feels the plan to offer more flexible pathways, operated under a national system to streamline the assessment of qualifications, would help increase diversity within the profession, which should lead to higher numbers.
He is also interested in the ‘jobs broker’ concept to help students find part-time work or placements in their fields.
“What is happening across the country is that students are not even aware of the opportunities,” he said. “Last year there were potentially more internship opportunities in Western Australia than there were takers. This will be very relevant to engineering because most of those roles were for engineers.”
Future-proofing demand
With many of the recommendations urging greater collaboration between education, industry and government, Madew suggests the engineering profession could be used to test many of the initiatives to help build a sustainable pipeline of engineering talent.
“With extensive expertise and a deep understanding of the engineering sector, Engineers Australia can support the government to shape practical and affordable solutions in a workforce strategy that meets both current and future demands,” she explained.
Minister for Education Jason Clare MP believes the Accord “will help [Australia] build a better and fairer education system where no one is held back and no one is left behind”.
“This is a plan not for one budget, but a blueprint for the next decade and beyond,” he said.
The final report is the result of work by an expert review panel chaired by Professor Mary O’Kane AC, and was informed by 820 public submissions and 180 meetings with stakeholders.
The government is now considering the report’s recommendations.