Mining States enter skills agreement.

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: If there is to be at least one certainty to emerge out of the current burgeoning mining industry boom in Australia it is that we will run out of skilled workers.

It happened last time and mining companies spent a lot of time complaining about the shortage.

Mining companies also spent a lot of money paying for workers that many admit probably weren’t worth the financial remuneration they were receiving.

When the Global Financial Crisis hit, the companies that still had some cash in the bank were able to attract the better candidates to their projects.

Those candidates were in a good place at the time as they were well aware of the demand for their services and were still able to push for better pay and conditions at a time when others were falling by the employment wayside.

As the next skills shortage wave builds, peak resources bodies in Western Australia and Queensland, along with a national industry skills council, have teamed up to tackle the issue.

The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME), Queensland Resources Council (QRC) and SkillsDMC have struck a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to identify strategies to source the increasing number of skilled people the industry will require over the next 5-10 years.

Central objectives of the three-year agreement are a collaborative approach to policy development and implementation of skills initiatives.

Projects under the MoU include: 
    – Defining and implementing a national skills policy for the resources     sector;
    – Providing timely workforce planning data, to support skills advocacy functions with state and federal governments;
    – Knowledge transfer for local/state operational outcomes;
    – Brokering funds to support commonly agreed skills objectives;
    – Enhanced consultation and consistency on skills-related submissions; and
    – Establishing lead agencies for projects and issues to maximise the strengths and opportunities provided by the MoU partners.

It is hardly surprising that the two peak bodies of the two main mining states have collaborated in this offensive.

CME chief executive Reg Howard-Smith said the WA and Queensland sectors were both facing a significant period of project development, where tens of thousands of additional workers would be required over the next few years.

According to the CME it is estimated the WA sector alone will require an extra 33,000 workers by the end of 2012.

Howard-Smith said proponents in both states were confronted by similar workforce issues.

“Our ability to source skilled labour will prove vital in the delivery of projects on time and on budget,” he said.

“Where there is mutual benefit, this new, non-binding collaboration, allows the partners to work towards securing policy and initiatives that will underpin national prosperity for decades to come.”

QRC chief executive Michael Roche said the partnership would result in unprecedented collaboration between the key mining states, and the training and education sector to tackle a complex, national issue.

“The MoU comes at a crucial moment in time to work towards ensuring the development and long-term sustainability of the resources sector in Queensland and Australia,” Roche said.

“In the wake of a record $31 billion of new investment recently committed in Queensland alone by LNG developers, it is imperative we band together in order to meet the sector’s increasing workforce needs to support this unprecedented growth.

“No single state can resolve the skills issues we face on its own.”

SkillsDMC chief executive Steve McDonald greeted the development of the MoU as, “great news”.

“The enterprises with which we work understand the importance of continual upskilling and training and understand the need to plan for the prosperity of the industry, to ensure that even more critical skills gaps are avoided in the future,” McDonald said.

“Industry must position itself to minimise the impact of a retiring workforce, and one that is not currently upskilled to levels that are crucial to industry productivity. It is the goal of this collaborative partnership to find solutions to these issues.”