Over the last two days, Regional Development Australia (RDA) Illawarra has added our voice and regional intelligence to influence the upcoming federal government Jobs and Skills Summit.
Debra Murphy, CEO of RDA Illawarra, said “both at Parliament House in Canberra yesterday and today at the Illawarra Jobs Forum, the federal government were ‘all ears’ and very keen to listen to our ideas and input.
The Hon Stephen Jones MP, Federal Member for Whitlam and Alison Byrnes MP, Federal Member for Cunningham, invited community members to a local jobs Forum today. Illawarra-focussed solutions were actively canvassed and many ideas were forthcoming.
Debra Murphy said “migration is part of the solution, but will not be the whole solution. There are also opportunities for place-based solutions to be developed which are bespoke and include training people now for our future capital investments, energy projects and digital economy. Regional areas such as the Illawarra have a strong collaborative nature.
RDA Illawarra is keen to work with all our stakeholders and peak bodies to develop tangible ways to address the unprecedented skill shortages we are facing in the region across multiple industry sectors.”
A round-table with RDA’s from across NSW was held in Canberra yesterday with the newly appointed Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, The Hon Kristy McBain MP. Minister McBain said “The Jobs and Skills Summit is about addressing significant staff shortages and building better-trained, more productive workforces. Each part of Australia has unique challenges, but there are some key themes that occur right across the board and it’s these issues that the Jobs and Skills Summit needs to address.”
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