Building the Northern Australia Workforce Plan: Education, Training and Shaping a Dynamic Workforce
Tracks
Meeting 10-11
| Thursday, July 24, 2025 |
| 11:20 AM - 11:40 AM |
Overview
Geoff Barbaro, Skills Insight
Speaker
Geoff Barbaro
Executive Manager, Industry Skills Policy
Skills Insight
Building the Northern Australia Workforce Plan: Education, Training and Shaping a Dynamic Workforce
Presentation Overview
As Northern Australia works to build a future-ready workforce, access to skilled workers remains a critical challenge, particularly given the changing nature of industry, and emerging industries. The Northern Australia Action Plan 2024-2029 prioritises workforce development as a key driver of economic growth. In response, the Joint Select Committee on Northern Australia has recommended a more structured approach to workforce planning (Recommendation 5). Effective implementation requires collaboration between government, industry, education providers, and local communities.
First Nations peoples play a central role in the workforce and economic development of Northern Australia. Recognising and supporting Indigenous leadership, self-determination, and cultural knowledge is essential to achieving sustainable workforce solutions. Workforce planning must also account for the unique regional and remote context of Northern Australia, where diverse communities require locally driven, flexible training and employment pathways, that provide inclusive opportunities for participation by all potential workers. Northern Australia is also pivotal to the development of emerging and Australia’s priority industries, which will require upskilling and reskilling.
This workshop provides a solutions-driven forum to identify practical, place-based strategies for workforce development. The insights gathered will directly inform key workforce planning bodies, including the Office of Northern Australia and Australia’s Jobs and Skills Councils, ensuring workforce strategies align with regional priorities, First Nations perspectives, and the needs of remote communities.
The workshop will explore:
• The current and emerging skills and training needs in local communities, based on local industries
• What flexible, locally relevant learning may look like in local communities and for Northern Australian industries, and how that differs from current delivery
The aim is to identify shared needs, and the variety of local needs and conditions, to help create flexible, place-based solutions that can be led locally.
First Nations peoples play a central role in the workforce and economic development of Northern Australia. Recognising and supporting Indigenous leadership, self-determination, and cultural knowledge is essential to achieving sustainable workforce solutions. Workforce planning must also account for the unique regional and remote context of Northern Australia, where diverse communities require locally driven, flexible training and employment pathways, that provide inclusive opportunities for participation by all potential workers. Northern Australia is also pivotal to the development of emerging and Australia’s priority industries, which will require upskilling and reskilling.
This workshop provides a solutions-driven forum to identify practical, place-based strategies for workforce development. The insights gathered will directly inform key workforce planning bodies, including the Office of Northern Australia and Australia’s Jobs and Skills Councils, ensuring workforce strategies align with regional priorities, First Nations perspectives, and the needs of remote communities.
The workshop will explore:
• The current and emerging skills and training needs in local communities, based on local industries
• What flexible, locally relevant learning may look like in local communities and for Northern Australian industries, and how that differs from current delivery
The aim is to identify shared needs, and the variety of local needs and conditions, to help create flexible, place-based solutions that can be led locally.
Biography
Geoff Barbaro - require presenter biography.
This workshop is facilitated by Australia’s Jobs and Skills Councils, which have responsibility for national workforce planning across industries that use Vocational Education and Training to support skills development. All information collected will be analysed and will influence national workforce planning. The Jobs and Skills Councils will also take responsibility for distributing the results of the workshop to other key decision-makers, including federal, state and territory governments, their departments and agencies, education and training bodies, industry organisations and unions.
