Local business and government leaders met in Mandurah yesterday to generate ideas and practical actions to grow the skilled workforce in the Peel region.
The Mandurah-Peel Regional Skills Summit is the ninth in a series of 10 Regional Skills Summits hosted by the state government since August 2021.
Insights from the Mandurah-Peel summit will form the basis of a local action plan to meet the region's unique workforce needs.
More than 40 government and regional business leaders from a range of sectors attended the Mandurah summit, including the region's biggest employing industries of retail, health care and social assistance, construction, education and training, manufacturing and accommodation and food services.
Employers took on more apprentices and trainees in the Peel region in 2021, with commencements up by more than 75 per cent in the 12 months to September 30, 2021.
The state government recently expanded its Lower fees, local skills (LFLS) program by a further 30 courses from 2022, to include a total of 210 courses with heavily reduced course fees in priority industry areas including hospitality, health care, construction, retail and others.
Workers in industries which have a critical need to upskill workers - including childcare, aged and disability care, and civil construction - will be able to access low fee existing worker traineeship places to help meet the skills needs of these sectors.
The new initiatives respond to workforce issues raised by industry leaders at the Perth and regional skills summits held to date, and are jointly funded through a $103.5 million agreement between the state and federal governments under the expanded JobTrainer Fund agreement.
Other initiatives progressing from the skills summits include attracting onshore skilled migrants to fill jobs in demand in Western Australia; supporting mature age apprentices; promoting the tourism and hospitality industry to school students to grow the workforce; extending the Apprenticeship and Traineeship Re-engagement Incentive; freezing regional government rental accommodation to attract public sector workers to the regions; and boosting Aboriginal youth employment opportunities.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education and Training Terry Healy said the government was keen to hear from business leaders about practical actions that could be taken in the Peel to help fill local jobs.
Mandurah MP David Templeman said the region had unique skills needs and he was interested in hearing about new ways of ensuring the Peel could continue to grow its local workforce.
Daniela Cooper
Daniela has returned to her first love after a decade of working in local, state and federal governments, non-profits and the corporate world. She has a passion for injustice; to be a voice for those who don't have one; to hold power to account; and to bring readers the news without fear. She loves to explore new places and unfamiliar topics (both in her professional and private life) but her go-to loves are travel, health, social justice, foreign affairs and the outdoors. Email daniela.cooper@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Daniela has returned to her first love after a decade of working in local, state and federal governments, non-profits and the corporate world. She has a passion for injustice; to be a voice for those who don't have one; to hold power to account; and to bring readers the news without fear. She loves to explore new places and unfamiliar topics (both in her professional and private life) but her go-to loves are travel, health, social justice, foreign affairs and the outdoors. Email daniela.cooper@austcommunitymedia.com.au
