BETTER CONNECTIONS

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BETTER CONNECTIONS BETTER OUTCOMES

• IMPROVING LABOUR MARKET EFFECTIVENESS
• Gold Coast
• 14 March 2006

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Agenda

• 9.30am Coffee and tea on arrival
• 10.00am Welcome and Introductions
• 1010am Better Connections presentation and
  identification of issues
• 1115am Morning tea break
• 11.45am Developing an action plan
• 12.45pm Working lunch
• 1.30pm Drawing it together
• 2.00pm Close

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Origins of the workshops

• DEWR undertakes a range of research and analysis
  of labour supply and skill shortages
• DEWR, with other Government agencies, is looking
  at how to address Australias labour supply and
  skill shortages
• Run a series of workshops to share information
  and ideas

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Objective of the workshops

• Improve Labour Market Effectiveness by
• addressing labour supply and skill shortage
  issues
• increasing labour market participation (target
  groups mature aged, single parents, people with
  a disability, Indigenous Australians, people from
  culturally and linguistically diverse
  backgrounds, youth)
• establishing and further developing linkages
  between relevant organisations

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Gold Coast Employment Service Area
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Gold Coast Employment Service Area - Profile

• Working Age Population (15-64) 307,000
• Unemployment Rate 4.1 vs. 4.8 for QLD
• Education
• A similar proportion of the population completed
  post school qualifications or a degree as for the
  state
• Diversity
• 23.2 of the population were born overseas
  (compared with 16.9 for the state)

Source ABS Labour Force Survey December 2005,
Small Area Labour Markets December 2005, Census
2001, ABS population estimate 2004
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Gold Coast ESA Labour Market Demand

• Industry
• Employment by industry vs state
• Employment status by industry

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Summary of Gold Coast ESASkills Shortage Survey

• Survey covered all major industries and
  occupations.
• 75 of vacancies were filled or were expected to
  be filled.
• Vacancies for Professionals and Tradespersons
  were the most difficult to fill.
• There were a high number of applicants for
  advertised vacancies.
• On average, almost 8 applicants per advertised
  position.

Source DEWR, Gold Coast Skills Shortage Survey,
February 2006
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Source DEWR, Gold Coast Skills Shortage Survey,
February 2006
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Source DEWR, Gold Coast Skills Shortage Survey,
February 2006
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Source DEWR, Gold Coast Skills Shortage Survey,
February 2006
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Recruitment Expectations

• 37.5 of employers surveyed expect to recruit
  staff in the next 12 months.
• 79.5 of recruiting employers expect to have
  difficulty filling positions in the next 12
  months, in occupations such as
• Bakers and Pastry Cooks
• Chefs
• Butchers
• Electricians
• General Tradespersons
• Hairdressers

Source DEWR, Gold Coast Skills Shortage Survey,
February 2006
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Gold Coast ESA Labour Market Demand

• All vacancies lodged and filled (Job Network and
  Job Placement Organisations)
• New Apprenticeship vacancies lodged and filled
  (Job Network and Job Placement Organisations)
• New Apprenticeship commencements (DEST 2004-05)

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Gold Coast ESALabour Market Supply

• Working Age Customer Populations
• Working age payment recipients
• Centrelink and Job Network populations

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Upcoming activities and those already established
and underway

• Large apartment building construction projects
  eg
• Brighton on Broadway at Southport
• Circle on Cavill Surfers Paradise
• Reflection development Coolangatta
• Southport Central
• Residential estates and land developments eg
• Calypso Bay development Jacobs Well
• Varsity Lakes Robina
• Other construction
• Robina Stadium
• Dreamworld Water Park
• Possible Coomera Town Centre
• Transport infrastructure upgrades eg
  Coolangatta Airport expansion and Gold Coast
  Rail Line upgrades
• Gold Coast Marine Precinct
• Visy plant Stapylton
• Yatala Light Manufacturing Precinct including
  food processing and distribution

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Range of DEWR Programmes

• Job Network
• Employer Demand Demonstration Projects
• Mature Age Industry strategies
• Employment Innovation Fund
• Job Placement
• Community Work Coordinators
• Voluntary Work Initiatives
• Green Corps
• New Enterprise Incentive Scheme
• Transition to Work

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Possible issues for consideration

• How to increase the participation of parents,
  people with a disability, mature age and very
  long term unemployed job seekers?
• How to engage employers and industry to increase
  the participation of parents, mature age, people
  with a disability and very long-term unemployed?
• How can employment service providers make better
  linkages and increase the placement of job
  seekers into New Apprenticeships?
• How do providers better engage with industry and
  employers to take advantage of opportunities in
  the region?

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Developing a local action plan

• Focus on practical actions for each issue being
  addressed
• Identify stakeholders and linkages

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Evaluation strategy

• Workshop evaluation to be filled out today
• Follow up survey of participants to assess
  specific actions/strategies undertaken
• Longer term data analysis to assess measurable
  items and analysis of qualitative information
  relating directly to each workshop

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Finish

• Thank you