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Transport and logistics

NSW established a Transport and Logistics Workforce Advisory Group (TLWAG) in September 2009 to create:

  • Improved access to appropriate transport and logistics industry education and training.
  • Improved workforce planning, recruitment and retention practices; and
  • Collaborative working partnerships with industry and unions.

This is because the Transport and Logistics Industry provides a foundation to all community and business activity. The industry contributes approximately 14.5 per cent nationally to GDP and employs approximately 1.2 million people across Australia.

A strong workforce is needed to address challenges and respond effectively to emerging issues. These include:

  • Areas of low industry career profile that affect the ability of some areas of the industry to attract new employees.
  • An ageing, predominately male workforce in comparison with other employment sectors, with a high proportion of the workforce aged 45 years and over and approaching retirement.
  • Skills and labour shortages in some industry areas, high levels of recruitment difficulty compared with other industries and relatively under developed recruitment and retention strategies.
  • The need to improve integration between secondary and tertiary education sectors, industry’s education and training needs, long term capability requirements and career path culture.

A National Workforce Planning and Skills: Strategic Action Plan (pdf) Link to external site has been developed with strong input from jurisdictions, unions and the industry. The strategic plan focuses on the five themes of:

  • Collaboration and coordination
  • Skills supply and labour market
  • Education, training and qualifications
  • Careers
  • Safety and security.

Based on the National Action Plan, the NSW TLWAG has determined a number of priority projects to progress in 2011.These projects are listed below with their most recent developments:

  • The inaugural 'Green Light' Transport and Logistics Day, aiming to promote a career in the Transport and Logistics Industry, was held on Friday, 26 August 2011 with over 230 students from 23 schools participating in four events across Sydney. The Launch event at the MLC Centre in Martin Place saw attendance by enthusiastic students, teachers, government and industry representatives from 25 state, national and international organisations coming together to celebrate the importance of the transport and logistics industry. Concurrent with these events, open days were held at Axima Logistics in Smithfield, RAAF Base at Richmond and Qantas Centre of Service Excellence at Alexandria with support of local MP's, TAFE and the Australian Trucking Association; Further information is available at Green Light Day Link to external site;
  • The Illawarra Transport and Logistics Skills Pilot Program (ITLSPP), under the direction of the Transport and Logistics Industry Skills Council, is progressing well with a total of eight students having commenced school based traineeships in the Illawarra with three of these at Bluescope Steel. This program will continue to be a focus for the NSW TLWAG with the possibility of expansion over the next 12 months. The ITLSPP provides students with the opportunity to develop the practical skills and knowledge required to work in the local transport and logistics industry by undertaking Certificate II qualifications and a work placement;
  • NSW is now a member of the Logistics Information and Navigation Centre(LINC) Link to external site community following the website's relaunch in June 2011. The LINC portal provides the opportunity to showcase NSW TLWAG's transport and logistics skills and workforce initiatives as well as a platform to collaborate and share experiences with similar groups in other jurisdictions;
  • In conjunction with the Transport and Logistics Centre (TALC), the NSW TLWAG rolled out  the Transport and Logistics Workforce Gauge in early 2011. The gauge is a survey developed by the Queensland TLWAG who have made it available for use by TLWAGs in other states and territories;
  • The main objective in the provision of the T&L Workforce Gauge is to establish a highly relevant, low cost and flexible workforce survey program with a high level of industry participation. Participation in the survey will enable the industry to collect reliable data about the current and potential workforce issues in the transport and logistics industry in NSW. There was a small but significant number of responses. The gauge will be active until the end of 2011 with regular results published by TALC; and
  • Working collaboratively with other jurisdictions to determine the best online portal for information sharing; The 2011/2012 Work Programme will be finalised in the second half of 2011 and published when available.
     

For additional information, contact nsw.tlwag@transport.nsw.gov.au.

Further information:

Tags: 
Freight, Operators, Trains
Last updated 05 March 2012