Australian forests are a valuable, sustainable and renewable resource. They are managed by a skilled workforce that is part of the value chain for producing many products that are essential to our daily needs, from housing to paper. The industry is made up of many sectors, all of which have been impacted by the recent bushfires and COVID-19.
The Annual Update to the IRC Skills Forecast and Proposed Schedule of Work (Skills Forecast) includes information about employers’ use of training packages and qualifications, barriers to hiring apprentices and trainees, and reasons behind non-completion rates. It looks at alternative training being delivered, some of which draws on the training package, but is not delivered by registered training organisations.
It also proposes two projects for development in 2021-22, which are summarised in the grey box below.
Thank you to everybody that has input into the Annual Update and the proposed projects.
The Annual Update will be submitted from the IRC to the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC). The information will be used to update the AISC National Schedule of training package development projects.
View the Annual Update and provide feedback.
Proposed Schedule of Work
2021-22
Project 1: Sawmilling and Timber Processing
The sawmilling, timber processing and timber products sectors are undergoing rapid digital transformation and technological advancement. The skills required of operators is changing. They need the skills to work with new technologies and produce innovative products such as cross laminated timber (CLT) and glue laminated timber (GLT). The demand for skills to monitor, maintain, optimise and troubleshoot highly specialised automated equipment that moves, grades, assesses, scans, cuts and assembles timber pieces and products is surpassing the need for operators to pass, move, lift, grade, assess, stack, and sort timber and wood products. This project proposes a review of current qualifications and skills standards to incorporate current skills requirements and to consolidate the number of qualifications and units, to reduce complexity in the training system.
Project 2: Responding and Assisting in Bushfires
Forestry operators hold a key role in assisting with fire mitigation, firefighting, clean up, and clearing operations. They have expertise in the heavy machinery used in both harvesting operations and fire-fighting and support the prevention of bushfire through mechanical thinning. With the frequency and intensity of bushfires in Australia expected to increase, forestry operators and emergency services supervisors need to be effectively trained and ready to respond and assist. Seventeen current units of competency within the FWP training package are proposed for review, to incorporate the skills required for bushfire prevention, assistance and recovery. Two units may also need to be developed to fill a skills gap in fire incident control and leadership. The revised and new units could be exported into other training packages to support job roles outside the forestry industry, which have also expanded to undertake activities assisting with bushfires.