Skills Reports

Australia’s skilled forest, timber and wood related industries are responsible for providing a range of essential paper and timber products, from office supplies to health products to construction materials. Australian forests are a valuable, sustainable and renewable resource, making the industry susceptible to the impacts of climate change as well as a key player in addressing it. Expert skills are required to meet the various challenges of managing forests sustainably and facing natural events and disasters.

Skills Impact has prepared a draft Industry Skills Report at the request of the Forest Management and Harvesting Industry Reference Committee (IRC), Timber and Wood Processing IRC and Timber Building Solutions IRC. It provides coverage of additional industry-specific skills and priorities to those covered in the Agribusiness, Food and Fibre Industries Skills Report.

This document is designed to assist with identifying industry-specific issues and priorities that will need to be considered along with any work undertaken as part of collaboration across industries and in the streamlining and reform of the Australian VET system. We are seeking your feedback on the report and are particularly interested in your answers to the following questions:

Can you provide details of information sources that provide further insight on the issues reported?
Are there any improvements to data or information (relating to skills, training, industry or employment) within the document? If so, please identify these and advise us of sources of information.
Is the structure of the document suitable and valuable for industry participants?

The draft report will be available on this website for review and feedback from 15 July until 5 August 2022. We appreciate the time you take to provide us with feedback.

Your feedback will be considered to finalise the document, which will be used to provide insights for future projects to support the VET sector.

View Industry Skills Report and provide feedback

You are also welcome to download a Word document version of the report

How to provide feedback

You can submit your feedback online using our feedback hub or by email.

 Feedback hub

You can submit your response and comments directly on the draft report, as well as view any comments from others. Your comments will remain anonymous. Only Skills Impact internal staff can identify users. The feedback hub is also moderated to avoid misuse. For further details, see our Moderation Policy.
Please follow these steps:

Click on the link to provide feedback on the Industry Skills Report.
You will be asked to register or login (this is a free account). Follow the prompts.
Once logged in, you will be able to post feedback directly on the document.
 Download user instructions

Please contact us if you require assistance.

 Feedback via email

Of course there is always the option to email us your feedback if you prefer. You can attach the document with your track changes as feedback, or you can provide general comments about it in an email. There is a link below the report where you can download the Microsoft Word version. Please email your feedback to Niall Smith, [email protected]

Skills Forecasts

In previous years, skills reporting has taken the form of a Skills Forecast or Annual Update, which have been submitted by the relevant IRC to the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC). They propose a four year plan for reviewing and developing relevant units, skill sets and qualifications across a training package. They were created once every three years, but are updated annually. The Annual Updates identify any specific changes to the industry environment, and to address current priority issues.

Every year in April, the full Skills Forecast or Annual Update was submitted by the relevant IRC to the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC). The AISC would then advise Commonwealth and State Industry and Skills Ministers on the implementation of national vocational education and training policies, and approve nationally recognised training packages.

The AISC would draw on this information to update their AISC National Schedule, and to determine future Training Package Projects.