Austroads: Transport Research and Trends

Following previous workforce capability studies undertaken in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2017, Austroads engaged Oxford Economics Australia to undertake a new workforce capability analysis for member authorities based on planned and forecasted infrastructure development and service objective requirements in Australia and New Zealand over the next 10 years to 2032.

Through stakeholder and industry engagement – as well as gap analysis including extensive data analytics – this analysis seeks to explain how skills demand will form for road agencies over the coming decade, what will be the key threats to workforce capability in the roads sector, and what road agencies can do to respond to the challenges ahead.

The study identifies which jurisdictions are expected to experience capability gaps in the next five years and stresses the importance of implementing measures to attract and retain skills, particularly given competitive threats from rising activity in other sectors over the coming decade.

New to this iteration of the study is the provision of quantitative data through interactive dashboards which allow users to focus on specific skills and occupation profiles in each jurisdiction. These dashboards will be updated with new workforce data and forecasts through 2024 and 2025.

This webinar, presented by Adrian Hart and Thomas Creevey from Oxford Economics Australia, provides a summary of the results and findings of this research. The session covers the following:

• current breakdowns of the roads skilled workforce in Australia and New Zealand
• state of play and outlook for roads activities and skills demand
• insights from industry survey and interviews on existing capability concerns
• how the roads industry can respond positively to the workforce skills challenge
• what information the new dashboards contain and how they work.