Growing our Workforce

The Grow the Workforce Project is a dedicated response to the significant challenges in attracting qualified and/or suitably capable workers, often exacerbated in regional, rural, and remote locations across our specialist sector. The project has made significant headway in the recent months and exciting to see it taking shape.

The inaugural Project Working Group is established and great to see representation from our sector leaders across the state, along with the Tertiary, Vocational Education & Training (VET) and wider training/employment system. This critical touchpoint will be critical for the sector, and we look forward to seeing what comes from these cross-sector relationships.

WorkUP has been working on a Discovery Report that pulls together our emerging learning and insights from stakeholder engagement, research and scanning phases. We are developing a picture of emerging opportunities and challenges. We aim to release and share the report soon, to further our understanding as we look to prioritising and co-designing effective and realistic workforce responses.

WorkUP is also embarking on an Information Development Plan (IDP) to create a strategic roadmap for managing data effectively to inform the development of the Growing the Workforce project. Meaningful, useful and relevant workforce data, logistics and forecasting will rely on accurate and timely workforce information. An Information Development Plan (IDP) helps guide the development, management, and dissemination of statistical information for the sector.

This work is iterative and our plans will be shaped by the sector. We have heard some innovative and creative work and ideas that already are being undertaken in this space by our stakeholders. Please continue to let us know emerging ideas and opportunities for strengthening and sustaining these local ideas in response to the significant challenges in attracting, recruiting, and retaining our people.

Stay tuned for our open sessions taking place over the coming months. We invite you to participate and provide feedback and advice that will continue to shape our strategies.

You can contact us at workforce@healingfoundation.org.au.