Skills eFlash #131

Date: 12-Nov-2024

1. qldwater is hiring!

Since taking on the role of Industry Skills Advisor (ISA) for the Queensland Government in 2020, the qldwater Water Skills Partnership (WSP) Manager fulfilled the duties of both roles. Given the importance of the ISA roles, the Department have made some changes across all ISAs with a requirement for each ISA to be at least 1 FTE. So we are recruiting a new WSP Manager in anticipation of a successful application to continue in the new ISJA role.

If successful in that application, we'll be able to provide even more focus to members in each area, maintaining the important advocacy work on behalf of this most essential of sectors.

The job is advertised on the Ethical Jobs platform. Please share it with any of your contacts who may be interested in working with our small but dedicated and dynamic team.

2. Essentials Webinar: Building personal resilience to avoid burnout

The urban water sector is facing unprecedented challenges. There are increasing workload pressures associated with unfilled vacancies, the strain of working with ageing infrastructure, the uncertainty of organisational restructures and high-risk weather events – it’s no wonder stress levels are rising, from frontline operators to senior management.

If you’ve been feeling the weight of these pressures, know that you’re not alone. To help our sector build resilience and manage stress, qldwater is hosting a special webinar: Build personal resilience to avoid burnout on Wednesday 27 November 2024 from 10.30 – 11.30am.

The presenter, Belinda Chapman, is a seasoned water management professional with over 20 years of experience and a passion for supporting water leaders. She blends her deep sector knowledge with leadership coaching, offering simple, actionable strategies tailored to water professionals who operate in high-pressure environments.

This one-hour webinar will cover:

Practical tools to improve your well-being
How to spot early warning signs of burnout in yourself and others
Resources for seeking and providing support
Ways to build empathy and maintain effective collaboration

Don’t miss this opportunity to prioritise your mental health and take control of the stressors around you. Empower yourself and your team with the skills to thrive, not just survive.

3. qldwater Micro-Credentials Training 2025

After securing DESBT funding last year, qldwater developed micro-credentials in five key topics chosen by members:

SCADA - introduction and overview of SCADA and telemetry systems for the water industry
Making Use of Water Quality Data
Fluoridation of Water Supplies in Queensland - for Operators
Fluoridation of Water Supplies in Queensland - for Non-Operators
Operational Implications of the Drinking Water Quality Management Plan

Following the first round of successful deliveries, we’ll be scheduling more face-to-face training dates in 2025 in regional and South East areas.

The first deliveries for the Making Use of Water Quality Data and Operational Implications of the DWQMP courses will be in the week commencing 17 March 2025 and for SCADA in the week commencing 31 March 2025. The initial deliveries will be at the qldwater offices in Brisbane. Further regional deliveries will take place throughout the year. All prices and times TBC. To register your interest and keep up to date with dates, pricing or other requests, please email skills@qldwater.com.au.

4. qldwater Workforce Survey Report 2024

It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since we last surveyed our members for our biennial Workforce Snapshot Report – the most comprehensive workforce report of its kind for the water sector. This important report forms the backbone of our advocacy work and is the document that Government Departments look to in understanding the state of the urban water sector in QLD.

At our next Water Skills Partnership meeting on 18 November, qldwater will discuss the upcoming survey request and how we can support members through the important work of providing their workforce data to us for collation.

You can access the last survey report published in 2023 (and other workforce related publications) on the qldwater website.

5. Queensland Training Ombudsman Review of Pricing & Subsidy Framework

The Queensland Skills Strategy 2024 - 2028, Good Jobs, Great Training (the Strategy) has been released. The Strategy commits to providing training pathways supporting school to work transitions for school students (Career Ready), guaranteed access to a first qualification to facilitate entry to employment (Career Start) and providing lifelong learning opportunities for working-age Queenslanders to update or develop their knowledge (Career Boost) through a student focused training system.

To support the actions within the Strategy, the Queensland Training Ombudsman (QTO) will conduct a review of the current subsidy framework. This includes the subsidies and location loadings paid to the Public Provider and Skills Assure Suppliers (SAS), and the payments made to eligible apprentices and trainees who are required to travel over a specified distance to attend the closest Public Provider or other SAS provider.

The QTO will provide a report and recommendations to the Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development.

Geoff Favell, the QTO will discuss the review at the next Water Skills Partnership meeting via teams on 18 November at 10am. This is your opportunity to hear about the work being undertaken and to voice issues that the QTO should be aware of.

Please reach out to nholmes@qldwater.com.au if you're a WSP member and haven't received an invite to the meeting

6. Invitation - BuildSkills Australia Webinar

If you missed any of the recent in-person workshops, or would like to continue conversations, BuildSkills Australia is hosting an online webinar on Tuesday 19 November, from 1:30pm-2:30pm.

This webinar will be an opportunity to hear about their findings to date and contribute your own insights into the future of skills and training.

Their VET Future Readiness Review is evaluating the extent to which the training system is delivering the skills needed for the future of the construction, property and water industries. The aim is to identify what needs to change to ensure the training system keeps up with rapidly evolving jobs and skills requirements.

This webinar will be an opportunity to hear about their findings to date and contribute your own insights into the future of skills and training.

7. Department of Trade, Employment and Training Webinars

The Department of Employment, Small Business and Training (now DTET) recently collaborated with Jenni Walke from Elephant in the Room Consulting to deliver three free webinars on creating culturally safe work environments for First Nations employees.

As well as exploring the Cultural Capability Resource, the webinars provide resources and practical tips that you can apply straight away in your business or organisation:

Working with First Nations peoples
Creating safe and inclusive workplaces
Valuing cultural diversity, recruitment and engagement

The session recordings are now available to business owners and those interested in deepening their cultural understanding. Delivered to coincide with National Safe Work Month and Indigenous Business Month, the webinars demonstrate the value of the Cultural Capability Resource to help boost the Queensland workforce through inclusion and diversity, now and into the future.

8. Two New Reports released by NCVER

The latest reports from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) shows completion rates for VET qualifications are holding steady.

The VET qualification completion rates 2023 report shows that 47.3% of all VET qualifications that commenced in 2019 were completed by the end of 2023. This is comparable to the 47.6% completion rate for qualifications that commenced in 2018 and were completed by the end of 2022.

The report also shows that completion rates increase as the level of education rises. For instance, 55.9% of diploma or higher qualifications commenced in 2019 were completed by 2023, compared with 35.6% of certificate I qualifications.

The Apprentices and trainees 2024: March quarter publication provides a national picture of apprentice and trainee activity, with choices for the user to select states/territories and contract statuses by quarterly and 12 months ending series.

9. RSL Partnership – Skilled Candidates Available

The latest list of skilled candidates currently with the RSL team is available here. The RSL Employment Program works with employers across Australia to assist ex-serving and partners of current and ex-serving Defence members in making connections and ultimately finding meaningful employment. Those previously looking for employment across all regions can also be viewed.

Our members can also place adverts on the RSL Employment Boards without charge and the dedicated RSL will seek to align the roles with their skilled cohorts. Please encourage your recruitment teams to email available jobs to skills@qldwater.com.au and qldwater and the RSL will do the rest. These can be at any level in your organisation, to even the most senior roles aligned with the water/wastewater or network teams.

Members will hear more from the RSL Team at the upcoming Water Skills Partnership Meeting on 18 November at 10am via teams. Please reach out to nholmes@qldwater.com.au if you're a WSP member and haven't received an invite to the meeting

10. Ongoing Invitation - BuildSkills Australia – Make a Case for Change

A reminder that the new Jobs and Skills Council, BuildSkills Australia, is looking for sector feedback on the issues that they need to look at around training packages and workforce planning.

George Wall, National Manager Water Sector Industry Engagement made a call to the sector to engage with the BuildSkills Australia Make a Case for Change system, which lodges sector issues and allows BSA to assess issues that require positive action. Please submit issues on the BSA system to ensure it is investigated and followed up. Be as specific as you can with the changes you’d like to see – this provides intelligence to BSA on issues troubling the sector. Remember that without these cases for change, the Federal Government may think there are no issues that we are wrestling with or that need addressing!!