It also recommends the Australian Government, in collaboration with industry stakeholders, develop and pilot a national program for apprentices and trainees, modelled on the UK Oil and Gas Upstream Technician Training Scheme and the Western Australian Energy Apprenticeship Group joint venture, to provide clear pathways to the liquefied natural gas sector and ensure supply of long-term technical skills.

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Recommendation 1

That resources companies and peak organisations engage with the proposed industry working group for schools–industry science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills initiatives; and contribute to the development of a national strategy and framework for these initiatives.

Recommendation 2

That industry work with tertiary education providers to fund, develop and implement a strategy to deliver training and support to career development practitioners. This will ensure they have skills and knowledge to provide current and relevant advice to students on the resources labour market and raise awareness of the value of professional and trade qualifications.

The Australian Government outlined its intention to develop a research workforce strategy to cover the decade to 2020 in Powering Ideas: An Innovation Agenda for the 21st Century. The development of the strategy recognises a need to better position Australia to meet expected shortfalls in the supply of research qualified people and to address concerns regarding the availability of clear career paths for research students and the adequacy of the research training system in preparing them for varied career outcomes.

The purpose of the discipline-specific case studies is to understand variations in how these issues present at the level of individual disciplines. The six disciplines examined – chemical sciences, education, engineering, health, history and archaeology, and mathematical sciences – were selected by a high-level reference group established to support the development of the research workforce strategy. The disciplines were chosen for their capacity to identify a cross-section of issues and potential pressure points across the research workforce.