BuildSkills Australia has commenced its inaugural Breakfast with BuildSkills series, a national roadshow designed to bring local stakeholders together for open, practical conversations about workforce, training and skills issues affecting the building and construction, property and water industries.
As the Jobs and Skills Council for these industries, BuildSkills Australia is using the series to hear directly from people who understand their regional contexts best – employers, unions, training providers, industry bodies and government representatives – ensuring their insights inform national workforce planning.
The first breakfasts, held in Hobart, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth, have already shown the value of bringing stakeholders together. Each room included a diverse mix of attendees with first-hand knowledge of local workforce issues, offering a clearer picture of sector dynamics and the factors influencing skills needs in each jurisdiction. Each event has also featured a panel discussion with local stakeholders, providing a focused opportunity to examine localised opportunities and challenges from multiple perspectives.
The opening event in Hobart provided an opportunity for Tasmanian stakeholders to discuss regional skills shortages, training system constraints and the realities facing local employers, workers and training providers. Attendees spoke openly about what is working, where challenges persist and how their unique regional circumstances influence workforce needs across the state.
In Adelaide, Commissioner Cameron Baker, South Australian Skills Commissioner, delivered a keynote address outlining the state’s workforce priorities and trends. The panel discussion that followed brought practical insights from local industry leaders, who shared their experiences of labour shortages, productivity pressures and the capacity of training providers to meet rising demand driven by major projects.
The Melbourne breakfast - the largest so far in the series - included a keynote from Gabriel S Torres, Executive Director of Commercial, Sustainability and Infrastructure at Melbourne Polytechnic. Participants discussed the shifting skills landscape in Victoria, particularly in areas shaped by sustainability, digital capability and emerging technologies. Conversations focused on how industry and training providers can work together more effectively, the need for clearer pathways into the sector and the importance of strong relationships between employers and RTOs.
Today’s Perth event continued this momentum, with a strong turnout and thoughtful contributions from stakeholders across Western Australia. The keynote address was delivered by Jodie Hanns MLA, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation; Manufacturing; Skills and TAFE; Pilbara. Her remarks provided valuable insight into Western Australia’s training and workforce priorities, particularly in the context of a rapidly evolving energy and resources sector. The panel discussion reinforced the importance of locally driven workforce strategies, opportunities linked to major projects, and the need to support a pipeline of skilled workers across metropolitan and regional areas.
Across the first four cities, a consistent theme has emerged: hearing directly from those working with these issues every day adds useful context to our existing understanding. The diversity of voices in each room – employers, unions, training providers, associations, regulators and government representatives – has helped BuildSkills Australia broaden the picture of local workforce environments and how they contribute to the wider national landscape.
With upcoming events in Sydney, Canberra, Darwin and Brisbane, the series will complete a national circuit. The insights gathered through these conversations are strengthening BuildSkills Australia’s understanding of the workforce issues facing different jurisdictions, supporting evidence-based workforce planning and shaping our future program of work.
