Jobs and skills
Australia’s jobs and skills crisis is having a significant impact on local governments, which employ around 213,000 people around the nation.
ALGA’s 2022 Local Government Workforce Skills and Capability Survey found an alarming nine out of 10 Australian councils were facing jobs and skills shortages, which hinders project and service delivery.
Town planners, building surveyors and engineers were identified as the most in demand professions. All of these professions are critical for supporting and enabling communities to become more resilient and to help boost local economic growth and national productivity.
National priorities, such as increasing housing supply, can’t be achieved without support from local government, and having the right professionals to undertake this work.
Councils urgently need more federal funding to invest in workforce development and training programs, implement programs to attract workers to regional areas, and programs to address broader skills shortages in the national economy.
ALGA is calling for the Federal Government’s National Skills Plan to acknowledge the vital role of local governments as employers in training and skills development.
ALGA is also seeking funding opportunities for council employees to access training for identified skills shortage areas, especially in regional and remote communities.
We would also like to see the Commonwealth undertake a national audit of institutions offering urban and land use planning, building surveyors, and engineering qualifications and identify more readily available pathways for regional and remote study.
How we represent local government
ALGA represents and advocates for local government by participating in the following groups:
- Ministerial Migration Roundtable
- Member of Public Skills Australia.
Other policy priorities
