Why an electrical skills plan is vital for Australia

The Electrical Trades Union has formed an alliance with leading industry groups and key stakeholders to develop a new skills plan it says is crucial to the nation’s energy transition.

In a major deal that was struck ahead of the government’s Jobs and Skills Summit, the union joined with contractor associations Master Electricians Australia and the National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA), as well as the Clean Energy Council, Smart Energy Council and Rewiring Australia to launch the Powering Australia Skills Plan.

Without a steadfast skills and training plan, Australia will fail to meet its target of a 43% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, the ETU said.

The federal government’s Powering Australia policy is an ambitious program designed to increase renewable energy generation to 82% of overall demand by 2030. It will create 63,000 Powering Australia jobs, facilitate the creation of a further 604,000 jobs across the economy and directly support 10,000 energy apprenticeships. But none of this will be achieved without a comprehensive skills plan.

Apprentice completion rates have stalled at just 52% amid unprecedented labour shortages in energy and other sectors.

Under the alliance’s plan, an industry-owned and -led Powering Australia Skills Cluster would be established to cover traditional energy training areas, as well as an expanded scope in emerging industries such as renewables, EV charging, the Internet of Things, advanced programming and hydrogen.

Saul Griffith, Rewiring Australia founder and chief scientist, said, “Retrofitting Australian houses and businesses to drive electrification will require a lot of skilled jobs. We’re going to need more sparkies. Supporting apprentices and paying decent wages is critical, as is the industry working collaboratively. Rewiring Australia supports this joint initiative by the ETU and the industry.”

Separately, the Powering Australia Skills Plan would create a dedicated Apprenticeship Support Network, to provide key mentoring and support services with a proven track record of boosting completion rates. A recent survey of apprentices showed almost 90% did not receive any mentoring during their apprenticeship and half received no support at all.

Between 2013 and 2015 E-Oz Energy Skills Australia ran a pilot program that achieved a 93% retention rate up from an average of 62% for the previous five years, showing the effectiveness of mentoring programs. A dedicated, industry-led Powering Australia Apprenticeship Support Network would deliver similar programs, as well as provide more advice on electives that are crucial to renewables training.

The alliance of key industry stakeholders also backed targeted wage subsidies for first- and second-year apprentices that would boost intakes, noting the 50% wage subsidy during COVID was an effective policy.

“This plan outlines how to provide good jobs during the energy transition. It will give government the social licence needed to end the climate wars,” ETU Acting National Secretary Michael Wright said.

“Powering Australia presents huge challenges with massive opportunities. If we get it wrong there could be dire consequences. But success will lead to hundreds of thousands of good jobs, lower energy prices and emissions reduction we can be proud of.

“Unions and industry are on a unity ticket about the urgent need to address these major workforce challenges. Now we’ve struck a historic agreement on how to do it.”

The Powering Australia Skills Plan would also:

• provide dedicated funding for Powering Australia registered training organisations, including dedicated industry-led skills centres, equipped to train apprentices with 21st-century technology;
• build diversity by supporting women, First Nations, and culturally and linguistically diverse workers to join the energy industry;
• ensure workforce mobility through nationally consistent training and licensing;
• ensure Australia is a ‘Nation of Excellence’ by supporting migrating overseas tradespeople to achieve the same level of technical expertise and focus as the Powering Australia sector.
   

“Electricians and other electrical workers represent as much as 20% of the clean energy workforce, and this figure is even higher in technologies such as rooftop solar. With a five-fold increase in small-scale generation tipped by 2050, a skilled and available workforce will be critical to Australia’s electricity needs,” said Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton.

“This is why one of the six key recommendations within the Clean Energy Council’s Skilling the Energy Transition Report is to enhance the Vocational Education and Training Sector’s capacity to understand and meet the demands of industry.”

Image credit: iStock.com/RossHelen