Bowen Basin Skills Formation Strategy

The Mining Industry Skills Centre is pleased to announce that the Bowen Basin Skills Formation Strategy (BBSFS) is now complete.

What is the Bowen Basin Skills Formation Strategy?

The Bowen Basin Skills Formation Strategy is an innovative project funded by the Department of Education and Training in order to address workforce planning and development issues faced by resource industries and communities within the area.
The BBSFS contributes to four of the fourteen key goals of the Mining Industry Skills Strategy which continues to work towards developing a holistic approach for the resources industry whilst ensuring the timely development of a skilled and sustainable workforce that meets its needs.

Why was the Bowen Basin region selected?

The Skills Formation Strategies are linked to the Queensland Government Skills Plan - http://www.trainandemploy.qld.gov.au/client/about_us/skillsplan/  that focuses on a range of projects across industries such as marine, hospitality, tourism and civil construction.

The Bowen Basin was selected as a high priority region because of the impact of the current and future growth within the resource industry and the stress this places on the surrounding community.

Methodology

The BBSFS has been a two year project, during which time the Mining Industry Skills Centre has been working closely with Bowen Basin community and industry in order to provide an ongoing support framework to assist the wellbeing of the area and the resources industry as a whole.

The BBSFS has formed strong local networks, projects and relationships that will continue to strengthen overtime and the success of the BBSFS can only be attributed to the partnerships established across industries, communities and government. The Mining Industry Skills Centre recognises the invaluable input of all those were were involved with the BBSFS from August 2007 to August 2009.

Stakeholder Involvement

Benefits and Successes:

The work of the BBSFS has had positive and effective results for the mining industry in the Bowen Basin and can also be applied across the resources industry nationally. 

Some key outcomes from the BBSFS include:

• Supervisor Framework – following 18 months of development by the Supervisor Focus Group, the Supervisor Framework was launched at the 2009 Mining Industry Skills Centre Conference. The Framework provides a range of tools for the recruitment, training and coaching of supervisors. The industry has applauded the wide applicability of the Framework. Please visit: http://supervisorframework.miskillscentre.com.au for more information on the framework.

• Attraction and Retention Papers – Industry and community engagement was vital when researching and writing two papers which highlight how important it is for the industry to invest in providing a stable and expandable foundation for the attraction and retention of future employees. These papers are available for download at: /publications.aspx

• Adult Learner’s Week DVD – in collaboration with the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, the Mining Industry Skills Centre have produced a free DVD which highlights individual success stories of real life people, from all walks of life, who are establishing a rewarding career in the resources industry. It also provides hints and tips on how to pursue these opportunities through adult learning. To order the free DVD online, please visit: /our-services/workforce-planning-initiatives/promotional-video.aspx

• Apprentice Taskforce – the ongoing aim of the taskforce is to increase the number of apprentices within the resource sector.  A range of articles and case studies were published in the Mining Industry Skills Centres Torch Newsletter thoughout 2008 /09 detailing a variety of leading practice delivery and management models.  An ongoing project of the apprenticeship group in the Bowen Basin Region is the development of a flexible electrical pilot program focusing on project and workplace based delivery.  The pilot program is due to begin February 2010.
 

Sustainability:

New projects are continuously underway with several projects in the second phase of implementation. Below is an example of projects that are being undertaken by the Research and Development Team of the Mining Industry Skills Centre:

• Apprenticeship Framework and Training Profession Framework - the Strategic Leaders Group (SLG) appreciate the quality and standard of the Supervisor Framework and has requested the team produce additional frameworks for the industry. The first two frameworks the team will be working on are an Apprenticeship Framework and a Training Professional Framework.

• Supervisor Framework - the pilots and implementation of the Supervisor Framework will be a priority for the team over the next six to eight months.