The appointment of Professor Peter Dawkins AO as interim Director of Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) is recognition by the Albanese Government of the important role universities will play in delivering the skilled workforce Australia needs.
Group of Eight (Go8) Chief Executive Vicki Thomson said the Go8 has long called for a strong voice to lead the JSA and the Government has delivered.
“Professor Dawkins is a former Vice Chancellor and a leading authority on education, social and economic policy, and the Go8 looks forward to working closely with him to identify what needs to be done to address our skills crisis,” said Ms Thomson.
“The future of work is increasingly focused on highly developed technical skills and applying new technologies. It will require a shared partnership across the entire post-secondary sector. Professor Dawkins is well placed to guide this during the early phase of JSA.
“The teaching and research carried out in our universities builds a bigger, better trained and more productive workforce, boosts incomes and living standards and creates more opportunities for more Australians to participate in employment.
“We also know that rapid technological change across all sectors of the economy has resulted in unprecedented demand for a highly skilled workforce. The National Skills Commission has forecast that jobs growth will be highest in services industries and in jobs requiring higher level qualifications.
“More than nine out of 10 jobs to be created will require post-secondary education – jobs in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) are predicted to grow by 12.9 per cent, twice as fast as non-STEM jobs at 6.2 per cent.
“Australia needs the advanced skills taught in our research universities and it makes sense that universities are part of the forward agenda of the JSA.
“The Go8 universities graduate 110,000 high quality future employees annually, with their education underpinned by a research intensive environment – be they doctors, engineers, lawyers, graduates in AI, space, quantum computing and cyber security – all of whom are in high demand from existing and emerging industries.
“The Government’s commitment to addressing the skills crisis through the JSA and recognising the critical role of universities, augurs well for the nation’s future social and economic prosperity,” Ms Thomson said.