At the end of March, the Forest and Wood Products and Pulp and Paper Manufacturing Industry Reference Committees (IRCs) met to discuss the 2018-2021 IRC Skills Forecasts and Proposed Schedules of Work and two Cases for Change related to the FWP and PPM training packages.

IRC Skills Forecasts and Proposed Schedules of Work are three-year plans identifying skills gaps, emerging skills needs and associated training needs for industry. The documents also determine whether there is a need to change training packages (i.e. units of competency, skill sets and qualifications).

At the meetings, the IRCs reviewed all the feedback from the broad and ongoing industry consultations and ascertained how these views could be addressed in these documents. The review was conducted to include stakeholder advice on skill priorities and content issues related to some training package components for the industry, which was received during 2017/18.

The IRCs noted that there was a consensus among stakeholders on the training package priorities.

Additional advice on skill priorities was received for forestry operations during consultations. These include the use of Lidar for forestry applications, correct application of tyre pressure for log trucks (to minimise damage to road infrastructure and logging tracks) and practice of forest risk management (covering forest health and biosecurity, fire risk and salvage), among other skill priorities.  This will be incorporated into the report prior to finalisation.

Importantly, the IRCs would like to thank all stakeholders who provided feedback regarding these documents and the training packages over the course of these consultations and during the year 2018 and 2017.

The 2018-2021 IRC Skills Forecast and Schedule of Work and two Cases for Change are now being finalised for the IRCs to sign off. The documents will be submitted to the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) at the end of April, for their consideration and approval of project commencements.

The membership of the IRCs can be viewed at the following links:

To provide further feedback on the industry skill needs or any issues related to the skills standards and qualifications, please use the online feedback forms available on the ForestWorks and Skills Impact websites or contact the ForestWorks staff directly.

All skill priorities and advice communicated via consultations and online feedback registers are analysed to determine possible gaps in the training packages. This information is then used by the IRCs to define and put forward training package projects through the yearly-updated IRC Skills Forecast and Schedule of Work and Cases for Change.