Engineers Australia urges action on engineering shortages in WA

Engineers Australia (EA) has reissued its call for a state engineering capability strategic plan to address engineering shortages in Western Australia. The industry body said that action must be taken to ensure the long-term viability of major engineering projects in WA.

A report on engineering skills shortages released by the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee highlights the need for action, EA said in a statement.

“Engineers Australia examined many of the issues raised by the Senate report in our Engineering WA 2020 report, which shows that skills shortages, coupled with the high Australian dollar and other factors, are causing increased costs for locally supplied engineering goods and services, loss of work to overseas countries and the postponement of projects due to a lack of economic viability,” the statement said.

Despite record numbers of engineering graduates coming out of WA tertiary institutions and an increased level of skilled migration, WA is still experiencing shortfalls of engineers, EA said. The representative body said it anticipates that shortages will continue as WA’s economy will continue to grow faster than the increase in numbers of engineers.

EA recommended that, as well as increasing numbers of engineering graduates from tertiary institutions, more should be done to attract school students to higher-level maths and science subjects. “Without this investment in science and maths education, the state will not be able to produce sufficient numbers of qualified graduates to meet future demand,” the EA statement said.

Mining, construction, manufacturing and professional services make up over 57% of WA’s economic output, so it is “crucial” that action be taken to redress the balance, EA said.