Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) commissioner Barney Glover has said work is underway to lift capabilities in the public service.

Glover told the National Press Club yesterday that Public Skills Australia was looking towards the future of skills in the public sector.

Public Skills Australia is one of 10 jobs and skills councils working with JSA to realign the workforce with industry needs.

This seeks to address ongoing skills shortages in and out of the public sector.

JSA’s skills shortage list says 36% of occupations have a shortage of qualified workers.

Glover said there were two key areas Public Skills Australia will examine over the coming year — gender equality and generative AI.

“If you look at gender-balanced occupations, only 25% of them are in shortage. If you’re not gender balanced you have massive shortages,” he said.

“[This is] due to stereotypical attitudes to work, safety and the culture of workplaces.

“These drivers also limit the labour market opportunities for other workers who look, sound or are physically different.”

In public service, ICT skills are hard to acquire. Last year, 76% of government agencies reported a shortage of ICT workers.

Healthcare and education worker shortages have frustrated state and territory governments. Southern Cross University education professor Pasi Sahlberg partly attributes the exodus from Australian public schools to this.

Glover said this was a challenging area to predict before the effect of the government’s international student caps was known.

He quipped there were “great nursing programs” at the Western Sydney University where he was vice-chancellor just months ago.

“We’ve just submitted what will become, subject to government consideration, the skilled occupation list. This is replacing the skilled migration occupation list. It’s quite a significant shift in the migration strategy,” he said

“Not only does it look at the challenges around shortages, we’re being asked to take into account employment outcomes. In other words … are the employment outcomes positive or not?

“If they’re not, we need to carefully consider what’s happening in those employment areas rather than just move to skilled migration.”

Glover’s address came the week before National Skills Week, August 19-25.

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