WESTERN Australia Premier Colin Barnett has announced the creation of the Department of Training and Workforce Development (a shift from the combined Department of Education and Training) to ensure a more focused delivery of both education and training services to the community.
Barnett says the changes would help better prepare Western Australia for the next surge in the resources industry.
The new department will focus on elevating training across the State and working across government, at both the State and national level, to plan and prepare Western Australia's workforce to avoid gaps in both skilled and unskilled labour.
Training Minister Peter Collier is enthusiastic about the greater emphasis on training in Western Australia. He says that the State must ensure young people and older people who may have lost their job or require re-training, can acquire skills that will not only enable them to work in the mining and petroleum sector, but also fill gaps left by workers attracted to the resources industry.
Collier says that within the resources sector there are hundreds of jobs - from truck driving, geology, and engineering to IT, computer-assisted design and a range of continually evolving scientific advancements that demand ongoing education and training.
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