Rail Industry Skills and Careers
What is the Australian rail industry? Rail transport in Australia is a modern, national and diverse industry and a key element in the integrated logistics supply chain. The industry comprises freight and passenger train operators; track owners; infrastructure providers and maintainers; rolling stock manufacturers and maintainers; suppliers (particularly signalling); supply chain and logistics operators; and a wide range of service providers supporting the rail industry. Each sector of the rail industry has quite different business and community objectives. ARA’s website www.ara.net.au provides information about Member companies. Link Is the Australian rail industry still government owned? Since the 1990’s Australia’s railways have undergone significant change. Privatisation has seen a decline in government ownership and management of railways. Modernisation of the rail industry has resulted in productivity improvements worth over $2 billion. The majority of rail industry companies are private, profitable enterprises trading in highly competitive domestic and international markets. Australian rail has a high overseas profile as an innovative supplier of quality rail products, services and technology. ‘Above Rail’ operations (freight and passenger trains) have been separated from ‘Below Rail’ activities (track ownership, maintenance & construction, access to the rail network to run trains and allocation of train paths) as part of national competition reform and open access to government railway infrastructure. This resulted in private companies offering freight and passenger services over government-owned track. Read more How many people are employed in the Australian rail industry? The rail industry is a major employer with 42,000 men and women employed throughout urban and regional Australia in diverse operational and professional occupations. There is also another 70,000 working in industries supporting rail. In many regional centres, employment in the rail or rail related sector comprises a major source of employment. This workforce is a valued part of today’s dynamic rail industry. Having the right people in the right jobs is a key element and provides individual employees with opportunities to contribute to business success and realise their personal potential. Is the rail industry working together to address key workforce issues? The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) established the Rail Skills and Careers Council (RSCC) in 2004 to address industry concerns about workforce and skills shortages that threaten to limit rail’s ability to meet the long-term forecasted levels of freight around the country and people around Australian cities. The RSCC 2005/06 Attraction and Retention Research Project delivered industry research that identified the risk for the rail industry of having significant net outflows of workers over the next five to ten years. To mitigate this risk RSCC adopted a Strategic Plan to advance industry-wide people focussed themes towards 2010. Links What research has been undertaken to better understand key workforce issues? Priority research began in 2005 to understand current Australian and New Zealand practices and issues relating to the attraction and retention of employees and to identify ‘better practice’ in other Australasian and global industries. The resultant report, ‘The Changing Face of Rail – A journey to the employer of choice’, identified the following key issues:
In December 2006 a new Cooperative Centre for Research (CRC) for Rail Innovation was established providing an opportunity to align and integrate RSCC and CRC activities to provide strong outcomes for industry in advancing people issues. Links How are the key workforce issues being addressed? The RSCC‘s Strategic Plan is advancing the following industry-wide people focussed themes towards 2010:
Link What are the anticipated future employment prospects in the rail industry? Although the turnover of employees in rail is generally low, employees in the rail industry are older than the average workforce and during the next five to ten years there will be more workers retiring than new entrants. Many of those leaving the industry have knowledge and skills not easily replicated or purchased in the market. In addition, turnover of new recruits is up to five times higher than for any other group of workers in the industry. The rail industry and the general working environment are in a state of transition. The workforce that has dominated the past decade is now nearing retirement. The work preferences and expectations of new entrants to the workforce are distinct and conflict, in some aspects, with the preferences of the existing workforce. However, Governments and industry are investing in the future of rail in Australia as the freight task is expected to double by 2020 and the community demands improved urban rail services and reliability. How does the rail industry expect to meet its future workforce needs? The Workforce Development Strategy being developed by the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) focuses on the implementation of a strategic approach to employing the following target groups of employees:
Is there information that I can read about Rail Careers? Click here to download a copy of the Rail Careers Booklet – A Network of Opportunities which is a collection of personal stories of twenty men and women from across the Australian rail industry. Where can I find a job in the rail industry? Links
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