Video transcript
[Kylie Porter, CEO, Greater Whitsunday Alliance (GW3)]
[Background music] When you come from a region, like I do, local solutions are incredibly important—we need need to be local first.
GW3 has a specific workforce development team—we absolutely lean into the Queensland Workforce Strategy as a way of validating our work, but also using it almost like as a measurement tool, and from a organisational perspective, so how we operationalise our workforce planning, be a little bit different, and we'd be a little bit open to some new thinking about who we're looking for, the skills that they have and even the qualifications.
The Queensland Workforce Strategy is that all encompassing strategic work that frames where our workforces need to be in the future.
I think the biggest workforce challenge we have in the Greater Workforce Region—which makes up Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday—I refer to it as pulses and heartbeats. We need more pulses, more heartbeats in our region to understand a) that there's a range of career and job opportunities across the region, but most importantly, to understand the range of sectors that our region serves. We absolutely know that no region is the same as another.
The place-based solutions are incredibly important, so probably local solutions is probably my area that I really want maintain laser like focus on through the Queensland Workforce Strategy.
The greater Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday regions exemplify Queensland's natural beauty, it's diverse economic opportunities and the power of a talented workforce.
Collectively these 3 centres are a $58 billion regional economic powerhouse.
The region is home to more than 183,000 people and a median age of 38 years, a majority of the workforce are full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) (93%)1. While the Greater Whitsunday region is an economic success story delivering low employment, a tight labour market presents challenges for the region.
Shaping the region's economic future and helping it capitalise on its economic potential is the Greater Whitsunday Alliance (GW3), an independent, regional economic development body representing and advocating for the Mackay Isaac Whitsunday region.
Always looking to the future, GW3 is creating opportunities for the region's workforce and economy in emerging industries including aerospace, aquaculture and bioproducts along with job creating projects in traditional industries.
GW3 is using the Queensland Government's Good people. Good jobs: Queensland Workforce Strategy 2022–2032 to focus their efforts for the region to develop the workforce and create job opportunities.
The strategy has a key focus on local solutions to support the implementation of locally led workforce planning and initiatives as well as coordinated partnerships between key stakeholders to focus on local and regional workforce priorities.
GW3 CEO Kylie Porter says that the region has a strategy to become even greater and the Queensland Workforce Strategy has an important role to play.
"GW3 has specific workforce development goals, and we absolutely lean into the Queensland Workforce Strategy as a way of validating our work, but also using it almost like a measurement tool.
"Local solutions are incredibly important, and we need to be local first—our people are at the core of our region's growth. People are our greatest asset and our challenge in this changing world, is to create the best opportunity for them to have fulfilling, rewarding and meaningful careers.
"Creating a narrative that accurately profiles the incredible opportunities is also an important piece of work for the region – while local solutions are important, new talent is required to support growth.
"I think that a focus on attraction and retention is really important because, regional areas need to focus on attracting skills and creating stability—reducing the speed of the revolving door where people come in for a job for a period, and then leave," said Kylie.
In December 2022, the GW3 released the Greater Whitsunday Workforce Development Playbook (PDF, 6.6MB) which outlined the regions plan to build its workforce of 85,000 people, and support the region through the next stages of its evolution.
"We are seeing huge changes in our region in terms of our economic make-up—our traditional industries are increasingly complemented by emerging, decarbonised industries including biomanufacturing, advanced manufacturing and aerospace.
"Locally, there are so many opportunities for individuals. Part of our strategy is improving the quality of information about the various career paths and options, and the chances for advancement to encourage people of all ages to stay local," said Kylie.
More information
Learn more about the Good people. Good jobs: Queensland Workforce Strategy 2022–2032, a 10-year strategy designed to unleash the strength of Queensland's greatest asset – it's people. It is supported by a $70 million action plan (2022–2025) delivering 33 actions.
Learn more about the Greater Whitsunday Alliance.
Join the conversation
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1Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021, 2021 Census QuickStats Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday, accessed on 14 September 2022.
Last updated 13 November 2023
