Celebrating and encouraging innovation within the construction materials industry, the 2022 winners of the Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA) Innovation awards for Queensland were announced on 21 October.
Major projects conference returns to the Northern Territory
After a two-year long COVID hiatus, the 11th Annual Northern Territory Major Projects Conference returned to the Darwin Convention Centre on the 18th and 19th of October 2022. Read more
Holcim acquires Wiltshire
The regional UK leader in recycling construction & demolition waste into green building materials, Wiltshire Heavy Building Materials Accelerating, has been acquired by Holcim.
See US, be US
Groundwork Plus environmental consultant Johannah Mannix has loved every step of her journey in the extractives industry.
The power of diamonds
Epiroc’s Powerbit X drill features diamond-protected buttons which results in more uptime, improved safety, and lower CO2 emissions.
Addressing skills shortage requires long-term solution: Report
Collaborative efforts to create long-term solutions to the ongoing skills shortage are in strong demand. New figures confirm that occupations in the resources and energy sector may remain in short supply beyond 2023.
The 2022 National Skills Priority List has revealed occupation supply shortages in every state and territory, a challenge that has been occurring for the past two years.
Employer surveys, in-depth stakeholder involvement, and thorough statistical research of the labour market are all used to construct the Skills Priority List, which is produced by the National Skills Commission.
Engineers, geologists, drillers, and tradespeople are among the roles impacted by the skills gap, directly affecting industry-critical production and site work maintenance. These shortfalls make it more challenging to run the energy and resource sector as a whole, and to expand new projects.
According to the Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association (AREEA) director of operations Tara Diamond, labour supply and skills challenges “threaten the continuity of existing operations as well as create headaches for new project development, potentially impacting both the future growth of the industry as well as Australia’s reputation as a reliable country to invest in”.
A report conducted by AREEA found Australia’s resources and energy sector will need an extra 24,000 employees by 2027.
The Skills Priority List found effective solutions that span a lengthy timeframe are necessary to combat well-known problems across training outcomes, such as vocational education and training (VET), along with labour mobility and skilled migration concerns. Advocation for these solutions requires a strong collaborative effort between the resources and energy industry and the government to ensure the tenure of the shortage is not prolonged.
Diamond believes this will be a “long-term, incremental process”.
“AREEA is also working hard with members on initiatives to promote the industry as a desirable, future-focused industry where new generations of skilled people can enjoy long, well-paid careers and be part of innovation and new energy technologies.”
Astec celebrates 50th anniversary
Major supplier of high-quality equipment Astec Industries is celebrating 50 years of connecting people, processes, and products from Rock to Road.
Komatsu iSite: a complete fleet management solution
Komatsu’s brand-agnostic system takes real-time production data from loading and hauling machines.
Resources minister visits QLD quarries to support construction boom
The QLD Resources Minister has visited key quarries supporting building and infrastructure in South-East Queensland at an industry site visit on 27 September 2022.
SEW-EURODRIVE gets behind concrete recycling facility
When construction and demolition materials recycling specialist Alex Fraser Group needed geared motors to support its sophisticated materials handling facility, it turned to SEW-Eurodrive.