Townsville is the largest city in Queensland outside of the South East corner, home to around 200,000 people.
Along with the broader North Queensland region, it has a diverse economy across a broad range of traditional, service-based and emerging industries, as well as a deep military history as the site of the largest Australian Army base in the country.
North Queensland is set to experience significant growth in the coming years, driven by major project activity along the corridor between Townsville and Mount Isa and economic activity in the region more broadly.
A skilled workforce will be central to this activity – to build major infrastructure projects and housing, support an expanding health industry and address skill shortages in education, manufacturing and other crucial regional sectors.
The workforce challenge facing the region has been captured in the North Queensland Workforce Environmental Scan 2025-2029, commissioned by Jobs Townsville North Queensland (JTNQ).
JTNQ, chaired by Australian Industry Group Head of Northern Australia Dean Deighton, is the Regional Jobs Committee for the region, supported by the Queensland Government and bringing together regional stakeholders to tackle workforce issues.
“We have enormous opportunities in this region, across a broad range of industries, but all of these opportunities rely on skills that are already in high demand,” Mr Deighton said.
“Through JTNQ, we have quantified the challenge ahead of us, and now our focus is on driving solutions to ensure we have the workforce we need to capture these once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.
“JTNQ recognised early on that there are no magic solutions here, as the skills we need are in short supply in different regions. The only way we were going to meet the challenge is by working together to drive locally led solutions to develop our homegrown talent.”
This focus on working together on locally led solutions is what underpinned the North Queensland Future Workforce Summit, held in Townsville yesterday.
The event brought together a broad range of leaders from across industry, community, government and education and training sectors to develop collaborative workforce solutions.
Ai Group Centre for Education and Training Executive Director Caroline Smith delivered the keynote address at the Summit. Her speech focussed on the impacts of skills and workforce shortages on business, the importance of proactive workforce planning and linking economic development with workforce development.
Dr Smith’s call to action for the audience was to leverage the building blocks they already have in place — solid data and evidence through the Environmental Scan, a proactive Regional Jobs Committee and a room full of engaged regional leaders — to harness the opportunities now and in the future to drive collaborative solutions.
She said it was vital for employers and industry to better partner with education and training providers to deliver the skills the region needs and pathways for locals to access this training.
“Collaboration drives the outcomes,” Dr Smith said.
"Every person in the room has a critical role to play in bridging the education and training gap at the local level.
“These are complex issues, but this region is already well on its way to putting meaningful solutions in place that respond to local needs and harness the building blocks that already exist.
“I congratulate Regional Development Australia Townsville and Northwest Queensland and Jobs Townsville North Queensland for bringing together an impressive group of local leaders to drive solutions to this critically important issue.”
Ai Group’s Centre for Education and Training drives bold new thinking on education and training in the context of work. It explores new ways to build skills and capabilities for companies to succeed now and into the future.
Its proactive research, policy and advocacy agenda strives to ensure Australia’s skill development outcomes are in line with current and emerging economic needs, at the same time linking the real needs of industry with the training, education and career aspirations of individuals. Find out more here.
Brett Hall is General Manager - Policy, Research & Projects at the Ai Group Centre for Education and Training.
Brett has spent more than 15 years working on workforce, skills and labour market policy, programs and research.
Prior to joining Australian Industry Group, he worked in a range of public sector leadership roles across both state and federal governments.
This includes leading the development and implementation of a whole-of-government workforce strategy, leading Jobs Queensland’s research and policy functions focussed on future skills needs and managing the delivery of industry-facing skills development programs.
