Australia’s engineering sector is facing a critical challenge, spotlighted in the recent release of Engineers Australia’s Statistical Overview of the Engineering Profession report.
During the Parliament House launch, CEO Romilly Madew emphasised the pivotal role of engineers in the economy and revealed an escalating skills crisis in the sector.
A ground-breaking addition this year is the interactive data dashboard, accompanying the report. Drawing from ‘The Engineering Profession: A Statistical Overview, Fifteenth Edition’, this dashboard offers the public a dynamic platform to explore the engineering workforce’s latest data.
The analysis draws primarily from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 data, supplemented by 2023 education and migration statistics. Parliament House hosted the report and dashboard’s unveiling, with Senator the Hon. Anthony Chisholm providing opening remarks to key stakeholders.
Dr Nick Fleming, Engineers Australia National President and Board Chair, emphasised the organisation’s advocacy efforts with governments, highlighting the central role engineers play in driving every sector of the economy. CEO Romilly Madew AO added that the analysis reveals a deepening engineering skills crisis, necessitating urgent, coordinated action.
Key statistics from the report reveal that over 20 percent of qualified engineers are not in the labour force, only 17.7 percent of engineering graduates are women, and overseas-born engineers contributed to 70 percent of labour force growth from 2016 to 2021.
The dashboard, accessible on Engineers Australia’s website, enables users to explore various topics and metrics, offering visual and numerical data presentation. This resource empowers stakeholders and the public with insights into Australia’s engineering skills, contributing to informed decision-making as the nation addresses its engineering challenges and opportunities.
