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Australia is facing a 75,000-worker shortage in four critical trades, placing alarming pressure on Australia’s submarine industry, according to freedom of information statistics seen by Defence Connect.
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The document, sourced through a freedom of information request from former independent senator for South Australia Rex Patrick, examined the civilian nuclear workforce required to maintain a nuclear reactor plant.
According to the document, Australia will require over 75,000 additional electricians, construction managers, metal machinists and welders in its “feeder workforce”, a term for Australia’s pool of workers that are eligible to pursue a career in the submarine workforce.
In particular, by financial year 2030–2031, Australia will require:
- An additional 33,553 electricians;
- An additional 19,364 construction managers;
- An additional 11,753 metal machinists;
- An additional 12,280 welders.
The figures were assessed by calculating the difference between the projected demand and supply of skilled workers.
The document warns that the total shortfall will be even larger than the initial figures, confirming that the totals do not include additional demand produced by the nuclear-powered submarine industry.
The report raises an alarm for policymakers, noting that Australia has neither a skilled nuclear-powered workforce to leverage for the construction and maintenance of nuclear-powered submarines, nor does it have a big enough pool of eligible candidates.
“There is no current Australian talent pool with the required mix of qualifications, skills, experience, and behaviours to fulfil the civilian nuclear workforce roles,” the document read.
“However, there may be a limited pool of individuals with highly transferable skill sets.
“A domestic feeder pool with foundational qualifications does exist, including welders, engineers and mechanical fitters. Vocational qualifications provide foundational competencies for approximately two-thirds of the civilian nuclear workforce roles; however, many of the roles are in national shortage in Australia.”
Other roles in demand include electronic engineers, engineering managers and mechanical engineers, who will have an average supply and demand gap of 125 per cent.
The information was sourced from the document Nuclear-powered submarine taskforce – initial civilian nuclear workforce study, gap analysis and supply and demand analysis.
Defence may also face additional constraints with the decision to build the SSN-AUKUS at Osborne in South Australia and maintain the capability in Henderson in Western Australia.
The research found the greatest feeder workforce is located in NSW, followed by Victoria and Queensland, while the state with the fewest skills is South Australia.
