Aussie councils urged to partake in Skills and Workforce Survey

Local Government Professionals Australia has urged all councils to participate in the 2022 Local Government Skills and Workforce Survey. The survey is a sector-wide effort to better understand workforce issues facing local government. Catherine Carter, CEO of Local Government Professionals Australia, said the public sector has faced significant change in the last two years; these changes, brought on by the pandemic, have led to a shift in employee priorities and expectations, as well as a skills shortage.

“The state and territory Local Government Professionals associations will distribute the surveys to their members, locally. This is the only national workforce survey that is explicitly focused on local government and builds on the 2017 Local Government Skills Shortage Survey, which established critical evidence of local government’s existing skills base and future needs,” Carter said.

Data from the survey will be critical for effective advocacy for state and federal government and for guiding the focus of key professional bodies and the education and training sector. The survey aims to identify current and emerging skills needs of local government and identify change drivers, opportunities and barriers to enhancing local government workforce capability. The survey results will provide insights into organisational capacity and drivers across the Australian local government sector. “This knowledge will enable sector-wide responses to issues playing out at the local level,” Carter said.

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