Planning for jobs along the Great Ocean Road

The Victorian Government is helping Great Ocean Road communities plan for investment and jobs growth with a $220,000 grant from the Regional Skills Fund to develop workforce planning and development strategies.

Speaking in Warrnambool, the State’s Minister for Regional Development Jaala Pulford announced the funding for Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism (GORRT) to deliver the project.

More than $350 million of large scale private sector development is planned for the Great Ocean Road region over the next five to ten years, which is predicted to generate 500 construction jobs and 1,000 ongoing jobs.

The workforce planning and development strategies will help Surf Coast Shire, Colac Otway Shire and Corangamite Shire identify workforce needs in sectors such as construction, maintenance and housekeeping, visitor servicing, and hospitality.

The strategies will develop solutions to some challenges driven by the seasonal nature of the destinations and low population in some areas and will explore options to attract and retain skilled workers in the region.

The project aligns with the Great South Coast Regional Partnership’s priority to support a strong and diverse regional economy with more local jobs by developing the Great Ocean Road visitor economy.

The Labor Government’s Regional Skills Fund is a targeted regional skills grants program driven by industry, in partnership with the tertiary sector, that works to build local capacity and resilience, and support jobs creation.

GORRT, Surf Coast Shire, Colac Otway Shire and Corangamite Shire have each committed $20,000 to the project.

The Minister for Regional Development Jaala Pulford said that “This funding is about identifying the skills and strategies needed to build a workforce that can meet the needs of the growing visitor economy.”

Gayle Tierney, the Minister for Skills and Training, agreed that “We’re helping Great Ocean Road communities map out the skills needed in the region for the jobs of the future.”

The Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism Chair Wayne Kayler-Thomson underlined that “This project is vital to developing practical solutions and strategies to grow the region’s future workforce. It will support and enable the private sector and help us grow the economic return from the visitor economy.”