Short, agile courses to drive skills in new hi-tech city of Bradfield

Critical skills for advanced manufacturing will be taught by through dozens of short courses offered in the hi-tech precinct around the new Western Sydney Airport.

An impression of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility due to open at Bradfield next month.

Critical skills needed for advanced manufacturing will be taught by tertiary education institutions and business through dozens of agile courses being offered in the high technology precinct around the new Western Sydney Airport.

After a successful pilot program in which 1500 students learned skills local manufacturers said were in short supply, the courses – each of about 40 hours and developed to fill specific skill needs – are now widely available to employers and individual students in the Sydney area. An evaluation of the pilot found high levels of satisfaction for employers and students.

The courses – which teach skills such as reverse engineering, additive manufacturing, collaborative robotics, computer control of machinery, and modelling the operation of machines through digital twins – are now part of the Industry Skills Accelerator Program co-ordinated by the Bradfield Development Authority which drives economic development around the new airport.

Jennifer Westacott. Picture: Sally Tsoutas

BDA chairwoman Jennifer Westacott said the aim of the courses was to build up manufacturing in western Sydney by “getting people skilled up, encouraging them to think about automation and robotics, so that they can stay competitive”.

The BDA is developing the new city of Bradfield, near the airport, for hi-tech manufacturing. An advanced manufacturing research facility is due to open there next month.

The new short courses, known as micro-credentials, are aimed at people who already have qualifications but need to learn specific skills at the technological forefront that are in short supply.

They are designed to help skill up Bradfield’s expected 20,000 workforce, as well as support other companies in the wider area around the new airport, where another 80,000 jobs are expected to be created. “There’s a big jobs play here and we’ve got to make sure we keep the skill density up,” Ms Westacott said.

The 43 courses in the pilot program were developed quickly – in three to four months – and include general capabilities for a hi-tech manufacturing workforce, as well as specialist capabilities that employers ask for. Cost of the courses ranges from about $1000 to $3000 depending on equipment requirements and the number of students.

The courses are not formally accredited because the accreditation process would prevent them being developed quickly in response to need, but they are consistent with the commonwealth’s micro-credential framework.

“It’s very much an industry-led model, and I don’t believe there is anything like this in Australia,” Ms Westacott said.

Students who complete the micro-credentials have the qualification recorded in a digital skills passport that the BDA also commissioned. The passport, designed to be compatible with other similar skills passports as they are built, allows students to demonstrate their qualifications to employers and education providers.

Ms Westacott said the model the BDA developed for short courses in western Sydney was easy to expand to other areas of Australia. ”There’s no reason why this couldn’t run out to Wollongong and Newcastle down to Geelong and Ballarat and Bendigo, where the focus is on the manufacturing,” she said.