Sport and Recreation Workforce Development

Service Skills Australia has published the result of extensive consultation with the Sport, Fitness, Community Recreation and Outdoor Recreation communities over the last eighteen months.

Getting On Track For Change argues for a clear, co-ordinated approach to planning and developing the industry’s workforce, both paid and unpaid.

In response to the documents Australian Sport: The pathway to success and Australia: The healthiest country by 2020, Service Skills Australia has consulted with industry and drawn together a range of issues raised by these and other documents that affect the long-term outlook of the sport and recreation industry. These issues will need to be addressed in order to ensure that the sport and recreation workforce is adequately prepared to meet the challenges set for it by Australia and its governments. Incorporating concerns raised by the social inclusion, preventative health and mental health agendas, Getting on Track for Change compels industry leaders to co-operate, collaborate and champion the agenda of workforce development for sport and recreation.

Reflecting on recent transformations in the sport and recreation industry (as well as general workforce, social and consumer trends), Getting on Track for Change argues that workforce development—incorporating the key issues of leadership and improved support for volunteers—is the central avenue for adequately addressing and responding to the shifting landscape. Without a clear co-ordinated approach to planning and developing the sport and recreation workforce, the industry may be challenged by the prospect of increased competition for skilled labour—for both paid employees and unpaid volunteers.

You can download a PDF version of the report here

We want to receive feedback on the report from stakeholders.

Specifically, what actions do you think need to happen in order for the strategic vision to be achieved?

How can industry:

• develop the governance capability of boards?
• capture and communicate best practice in developing leadership skills?
• help volunteer-utilising organisations adopt their business models to volunteer patterns and trends?

If you’d like to help us find the answers to these and other questions raised by the report, you can do so on our feedback register. To access the feedback forums, you will need to be registered on the site - and click "Getting on track for change" under Workforce Development.

For more information or to request a hard copy of the report, please contact Alastair Wilson on (02) 8243 1200 or at awilson@serviceskills.com.au