Name: Creating jobs through the National Rail Action Plan
Uploaded: 2023-11-03T02:34:05.387Z
Duration: 268.87
Description: Join the National Transport Commission’s Sandra McKay, as she discusses the value of the National Rail Action Plan (NRAP) and how it’s creating exciting new job opportunities and rail improvements across Australia. In this video, Sandra talks about Australia’s skills and labour shortage and how the NRAP aims to harmonise rail operations across Australia.

Sandra McKay 5.mp4

Sandra McKay.vtt

Sandra McKay

{{00:00:12}}
The National Rail Action Plan is the
first real collective action plan by

{{00:00:17}}
jurisdictions around Australia working
alongside the industry to tackle three

{{00:00:22}}
of the biggest challenges, which is
to make rail more interoperable and

{{00:00:27}}
seamless for passengers and freight.

{{00:00:30}}
To address the national rail skills
shortage that we have, we need many

{{00:00:34}}
more people to come and work in rail.

{{00:00:37}}
And the third area is
around standards reform.

{{00:00:40}}
Because rail was developed in Australia by
individual network, to really raise rail

{{00:00:47}}
up we need to have national approaches
and a coordinated way to achieving it.

{{00:00:58}}
The National Rail Action Plan has
brought governments and industries

{{00:01:01}}
together with the education and training
sectors to really see what we can do

{{00:01:05}}
to both retain existing rail staff and
attract new people into the rail sector.

{{00:01:11}}
We're gonna need to almost double
the number of people working

{{00:01:13}}
in rail over the next decade.

{{00:01:16}}
We have a very old existing system and
then we have digitalization happening.

{{00:01:20}}
So there's hundreds of different
types of skills and opportunities

{{00:01:25}}
in rail for people, but a lot
of people don't know about it.

{{00:01:28}}
Up until now, rail has operated as very
small individual networks, so there's a

{{00:01:35}}
whole lot going on in rail that makes it
a particularly exciting industry to be in.

{{00:01:40}}
And we are working together through
the National Rail Skills Hub that

{{00:01:43}}
we've established to really be a forum
about how we diversify, attract, and

{{00:01:47}}
just let people know about the range
of skills that are involved in rail.

{{00:01:59}}
Right now, governments across
Australia are investing $155

{{00:02:04}}
billion in rail projects to
really modernize our rail system.

{{00:02:09}}
And there's a realization amongst all
ministers and indeed the Prime Minister

{{00:02:14}}
and premiers that we need a more
nationally coordinated approach to rail

{{00:02:18}}
to really lift its capacity to do more.

{{00:02:21}}
There's a few big drivers around that: 1.

{{00:02:24}}
If you're investing that much, you wanna
maximize the public benefits from it.

{{00:02:28}}
You really want to lift rail's
capacity to support a growing

{{00:02:33}}
Australia and the population.

{{00:02:35}}
We want more people to travel by rail.

{{00:02:37}}
We want more freight to be able
to travel by rail, so really gotta

{{00:02:40}}
connect up our systems more so it
operates as one integrated system.

{{00:02:53}}
Because rail started as very
dispersed and disintegrated,

{{00:02:57}}
individual networks, they've all
got their own ways of doing things.

{{00:03:02}}
What we are trying to do is
harmonize that where it matters.

{{00:03:05}}
We understand that things will always
need to have some local differences,

{{00:03:09}}
but it's a bit of that 80 20 rule.

{{00:03:11}}
What could be done more in common?

{{00:03:14}}
We don't have to do things necessarily
as they've been done locally in the past.

{{00:03:18}}
So we are looking at where does it make
sense nationally to have some common

{{00:03:22}}
standards for the nation in rail to
really lift the manufacturing potential

{{00:03:27}}
of the country, and to create more jobs
and allow recognition of people's skills

{{00:03:31}}
across networks and state borders.

{{00:03:41}}
I think if you ask most people
what are the jobs in rail, their

{{00:03:44}}
head goes to a train driver and we
certainly need more train drivers.

{{00:03:49}}
But rail signaling is a huge opportunity.

{{00:03:52}}
There's many different types of
signaling roles and very highly technical

{{00:03:56}}
engineering roles, but there's also a
lot of roles that you wouldn't typically

{{00:04:00}}
think about, like cybersecurity and sort
of white collar roles around marketing

{{00:04:08}}
and really attracting people into rail.

{{00:04:10}}
There's all kinds of roles, whether
you are doing videography, whether

{{00:04:14}}
you are an engineer, whether you
are a planner there's tremendous

{{00:04:19}}
amount of variety in rail.

The National Rail Action Plan is the
first real collective action plan by

jurisdictions around Australia working
alongside the industry to tackle three

of the biggest challenges, which is
to make rail more interoperable and

To address the national rail skills
shortage that we have, we need many

And the third area is
around standards reform.

Because rail was developed in Australia by
individual network, to really raise rail

up we need to have national approaches
and a coordinated way to achieving it.

The National Rail Action Plan has
brought governments and industries

together with the education and training
sectors to really see what we can do

to both retain existing rail staff and
attract new people into the rail sector.

We're gonna need to almost double
the number of people working

We have a very old existing system and
then we have digitalization happening.

So there's hundreds of different
types of skills and opportunities

in rail for people, but a lot
of people don't know about it.

Up until now, rail has operated as very
small individual networks, so there's a

whole lot going on in rail that makes it
a particularly exciting industry to be in.

And we are working together through
the National Rail Skills Hub that

we've established to really be a forum
about how we diversify, attract, and

just let people know about the range
of skills that are involved in rail.

Right now, governments across
Australia are investing $155

billion in rail projects to
really modernize our rail system.

And there's a realization amongst all
ministers and indeed the Prime Minister

and premiers that we need a more
nationally coordinated approach to rail

There's a few big drivers around that: 1.

If you're investing that much, you wanna
maximize the public benefits from it.

You really want to lift rail's
capacity to support a growing

We want more freight to be able
to travel by rail, so really gotta

connect up our systems more so it
operates as one integrated system.

Because rail started as very
dispersed and disintegrated,

individual networks, they've all
got their own ways of doing things.

What we are trying to do is
harmonize that where it matters.

We understand that things will always
need to have some local differences,

We don't have to do things necessarily
as they've been done locally in the past.

So we are looking at where does it make
sense nationally to have some common

standards for the nation in rail to
really lift the manufacturing potential

of the country, and to create more jobs
and allow recognition of people's skills

I think if you ask most people
what are the jobs in rail, their

head goes to a train driver and we
certainly need more train drivers.

But rail signaling is a huge opportunity.

There's many different types of
signaling roles and very highly technical

engineering roles, but there's also a
lot of roles that you wouldn't typically

think about, like cybersecurity and sort
of white collar roles around marketing

There's all kinds of roles, whether
you are doing videography, whether

you are an engineer, whether you
are a planner there's tremendous

Urban Rail

Expert Insight

Join the National Transport Commission’s Sandra McKay, as she discusses the value of the National Rail Action Plan (NRAP) and how it’s creating exciting new job opportunities and rail improvements across Australia. In this video, Sandra talks about Australia’s skills and labour shortage and how the NRAP aims to harmonise rail operations across Australia.