IPWEA Victoria to address engineering skills shortage

The reformation of the Victorian Division of the Institute of Public Works Engineering, Australia ( IPWEA) heralds a new era for addressing engineering skills shortages in local government and more broadly, in the public works sector in Victoria, according to its president Maurice Stabb.

He said that before the Kennett government amalgamated councils in the mid 1990s, the IPWEA was the leading engineering professional group in local government. However, with the considerable diminution of engineers immediately following amalgamation, IPWEA joined two other groups to form Local Government Professionals.

“With the consolidation of council structures and faced with the challenge of addressing the serious engineering skills shortage in councils and public works, it was time for the IPWEA Vic Division to re-establish itself as a separate entity,” Stabb said.

“We are moving quickly to:

Reform active Regional Groups across Victoria;

Stage civil engineering conferences and seminars;

Ensure that public works and particularly local government engineering interests are adequately represented in appropriate stakeholder groups developing sector policy and legislation;

Resource staging an international public works conference in Melbourne in 2009;

Provide tangible benefits to members, particularly new entrants to the sector;

Target the involvement of civil engineers working in all government agencies including transport and water; and

Communicate widely our objectives and achievements to the local government sector, public works agencies, stakeholders and the wider community.”

“Clearly, the people of Victoria will benefit from these initiatives as the enhancement of engineering skills in councils and public works agencies will in turn drive identifiable improvements in the delivery of Capital Works and management of major public infrastructure assets”, Mr Stabb concluded.

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IPWEA Victoria to address engineering skills shortage

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