The AFC has made a submission to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Australian & New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) recommending immediate funding to undertake a nationwide review of current, emerging and future TCF manufacturing occupations and match occupations to the ABS ANZSCO codes. 

Our recent report, Victorian TCF Manufacturing: Future Jobs, Technology, and Economic Benefits, highlighted the pressing need to address outdated industry codes. The report revealed the TCF industry value and employment numbers are underestimated and facing severe skills shortages nationally, partly due to historical ABS ANZSCO and ANZSIC codes. Despite this, our report also identified a resilient industry with a strong demand for skilled TCF technicians that is not being met.

The ABS ANZSCO codes inform priority lists for skilled migration, training programs and pathways and ensure accurate quantification of employment numbers in the TCF sector. Since the ABS ANZSCO and ANZSIC codes were first released in 2006, there have been significant changes in the TCF manufacturing industry. 

The AFC recommends immediate funding to undertake a nationwide review to identify current, emerging and future TCF manufacturing occupations and match occupations to the ABS ANZSCO list. This would include consultation with industry to capture specific occupation tasks as well as unique TCF specialisation fields. This is critical to ensure training programs work together with industry classifications to support and showcase the breadth of TCF manufacturing jobs to students.

Recommendations

1. TCF occupations are not retired or merged with broader occupation codes.
2. The following occupations are added to the ABS ANZSCO and ongoing consultation undertaken with the TCF industry to better understand the tasks and specialisations for each occupation  (Garment Technician, Digital Textile and Clothing Printer, Textile Technician (including specialisation: Digital Textile Technician), Textile Designer, Product Developer. 
3. Specialisations are added to existing occupations in: Production Manager (Manufacturing) - Add Clothing and Textile Production Manager, Clothing Patternmaker - Add Digital Clothing Pattern Maker, Knitting Machine Operator - Add Circular Knitting Technician.
4. The AFC recommends immediate funding of the AFC to conduct a nationwide study to quantify the TCF manufacturing industry, identify current and future skills gaps and map career pathways to ensure economic security for the female dominated workforce. 

Implementation of the four recommendations will ensure skilled migration pathways and training programs that meet industry skills gaps. If unaddressed, the skills shortages impacting the industry nationally risk being lost and restricting the potential growth of the sector. 

Feedback from AFC members identifying skills shortages

“Garment technicians and pattern makers are very different roles with different levels of skills. This would be the same as calling an architect a builder, both very important roles, very different stages. I think this may be happening because of the off-shoring that has happened. A garment technician can work on tech packs but not clothing patterns, they are two very different skill sets.” - RB Patterns on merging Clothing Pattern Maker into Garment Technician job code

“Sewing skills is definitely an issue. The big challenge that we see is that it's a skillset that's part of an ageing workforce, and there aren't enough younger people starting in the industry who are learning the basic manufacturing skills and see that as a viable career path, as opposed to the more "fun" and creative side of being a designer.” - Citizen Wolf on the sewing machinists shortage.

“The roles we are hiring for today are different to a decade ago. Another gap is the manufacturing skills we lost 30 years ago when production moved offshore — it’s critical that the government invests in the skills and infrastructure to address the skills shortage in Australia with machinists and technicians and enable more local manufacturing, whether that be robotic or through skilled workers. This would help enable Country Road to fulfil the customer demand for Australian-made clothing.” - Country Road on losing critical skills to enable local manufacturing.

Next Steps

To ensure a prosperous future for the TCF manufacturing industry, it's crucial to adapt these codes to reflect the evolving landscape of the TCF sector. The AFC will continue to advocate with the ABS to ensure industry classifications better reflect today’s TCF industry, ensuring a robust and skilled workforce that can drive the industry’s growth and resilience.