AFC submission to the ABS review of the ANZSCO codes

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Victorian TCF Manufacturing: Future Jobs, Technology, and Economic Benefits, highlighted the pressing need to address outdated industry codes.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.

Remade in Melbourne: Country Road’s collaboration with HoMie

Country Road is excited to announce a new collaboration with HoMie, launched Tuesday 3 September. This partnership sees a limited run of iconic past-season Country Road garments reimagined into unique designs at local facility ABMT in Melbourne.

A streetwear label and social enterprise based in Melbourne, HoMie supports young people affected by homelessness or hardship.

Through its REBORN program, it is exploring reuse in the fashion industry by upcycling existing garments into unique pieces. Past-season Heritage Sweats have been reimagined through a unique process. After being sorted into size batches and colour groups, five different design blocks were chosen to cut and mix various panels like a puzzle to minimise waste.

For the logo, HoMie REBORN collaborated with illustrator Nick Campbell, with the brief and concept tagline “from the Country Road to the city streets”. A puff print ink was chosen to elevate the final design.

Speaking to this pilot collaboration, HoMie’s creative director, Marcus Crook, said:

“HoMie is thrilled to be partnering with one of Australia’s most loved and iconic brands in Country Road, so HoMie’s impact can stretch all the way from the Country Road to the city streets.

This limited-edition collection will feature 230 units. 

The sweats will be available in four select stores: Brighton, Chadstone, South Yarra, and Warringah Mall.

Shop HERE.

Behind The Seams with Pattern Maker Glen Rollaston. Exclusive Interview.

Step behind the scenes of RBPatterns, where expertise and innovation redefine the art of pattern making. We recently spoke with co-founder, Glen Rollason. He shared his journey, insights into local manufacturing, and the future of fashion craftsmanship. Discover how this homegrown studio is setting new standards in the fashion industry, one pattern at a time.

  1. Could you share a little of the history behind RB Patterns and the services your business provides? 

RBPATTERNS was created by myself and Scott Bowring. Each of us has over 30 years of industry experience in design, production and pattern-making. We have worked globally for major brands and now have the only holistic pattern making, sampling and grading studio in Victoria. We were able to combine all these segmented supply chain services in the local fashion industry. We now support over 50 brands.

  1. What shifts have you noticed in Australia's local manufacturing sector?

Post pandemic we had a huge influx of brands returning to local manufacturing. Amazing. However, it showed the gap we have in knowledge of understanding how to produce clothes locally. 

We took this on as a positive, being able to help new to established brands successfully manage their supply chain locally. We are fostering and elevating the health of the local industry by shining the spotlight on these vital areas besides the catwalk and designer.

  1. Have you identified any skill shortages or gaps? If yes, what are they?

There is a massive gap in patternmaking knowledge and experience in the local industry, we are (gratefully) overwhelmed by the amount of work coming in and training younger graduates in manual and digital pattern making. 

The artisanal skill in making clothes that I was trained in seems to have been lost and we worry that once many retire, the skill will be gone forever. Fashion presently has become entertainment more than its craft.

  1. What do you believe would help support more manufacturing businesses like RB Patterns?

We have not had a large influx of migration that has been able to step into these skilled roles of manufacturing and those who have are not leaving their legacy to their children because it is no longer regarded as a respected and skilled profession. 

Being less hierarchical in this industry must happen, we upstream funding and public relations to the end of the fashion system and leave little space to celebrate and understand the amazing supply chain community that has enabled that end to flourish. Supporting the growth of the local micro to small manufacturing space is essential and that also includes the pattern makers, cutters etc.

  1. How do you stay competitive and innovative in the ever-evolving landscape of the manufacturing industry?

First and foremost, by being great at what we do and striving to always improve.
RBPatterns digital technology in pattern making benchmarks globally. We focus on how our skills can benefit our clients throughout the manufacturing process, always thinking about new ways of working.  This can be new innovative grading techniques and MOST importantly we see our role in the sustainability of this industry is to create extremely well-fitting patterns that elevate the brands we work for which translates into consumer satisfaction.

 This is a highly skilled artform. Pattern making is not just hitting numbers, it is about giving the end user a wonderful experience of loving how they feel in clothing. This is not only an aesthetic undertaking. We keep, covet, and repair the garments we feel good in, that is the real magic.

Discover more about RB Patterns here, or stay informed about progress through their social media channels.