The Future Is Skilled: Building Geelong’s Clean Energy Workforce
Attendees at ARA's Dinner & Dialogue event in Geelong, Victoria
Australian Renewables Academy
Transforming the Australian workforce for the new energy revolution.
On a cold winter's night earlier this week in Geelong, Victoria, something important happened—not in a boardroom or a conference hall, but around dinner tables.
A cross-section of clean energy thinkers and doers were brought together by the Australian Renewables Academy for a candid, action-focused conversation about Geelong's role in Australia's new energy transition. It was a night of shared insights, challenging questions, and, most importantly, a common purpose in Victoria's largest regional centre and second-largest city.
Collaboration was the word of the night, but not just as a buzzword. In the conversation facilitated by ARA President, Bernadette O'Connor , we spoke about what it actually takes to collaborate when so much of our current system, especially around procurement and tendering, rewards competition over cooperation.
What if collaboration wasn't the exception, but the expectation?
Themes That Emerged
Unlocking efficiency through shared effort
Reducing project costs and delivery time by pooling capability.
Recognising collaboration as a long-term investment in relationships, not just a tactical move.
Manufacturing and supply chain opportunities
There's latent demand in Australia's offshore wind supply chain—but limited incentives to manufacture locally.
Learning from Spain's offshore wind rollout, there's potential for Australia to play a meaningful local and global role in terms of manufacturing supply chain opportunities.
We need smart use of the Future Made in Australia Act (FMIA) funding to scale manufacturing and improve productivity, especially in regions like Geelong and other REZs hosting clean energy projects.
Education and workforce pathways
The Gordon TAFE is already pioneering work in solar, batteries, and post-trade training.
There's interest in building "plug-and-play" qualifications that reflect real-world clean energy sector needs—fast, stackable and job-focused.
There's incredible value in giving school leavers and new arrivals to Australia a clear line of sight to renewables careers.
Breaking silos and aligning sectors
We need joined-up conversations between regions like Geelong and Gippsland.
Common skills across sectors (e.g., infrastructure, manufacturing, renewables) should drive curriculum and training design.
Let's paint a vivid picture of the future clean energy workforce, so education can anticipate, not react.
The ESG shift is real.
As ESG reporting becomes standard (and indeed, mandated under federal legislation), the demand for clean energy jobs, skills and data will grow exponentially. This opens up new industries and new ways to deliver for impact.
What Happens Next?
Geelong has all the ingredients:
✅ Deep education expertise
✅ Manufacturing roots
✅ Thriving tech and data assets
✅ A strong social licence
✅ A growing renewables footprint
The region is a microcosm of what's possible in the new economy if we get the settings right—and work together.
We have started identifying specific actions:
Coordinating training approaches between Geelong and Gippsland
Funding and scaling pilot projects under the FMIA to assess and demonstrate productivity gains
Creating better employment pathways for early school leavers and new Australians
Engaging unions and industry jointly to align skills, not split them
Marketing the renewables future to current tradies—not just students
Thanks to everyone who brought their energy, honesty and optimism to the table.
The @Australian Renewables Academy looks forward to continuing this work through upcoming workshops and initiatives in the region and around Australia.
If you're working in the region or in renewables and want to be part of the next steps, focused on taking action, get in touch.
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