MSA Pivots to research
Manufacturing Skills Australia has a long history of supporting capability development through individual scholarships, helping people strengthen their skills and contribute back to the sector. That work has been valuable, but the challenges facing modern manufacturing have shifted. Skill shortages, qualification pressures, emerging technologies, and workforce transitions now require solutions on an industry-wide scale, not just through individual development opportunities.
To meet these needs, MSA is pivoting from individual scholarships toward a stronger focus on industry-led research. This direction is not new—it is embedded within the company’s objectives to lead, inform, and support national and state workforce development through evidence, analysis, and industry insight. By investing in research, MSA can examine structural challenges, identify emerging skill demands, strengthen the VET system, and provide practical recommendations that support manufacturers across NSW and Australia. This ensures our work delivers a broader and more sustained impact for the industry we represent.
This shift enables MSA to provide applied research that aligns with industry priorities, directly influencing policy, training reform, qualification design, and workforce strategy. It allows us to support thousands of workers rather than just a handful of scholarship recipients each year. Most importantly, it ensures that MSA continues to operate as an industry-owned body that responds to real workforce needs with evidence-based solutions—strengthening the capabilities, resilience, and future readiness of Australian manufacturing.
MSA would also like to express our sincere thanks to the members of the Scholarship Fund Selection Committee—Keith Monoghan, Melanie Stray and Richard Jenkin—for their dedication, professionalism and long-standing contribution to the program. We also acknowledge every applicant who placed their trust in MSA over the years. We hope the support provided through the scholarship fund has been valuable in advancing their careers and in strengthening the wider manufacturing community. Their efforts have helped shape the sector we continue to serve.
Calling on Industry –
Manufacturing Skills Australia Project
Experience Counts: The Role of the Workplace in Formal Skills Recognition
Manufacturing Skills Australia (MSA) is leading a national project to address one of the most persistent challenges in the vocational education and training (VET) system — how to recognise the skills of experienced workers who do not hold formal qualifications.
Across the manufacturing and engineering workforce, many highly capable individuals have developed their skills over years of practical application in the workplace. However, these skills are often not formally recognised, limiting career progression, workforce mobility, and the ability of industry to fully utilise its existing capability.
This project responds directly to consistent industry feedback that current training and recognition pathways, particularly Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), can be complex, costly, and disconnected from how skills are actually demonstrated on the job.
The initiative will explore how skills can be more effectively recognised through real workplace performance. It will examine alternative, industry-informed approaches to assessment that move beyond narrow unit-by-unit evaluation and instead reflect the holistic, task-based nature of work in modern manufacturing environments.
A key focus of the project is strengthening alignment between industry expectations, occupational outcomes, and the formal VET system. This includes investigating how employers can play a more active and structured role in assessing competence in ways that are credible, consistent, and scalable.
The work will initially focus on critical trade areas experiencing skills shortages, including fitting and machining, and fabrication and welding. It will be delivered in two stages: first, through industry consultation and model design, and second, through pilot implementation and evaluation.
Through this project, MSA aims to generate practical, evidence-based insights that inform future approaches to skills recognition — ensuring they are more accessible, more relevant to industry, and more reflective of how skills are actually developed and applied.
Ultimately, this work is about one principle: recognising that in manufacturing, experience counts — and ensuring the system is equipped to value it accordingly. Link to the Project Flyer
MEAS Assessor network
As we continuously strive to ensure the Manufacturing and Engineering Assessment System (MEAS) remains at the forefront of industry best practices, we’ve undertaken a critical review and improvement of our databases. We have now completed this work and are working on a series of events for assessors. Renewals will be done on the 1st of October 2024. Fees will commence on this date. They have yet to be confirmed by management.
All assessors will be required to upgrade their assessor units for re-registration. See the assessor handbook link below.
To apply to be an assessor, look HERE
If you are seeking the MEM Competency Standards Implementation Guide, you will find it HERE
Reclassification Assessments
For organisations seeking assistance with reclassification, MSA recommends that you contact one of the organisations that deliver MEAS training to train your staff or have them provide recommendations.
Please contact:
Australian Industry Group | ||
| Manufacturing Industry Skills Training and Apprenticeship Services (MISTAS) | Paul Baxter | MISTAS |
Jobs and Skills Council
The Federal Minister for Skills and Training, Brendan O’Connor MP, recently announced that Manufacturing Industry Skills Alliance and Skills Insight have been selected to establish the new Jobs and Skills Councils (JSCs) to support manufacturing skills across Australia.
Click here to visit the Manufacturing Industry Skills Alliance website.
Click here to visit the Skills Insight website.
Training Package Resources
MSA Training Package resources can now be obtained freely on the VETNet website. This includes teaching and learning resources, assessment resources, helpful websites for foundation skills and manufacturing.
Note: Search under the category ‘Manufacturing’ and document type ‘Training Resources’.