Following on from Industry Skills Australia’s (ISA) 2026 Roadshows, engagement with industry stakeholders and workforce development partners continued during a series of visits and meetings across Brisbane, highlighting approaches to training, skills development and workforce readiness across the transport supply chain industry. 

ISA Industry Engagement Manager for Rail, Carly Grigg, visited Queensland Rail’s Management Control Centre. The facility features a full-scale control room that replicates the live operating environment, enabling network controllers to undertake training through a range of advanced simulation technologies. 

These immersive training methods provide learners with realistic training and assessment experiences while supporting Queensland Rail’s operational and workforce development needs. ISA thanks Tim Fuller for facilitating the visit and providing valuable insights into the organisation’s training approach. 

Building on these discussions, Carly joined fellow colleagues, Senior Engagement Manager Camilla Elmes and Industry Engagement Manager for Maritime, Anna Jerrems at aXcelerate Day. Alongside Project Manager for VET Workforce, Leslie Young, the team explored a workforce authorisation platform designed for high-risk industries, including maritime, rail, transport and logistics. 

The platform supports organisations to manage workforce readiness, skills competency and authorisation requirements, providing an example of how technology is helping employers strengthen workforce capability and compliance across critical industries. 

The focus on skills and workforce readiness continued with a visit to the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA), where the Transport Workforce Futures team, Justin Thompson and Maya Hajrovic, welcomed ISA for discussions on industry priorities, aligned activities and opportunities for greater collaboration. 

Conversation centred on how ISA can work effectively with industry stakeholders to support the transport supply chain workforce and ensure industry needs are reflected in future projects. ISA will continue engaging with state training bodies and industry organisations to encourage broader representation and participation across upcoming workforce development initiatives. 

The final stop of the Brisbane engagement program saw Carly and Anna visit Work Window, where Cam Martin and Craig Bowler demonstrated the organisation’s virtual reality (VR) technology and showcased its potential application within skills development and career promotion initiatives. 

Discussions highlighted a successful 2025 project that used VR experiences to promote STEM career pathways, including Aircraft Maintenance Engineering, Naval Architecture and Mechatronic Engineering. 

Across two school terms, the project achieved significant outcomes: 

  • 6,387 students engaged across 41 schools in South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. 
  • 8,788 career simulation sessions delivered. 
  • A 52.5% increase in students reporting very high consideration of the career pathway they experienced through VR. 

As ISA continues to engage with industry leaders, training organisations and technology providers, these conversations help inform future projects and ensure workforce development initiatives remain responsive to industry needs and emerging opportunities. 

Explore current ISA projects here: Projects – Industry Skills Australia