Ground Operations Skills Analysis - Industry Skills Australia

About the project

Project overview

The Aviation Industry 2025 Workforce Plan highlights a growing shortage of skilled workers in ground operations, including roles such as baggage handlers, ramp operators, and customer service agents. This shortage is driven by challenges in attracting and retaining talent across the sector.

Feedback from industry identified the need for a standardised training approach for core skills and competencies shared across ground operations roles. Currently, formal aviation qualifications are underused, with many workers undertaking in-house on-the-job training.

This project will examine current practices, technologies, and skill gaps in ground operations to inform updates to vocational qualifications. The aim is to enhance the relevance of training, increase the uptake of nationally recognised qualifications and improve workforce retention. These improvements will also support productivity and workforce planning across the aviation industry.

Why this matters

Ground operations skills shortages are creating workforce challenges across the aviation industry.

The Aviation Industry 2025 Workforce Plan identified shortages across key ground operations roles, including baggage handlers, ramp operators and customer service agents. Industry feedback also highlighted the need for a more consistent and nationally recognised approach to training and workforce development.

With many workers relying on employer-based training rather than formal qualifications, there is an opportunity to strengthen training pathways, improve workforce retention and better align qualifications with current industry requirements.

What the project will do

The project will identify workforce needs and inform future qualification development.

Through consultation with industry, the project will identify existing roles, define core tasks and competencies and recommend changes required to the training framework.

By aligning qualifications with industry needs and creating clearer career pathways, the initiative will help strengthen workforce capability and support the attraction of new talent, particularly younger workers, into aviation.

A final report will outline recommendations for the review and development of aviation training products in Phase Two of the project.

Outcomes

What this project will deliver

1 Analyse essential skills and competencies for aviation ground operations

2 Identify gaps between current and emerging skill requirements

3 Review existing training products to assess alignment with industry needs

4 Recommend updates or new training products to better support the sector

5 Deliver a final report to guide Phase Two qualification development