• Charles Sturt partners with Regional Development Australia Riverina to produce skills shortage survey
• Survey asks residents across multiple local government areas for feedback about skills shortages in their town or city
• Residents can complete the survey until Friday 3 April

Charles Sturt University has partnered with Regional Development Australia Riverina to give residents a chance to have their say on the employment industry in their city.

The skills shortage survey, developed by Charles Sturt and RDA Riverina, is one of the first partnerships to result from the University’s AgriPark development.

The survey was developed to understand the skills needs of employers and identify skills shortages in multiple industries in the Riverina.

The partnering organisations are asking residents to fill in the survey so they can work on long- and short-term solutions to address any shortages identified in the results.

Charles Sturt Professor in Information Systems in the School of Computing and Mathematics Professor Oliver Burmeister said there are numerous ways this survey will be advantageous.

“In the long-term, it will reveal how we can train our graduates to fill those shortages,” he said.

“But it will also reveal the reasons behind the shortages, where the shortages are, and why they exist.”

RDA Riverina CEO and Director of Regional Development Ms Rachel Whiting is encouraging business owners and employees to fill in the survey to benefit their region.

“This research will provide much-needed data into the current and future skills shortages in our region and will help educational institutes, businesses, organisations and government plan for our region’s future,” she said.

The research is co-funded by RDA Riverina and Charles Sturt through the AgriPark Seed Fund with the Institute for Land, Water and Society managing the funding for the project.

Residents can complete the survey on the RDA Riverina website until Friday 3 April.