The Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) welcomes last night’s budget announcements from The Hon  Josh Frydenberg MP Treasurer of Australia that considers the importance of developing professional skills and jobs growth to meet the demands of infrastructure and construction spending to drive Australia out of the Covid-19 crisis.

With significant new infrastructure spending announced in the May budget, AIPM endorses the provision of another 5,000 places in higher education short courses and initiatives to better match job seekers to jobs. The Federal Governments focus on the availability of skilled professional resources, including project management, will be crucial to successful outcomes of projects of this scale, and essential if these projects are to adhere to industry standards and use of best practices.

“The escalation of shovel ready projects, combined with incentivising students to study a select range of subjects, is welcome news as we look at ways to boost Australia’s economy,” said Sid Gokani, CEO of AIPM.

The areas of study and higher education short courses should be targeted to where government expects to see further employment growth and demand. These include the professional skills that will support the bringing forward of major projects.

The AIPM/KPMG Project Management Survey Report showed that 53% of project professionals believe businesses are not investing enough in developing skills for successful delivery of projects, despite 67% believing that projects are becoming more complex.

With major infrastructure projects in the pipeline, AIPM believes government, and business, need to reset delivery standards. If business and government do not take this opportunity to learn from the past and get the basics right, there will inevitably be the ongoing failings in both the public and private sector projects.

The announcement of more STEM scholarships for women, in partnership with industry is also welcomed. AIPM believes this will encourage many female executives to better participate in the workforce, boosting gender equity and the GDP. “This initiative is crucial, because six in 10 Australians still work in industries that are dominated by one gender,” said Mr Gokani. “

“AIPM’s membership comes predominantly from project-based organisations in male dominated industry groups, such as mining, construction, manufacturing, information, media and technical services,” he said.

Sid Gokani, CEO of AIPM is available for comment on request.

About AIPM

The Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) is the premier, longest-serving body for project management in Australia. We are recognised by Australian business, industry and government as the key promoter, developer, and leader in project management professionalism for over 40 years.