AUSTRALIA’S entire automotive service and repair industry faces a critical skills shortage with apprenticeship commencements dropping 25 per cent last year, prompting industry leaders to call for an urgent, unified approach to training and workforce development. 

The skills shortage is felt as acutely in dealer service departments as it is across the aftermarket repair sector, with some industry sources suggesting to GoAutoNews Premium that the number of qualified tradespeople represents a ceiling that is hampering network expansion for existing brands and the establishment of a solid aftersales offering for new entrants.

Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) CEO James Voortman confirmed the impact on dealer networks, saying the technician shortage is affecting all sectors of Australia’s automotive supply chain and means customers are experiencing longer wait times regardless of where they choose to service their vehicles.

“Dealer technicians are having to work harder than ever to try and ensure their customers are well served,” Mr Voortman said.

James Voortman

During a panel session at the recent Autocare convention in Brisbane, Motor Trades Association of Australia (MTAA) interim CEO Rod Camm warned that the decline would cause skills shortages to persist for at least another four years. 

“If you look at apprenticeship commencements in our industry, they have declined by 25 per cent last year,” Mr Camm said.

Rod Camm

“That tells me that in four years’ time, we’ll still be talking about skills shortages.”

The shortage is compounded by increasingly complex vehicle technology, including advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and electrified vehicles, with time-honoured industry pathways such as DIY car repairs in decline. 

“Young people today don’t often have parents in the backyard working on cars anymore. They’re too hi-tech. It’s just not the way society works,” Mr Camm said. 

He also pointed out that the automotive industry had fallen off the radar of many young people as a potential career choice.  “We’re having to spend a lot more time in schools now, showcasing all of the occupations that are in our industry, because kids haven’t been exposed to it,” said Mr Camm. 

The consensus of the panel session was one of optimism about attracting new talent, particularly as vehicles become more technologically advanced and the availability of careers beyond traditional mechanical roles. 

“People who start an apprenticeship and complete it can have a lifetime of employment, no question about that,” Mr Camm said. 

“They can end up in very senior roles across the industry, across the world. It’s pretty exciting stuff.” 

One notable example is former GM Holden chairman and managing director Alan Batey, who entered the industry as a mechanical engineering apprentice with Vauxhall in Britain, working his way up to global head of the Chevrolet brand and General Motors president of North America before retiring in 2019.

Mr Camm called for peak bodies, including the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) which organised the Autocare event, to take a leadership role in coordinating a unified response.

Stuart Charity

AAAA CEO Stuart Charity acknowledged the need for collective action across traditional industry boundaries, pointing out that AADA executive director of operations Brian Savage was at the Autocare event and in the panel session audience.

“It’d be good to get a whole industry approach to this, particularly about changing the perception of our industry, because I think there are some real outdated perceptions about what careers in our industry are all about,” Mr Charity said. 

“I think everyone’s doing some great things individually but having that unified voice and collective effort, I think, would be useful.”

Mr Voortman separately told GoAutoNews Premium the AADA was ready to build on existing collaborative foundations, pointing to recent joint initiatives between automotive industry bodies addressing skills challenges.

“There have been a number of joint initiatives between the automotive industry bodies in recent years which have tried to address the skills challenges,” Mr Voortman said.

“For example, the AADA partnered with AAAA and MTAQ on research into apprentice completions. We have also worked with MTAA, AAAA and other groups on skills issues such as increases to the temporary migrant income threshold, EV training and apprentice incentives.”He said there was a good base to work from and the AADA would be interested in cooperating with the wider sector on an awareness campaign about the benefits of working in the automotive industry.

Mr Voortman acknowledged that although dealer and aftermarket groups do not necessarily agree on everything, their interests are aligned on skills.

“There are too many vehicles on our roads for any one part of the industry to service and repair alone,” he told GoAutoNews Premium.

“Australia needs a thriving network of authorised dealers and a strong independent repair sector to adequately service the diverse and varying demands of Australia’s motorists and to do this we need to address the skills crisis across the board.”

Graeme Whickman

Former Ford Australia president and CEO Graeme Whickman (now MD and CEO of aftermarket conglomerate Amotiv) suggested a two-pronged approach combining whole-of-industry coordination with skilled migration.

“When I look around the world, I’ve seen some pretty decent whole-of-industry approaches,” Mr Whickman said, citing examples from the United States community college system, Germany’s internship programs and South Korea’s national skills competitions. 

“In Australia, we had a complete automotive industry, unusual in the world. This industry has grown up with every part of the solution,” he said, adding that the sophisticated nature of modern vehicles could be a drawcard for tech-savvy youth. 

With apprenticeship commencements down 25 per cent, Mr Voortman said dealers are trying multiple approaches to address the skills gap.

“Many are resorting to employing migrants, but we have also started to see dealerships reaching out to their communities, partnering with local TAFEs and colleges and even attempting to make school-based apprenticeships available,” he said.

Benjamin Ward

For new automotive brands entering Australia, Mr Voortman said the overwhelming majority are partnering with established dealers who have the benefit of experienced technicians and capital to invest in state-of-the-art facilities and equipment.

“It’s critical that the new brands entering Australia invest in aftersales and it’s important for all brands to adopt practices which make working in the dealership service department the best possible experience,” he said.

Supercheap Auto managing director Benjamin Ward highlighted the changing expectations of younger workers entering the industry, particularly around workplace safety and psychological wellbeing. 

“Young people want to be safe; that’s physically safe, they want to be mentally safe, and they want an environment of psychological safety and the ability to speak up,” Mr Ward said.  

“Those elements probably didn’t exist when we were younger and coming into our own careers.”

Mr Ward said the retail giant, which faces a 30 per cent staff turnover across its operations, has invested more heavily in training as an attempt to drive retention while acknowledging the risk of losing employees to competitors. 

“You don’t want to spend millions of dollars training a workforce that’s just going to leave you or go to a competitor, but if you don’t train them, they’re going to leave anyway,” Mr Ward said.

Rob Cameron

GPC Asia Pacific (which controls Repco and NAPA Auto Parts among others) managing director Rob Cameron added that greater diversity would help address workforce gaps and had observed the industry’s evolution from its traditionally closed culture. 

“When I started 33 years ago, it used to be a really closed industry … unless you were an automotive parts guy, you could not break into the industry,” Mr Cameron said. 

“That world has completely changed. The industry is now actually more attractive to employees.”

The panel agreed that the national training system struggles to keep pace with technological change, with ADAS competencies notably absent from current apprenticeship programs despite the technology’s rapid proliferation. 

“National training packages are way behind,” Mr Camm said, noting that while electric vehicle training was up to date – driven by concerns about encroachment into the automotive sector by electrical tradespeople – ADAS training remained minimal outside of industry-led initiatives. 

“There’s a very light touch competency there for an apprentice that doesn’t really teach them anything,” Mr Camm pointed out. 

Mr Camm said MTA Queensland (of which he is group CEO) operates the state’s largest automotive training provider and that it has more than 100 people on its books seeking work in the industry. 

“We need to diversify our workplaces so there’s more women, more people with ethnic backgrounds, more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, because they’re the ones that are disengaged in the labour market,” Mr Camm said. 

Mr Cameron suggested Australia could lead globally in developing innovative training solutions. “We could do something as an industry that was pretty special and could be the blueprint of something around the world by getting our act together,” he said. 

“I think we should take a leadership role.”

The panel agreed that addressing the skills shortage required immediate action rather than waiting for long-term solutions, with Mr Camm suggesting that the goal of unified industry associations should be achieved within a year, rather than five to seven years.