A DECADE ago, Bathurst Regional Council realised it had a problem.
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The demands of one of the fastest growing regional centres in NSW had council’s engineering staff stretched to their limits, and council was busy advertising to fill a number of new roles in the department.
Only problem was, council was competing with some of the nation’s biggest companies in trying to source engineering talent and could not hope to match the wages being offered by mining and road-building firms, in particular.
The solution, council decided, was to train its own engineers and so Bathurst’s in-house cadet program was developed.
It proved pretty popular, too, with seven cadets going through the program from 2009-2016, but it was far from perfect.
One of the biggest hurdles for council was the fact cadets had to travel long distances to complete intensive courses as part of the training, with sessions held as far away as Queensland. Still, it was an improvement on the previous skills shortage.
Then, in 2014, Charles Sturt University – following extensive industry discussions, including talks with Bathurst Regional Council – announced it would be starting its own engineering school in Bathurst.
CSU believed it had a duty to supply a ready-made workforce for towns and cities west of the Great Dividing Range, and its research had shown that graduates who had trained in regional centres were more likely to work in regional centres after completing their course.
Sound familiar?
The arguments that led to the establishment of CSU’s School of Engineering are the same arguments advocating for the establishment of the Murray Darling Medical School.
CSU – and its partner university La Trobe – identified a skills shortage in regional centres [a lack of doctors, in this instance] and offered a solution that would see new recruits trained in the bush.
Again the research showed that doctors who trained for their degree in the bush would be more likely to work in the bush where medical professionals are desperately needed.
So why is the School of Engineering now welcoming its third cohort of students while the Murray Darling Medical School remains nothing more than a collection of papers and words?
It’s simply not good enough.