Industry feedback sees Australian Festival Industry Conference add workforce skills and labour shortages discussion to program

Industry feedback sees Australian Festival Industry Conference add workforce skills and labour shortages discussion to program

The organisers of the Australian Festival Industry Conference have advised that in response to widespread industry feedback, a new panel discussion has been added to the event’s 2022 program, entitled 'Workforce skills and labour shortages: planning for the future'.

The panel discussion has been added to program as a result of the extreme labour and skills shortages in the industry with employers struggling to find qualified and experienced workers to urgently fill roles as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and international border closures.

Joining the discussion will be:

• Jo Gaddes, Lead Vocational Teacher (Events) at TAFE Queensland (Gold Coast campus)

• Badi Mahabat, General Manager, Casual Hands

The panellists will be outlining their observations of the past few years and what they feel needs to happen for the industry to get back on track.

Gaddes, an experienced event educator who has been with TAFE Queensland for the past 15 years, has enjoyed a 25 year career in the events, hospitality and tourism industries, and regularly works with a variety of Gold Coast based festivals and major events.

AFIC has also formed a partnership with TAFE Queensland to feature some of their current event management students throughout at the event.

Mahabat is co-founder and General Manager of Casual Hands, a nationally recognised event staffing and labour hire solutions provider of staff in the areas of hospitality, events, cleaning, security, and customer service. Some of Casual Hands’ most prominent clients include AGB Events, Royal Randwick, and the ICC Sydney, to name just a few. Badi will also be presenting on a new staff management and reporting software that he has developed – considered a game changer for the major events industry.

AFIC founder and Event Director, Carlina Ericson explains “the pandemic, along with a toxic cocktail of other contributing factors, has created a troubling situation for the festival industry, and certainly poses a serious problem for employers as they try and get back to normal.

“I felt, based feedback that I was receiving from all corners of the industry, it was imperative that AFIC hosted a panel discussion covering this timely topic. The aim is for us to collectively determine some top-line solutions that the industry and Government can take away to implement.”

Further panellists will be announced soon while AFIC’s existing speaker line-up includes:

• Thea Jeanes-Cochrane, co-founder, Producer and Creative Director of Cochrane Entertainment

• Ulrich Schrauth, founder and Artistic Director behind Germany’s VRHAM! Festival - the world’s first virtual reality festival, held in Germany

• Gill Minervini, Festival Director of Vivid Sydney and Director of Gill Minervini Creative

• Luke Pearl, General Manager - Operations, Royal Queensland Show-Ekka and RNA Showgrounds

• Jan McCormick, Chief Executive, Major Events Gold Coast

• Dr Jamie Ranse, founder of the Mass Gatherings Collaboration, Griffith University

• Jason Holmes, Managing Director, H2 Insurance Solutions

• Rob Raulings, Director, Ferve Tickets

• Jeremy Fleming, Managing Director, Stagekings & IsoKing

• Morwenna Collett, disability access and inclusion expert

• Linda Tillman, Director, The Tilma Group and rEVENTS Academy

• Dr Andrew Mathieson, Senior Lecturer, Australian National University (ex. Glastonbury)

• Garry O’Dell, Senior Researcher, Hunter Research Foundation Centre, The University of Newcastle

• Graham Gordon, Chief Executive, Gardian Technologies

• Matt Kreis, Head of Sales and Partnerships, Gardian Technologies

• Jane Gazzo, broadcaster (AFIC Master of Ceremonies)

Over 2.5 days, AFIC includes:

• A number of presentations and panel discussions from industry-leading professionals

• Two evening networking events

• Workshops

• Trade show

Click here for details in the Australasian Leisure Management industry Calendar.

Images: The Australian Festival Industry Conference in 2019 (top) and Badi Mahabat and Jo Gaddes (below).