The availability and effectiveness of retraining programs for displaced workers would be a key factor in the the success of the Hunter's energy transition, the head of Australia's peak career development body believes.
Career Development Association Australia president Linda Jeffrey said state and federal governments traditionally worked in isolation regarding the provision of retraining and education programs.
As a result, resources were not effectively allocated and some individuals missed out.
"While there are examples of best practice, often these things happen in a piecemeal way and there is no overarching coordination between the governments," Ms Jeffrey said.
In order to avoid this occurring in the Hunter, a growing number of individuals and groups have called for the establishment of an independent joint authority to oversee the region's energy transition.
Among other things the joint authority would have statutory power to allocate training and education resources to where they are most needed.
Ms Jeffrey suggested the state government's $25million Resources for Resilience fund could be a suitable funding source for education and training.
She cited the Tasmanian government's Rapid Skills Initiative as a possible model for providing education and retraining support for displaced workers in the Hunter in coming years.
The program is available to anyone who loses their job through no fault of their own, such as redundancy or a business closure.
"[People who lose their job] have a training fund entitlement. They can also use part of that towards getting career advice from qualified people," Ms Jeffrey said.
"I have worked with people on that program and it makes a huge difference."
Ms Jeffrey believes many Hunter workers who will lose their jobs in coming years would have highly desirable skill sets and had good prospects of reemployment in new industries.
"They wouldn't have worked in a highly regulated environment like a power station without highly useful skills that other employers value," Ms Jeffrey said.
"But people who have lost their jobs are reluctant to spend money on training courses. That's where governments need to step in and support them.
But while full time employees were usually the public focus of job losses, casuals and contractors were often the worst hit and required the greatest support to transition to new employment.
In the case of Eraring Power Station, 400 full time workers are employed at the site, but a further 2000 jobs have been linked to the power station's operation across the Lower Hunter.
"It's becoming a greyer and greyer area because so much work is contracted out by businesses," Ms Jeffrey said.
The work has been contracted out for years and those contractors are fully dependent on the work they get from that employer even though they are not employed. They need support from somewhere."
