That was among the key findings of a 2021 NSW Upper House inquiry into the sustainability of the state's electricity system, which examined how the State Government could assist regions such as the Hunter transition to a clean energy future.

The committee which oversaw the inquiry made several recommendations about the need for increased investment in education and training in the rapidly growing area of clean energy technologies.

"The Hunter Joint Organisation told us about the Hunter Employment Facilitator (HEF), which looks at workforce planning, education, and training in the region. They told us the HEF doesn't have enough funding to deal with the challenge that the energy transition presents to the Hunter," the committee's report says.

Community and industry stakeholders who gave evidence at the inquiry emphasised the need for improved access to education, particularly TAFE courses.

"They told us that regional TAFEs have been underfunded for a long time. This has limited course offerings and caused the closure of campuses. People, especially young people, can't access the training they need. This causes low demand for these courses, which means they're less likely to be run in the future. We also heard that universities are cutting courses due to the impacts of COVID-19," the committee's report said.

Another key document for the region's economic restructure, the 2021 Upper Hunter Futures report recommends the development of a skills map of local industry to identify training opportunities for residents

"A skills map that assesses projected demand scenarios and industry age structure for specific sectors would provide useful insights," the State Government commissioned report says.

"This skills map could be used for potential investors in the region as well as offer the opportunity to support re-training efforts within the economy."

Hunter Jobs Alliance coordinator Warrick Jordan said while the Hunter's workforce was often considered as a selling point for potential investors, high quality retraining was needed to ensure the region maintained its competitive advantage.

"Our skilled workforce is a big advantage but we have to dig below the surface of what we put in the investment attraction brochures and take a long hard look at how we retain that advantage," he said.

"Everything about education and training here needs to be putting our flag up to investors to show we have the training capacity, the education for young people, the ability to plan ahead, and that we can be quick and flexible in delivering new skills.

"We have some brilliant education innovators in the region, but there are clearly things other places are doing that we are not.

"I've been to the Victorian Government STEM Centre in Morwell. Every school kid in the Latrobe Valley gets regularly bussed into a dedicated facility with top class educators. It was like walking into a small Google campus, and there are 10 of these things across Victoria. Why don't we have this in Singleton or Muswellbrook?"

While the Hunter's rapidly changing economy made it difficult to identify specific training needs, investing in a resource such as the University of Newcastle's proposed STEMM Regional Transformation Hub made perfect sense, Mr Jordan said.

"Yes it's hard for government to work out what training to invest in, but that's now a permanent challenge and we can't just throw around received wisdoms like avoiding 'training for training's sake' to paper over the fact that we are clearly underinvesting in vocational and technical training compared to other states," Mr Jordan said.

"We need to increase the sophistication in regional workforce planning, recognise that the contestable funding model for vocational education is a poor fit for attracting new industries, and be more responsive to industry skills needs."

In an effort to address the shortage of publicly funded training resources AGL and Idemitsu, have incorporated a training and Industrial precinct into a masterplan for the former Muswellbrook Coal site.

The training facility would complement a pumped hydro project, which is presently the subject of a feasibility study.

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