There are many exciting and diverse career pathways across the textiles, clothing and footwear industry – from niche fabrics processors to boutique apparel and footwear manufacturers, and specialists in repair, cleaning and maintenance. The industry combines traditional craftsmanship with emerging skills that drive innovation, embrace new technologies, and adjust to changes in consumer preferences and environmental regulations. Building on existing knowledge, this project will map the skills and career pathways across the industry to support a future-ready workforce.
Click across the tabs to view active and completed project stages. Consultation takes place at every stage of the project.
This project will identify current and emerging skill needs, career pathways, transferrable skills, and gaps in training provision. Insights from this work can be used to inform the design of training products and other workforce planning considerations.
The project stems from a recommendation in A Changing Workforce: Opportunities and challenges for shaping the future textiles, clothing and footwear industry, produced as part of the 2024-25 Textiles, Clothing and Footwear Workforce Insights Project. It builds on previous efforts to support the industry in meeting its evolving workforce needs.
The project team will undertake targeted consultations, surveys, interviews and focus groups across metropolitan and regional areas, supported by data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), Australian Bureau of Statistics, and Jobs and Skills Australia, to provide a contemporary view of industry’s skills and occupations.
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Project scope
TextileWorks, a part of ForestWorks, will be working collaboratively with Skills Insight to produce an evidence-based framework of current and emerging job roles and associated skills, and identify skills that are transferable across job roles, sectors and other industries.
The mapping will focus on occupational roles, skill sets, and career pathways within the following six production-focused sectors of the industry:
- textile manufacturing (natural and synthetic)
- fashion and apparel manufacturing
- leather manufacturing
- footwear production
- dry cleaning and laundry services
- clothing and footwear repairs and alterations.
Retail and warehousing sectors of the industry are out of current scope.
Opportunities to contribute will be available throughout the project via this website. Subscribe to receive news on project updates.
Timeline
Project team
Raak Wallis-King
Stakeholder Engagement Manager
TextileWorks
[email protected]
Rob Stowell
Project Consultant
[email protected]
Louise Fitzpatrick
Project Manager
TextileWorks
[email protected]
To provide a contemporary view of the textiles, clothing and footwear industry’s skills and occupations, consultation workshops took place in early 2026 to gather stakeholder input. These sessions focused on:
- mapping key job roles
- discussing how skill requirements are changing
- identifying priority areas for workforce development and training.
Workshop series
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If you would like to receive updates about this project, please subscribe to our newsletter and select ‘Textiles, Clothing & Footwear’ as one of your industries of interest.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the workshops. As the project progressed, some planned workshops shifted to targeted site visits providing a firsthand view of job roles, day-to-day tasks and emerging skill needs. Meetings with businesses, workers, unions, training providers and industry associations provided practical insight, strengthened the evidence base and helped shape the Occupation and Skills Map.
| Industry sub-sector | Time and date |
|---|---|
| Dry cleaning | Shifted to site visit engagement |
| Laundry services | Shifted to site visit engagement |
| Leather | 11am – 12.30pm Thursday 12 February 2026 |
| Footwear | 1.30pm – 3pm Thursday 12 February 2026 |
| Fashion and apparel | Shifted to site visit engagement |
| Fashion and apparel | 11am – 12.30pm Wednesday 25 February 2026 |
| Clothing repairs and alterations | 1.30pm – 3pm Wednesday 25 February 2026 |
| Textile floor covering manufacturing | 10.30am – 12pm Thursday 12 March 2026 |
| Natural and synthetic textile manufacturing | 12.30pm – 2pm Thursday 12 March 2026 |
| Cut and sewn textile product manufacturing | 2.30pm – 4pm Thursday 12 March 2026 |
| Textile recycling and remanufacturing | Shifted to site visit engagement |
Next steps
Skills mapping documents will be available for consensus in June 2026.
Work to date
Thank you to stakeholders who provided feedback on the draft framework and consultation strategy that were available from December 2025 to January 2026 and can be found below.
Mapping Framework
The mapping framework outlines the proposed structure and development approach for a resource designed to identify occupational structures, skill needs, career pathways, and VET pathways to support workforce development.
It covers occupations and skills across seven sub-sectors:
Consultation approach
A Project Governance Group was formed to provide strategic oversight, review draft materials and ensure the Occupation and Skills Map reflects current practices and future needs. The group includes representatives from industry, unions, training providers and policy bodies.
A National Data Collection and Consultation Strategy was produced describing the mechanisms for collecting stakeholder input. The aim is to create a strong feedback loop so that the occupation and skills map is evidence-based and aligned with industry priorities.
The draft National Data Collection and Consultation Strategy outlines project activities for January to May 2026, including:
This stage has not yet commenced.
At the finalisation stage, final checks are conducted and the outcomes of the project are submitted to the Department for consideration. Following this, outcomes are published or enacted.
TextileWorks, a part of ForestWorks, is providing support for the management of this JSC project as part of their collaborative partnership with Skills Insight. ForestWorks has an enduring and strong connection working with the forestry, timber, paper, fibre and furnishing industries and have been engaged by Skills Insight to deliver this project in partnership.