Australia needs a new generation of engineers equipped with technical expertise, leadership, communication skills and sound professional judgement to tackle the country’s major challenges, Engineers Australia Chief Engineer Katherine Richards has warned.
Speaking at the 2026 Young Engineers Australia South Australia Executive Breakfast on Thursday, Ms Richards said engineers would play an increasingly important role in shaping decisions on artificial intelligence (AI), clean energy, defence, infrastructure and climate resilience.
“Australia does not simply need more engineers. It needs a new generation of engineers equipped to tackle these enormous challenges facing the nation,” she said.
“Engineers are more than builders of the future, they are pivotal to the nation’s well-being and prosperity.”
Her comments come as Australia faces mounting pressure on its engineering workforce. Engineers Australia research indicates almost 70,000 engineers are expected to retire over the next decade, while demand for engineering jobs is forecast to grow by 20 per cent.
Women remain significantly underrepresented in the profession, accounting for only around 16 per cent of Australia’s working engineers.
Ms Richards said employers were increasingly looking beyond technical qualifications and placing greater emphasis on leadership, initiative and communication.
Jobs and Skills Australia analysis shows the proportion of engineering professional job advertisements mentioning initiative and leadership increased from 16 per cent in 2015 to 43 per cent in 2025.
For engineering and construction managers, the proportion rose from 39 per cent to 67 per cent over the same period.
“We need to retire the idea that communication, collaboration and leadership are ‘soft skills’,” Ms Richards said.
“There is nothing soft about explaining complex engineering risk or leading teams through uncertainty or challenging decisions when safety and ethics are at stake.”
She also told the audience, largely made up of early-career engineers, that artificial intelligence was making human judgement and professional oversight more important, rather than reducing their value.
“AI can help engineers do more, but it doesn’t remove the need for human oversight and critical assessment,” she said.
“As technology takes on more routine tasks, knowing what questions to ask, whether an answer makes sense, what risks it creates and how it should be applied becomes even more valuable.”
Ms Richards said successful engineers would need to use technology intelligently, question its outputs, validate results and apply professional judgement before putting them into practice.
Engineers Australia, the national body for the engineering profession, represents around 150,000 members and advocates for ethical, competent and high-value engineering work across the country.
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