Australia is ranked among the top five nations in the world in skills and trades after the Skillaroos won five medals at the recent International WorldSkills Competition in Japan.
Entrants in the event, which was staged at Shizuoka, competed in activities including welding, printing, bricklaying, web design and painting and decorating.
The Skillaroos won a gold medal for automobile technology, three silver medals – in electrical installations, jewellery and car painting – and one bronze medal for cooking.
Medallions of Excellence also were awarded to many of the team, with 21 of 24 category entrants recognised for their outstanding achievement.
Over four days of competition, the 39th WorldSkills Competition saw more than 850 skilled young professionals from 48 countries converge on Shizuoka to compete to be the best in the world. More than 200,000 visitors, including the Crown Prince of Japan, attended the competition and watched the world’s best young trade and skill technicians battle for gold.
Australia jumped four places this year, up from ninth place in 2005.
Korea was ranked first, ahead of Brazil, Singapore and Switzerland.