Dr Gavin Lind is the Chief Executive Officer of the Mining and Automotive Skills Alliance (AUSMASA), an Australian Government Jobs and Skills Council. Jobs and Skills Councils have been established by the Australian Government to provide industry with a strong, strategic voice in ensuring Australia’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector delivers better outcomes for learners and employers. 

Gavin began his career as a Mining Engineer and has more than 20 years of experience in the mining industry here, and overseas, with a focus on health and safety, higher education, and skills development. 

Gavin holds a Bachelor’s degree in mining engineering, a Master’s degree in industrial engineering and a PhD focused on improving health, safety and risk management outcomes for the mining sector in South Africa.

His achievements include establishing the Earth Resource Regulation branch at WorkSafe Victoria, and leading the Australian Government’s Mining Skills Organisation Pilot in conjunction with the Minerals Council of Australia, where he led Workforce and Innovation Skills, and Health and Safety. For over more than a decade, Gavin advanced policy and advocacy for more than 80 corporate members ranging from multinational corporations to regional explorers. 

Gavin was also an Executive Director of the Minerals Tertiary Education Council where he developed programs and initiatives in higher education, vocational education and training, skills and workforce planning, professional development, and research and innovation, on behalf of the Australian mining industry. 

In 2013, he was awarded the LH Martin Award for Excellence in Higher Education Leadership for his work promoting mining education in Australia. 

Gavin is a Registered Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). He also holds a Mine Manager’s certificate of competency for coal mines.