There *IS* a solution that keeps aviation engineering in Australia but it represents a fundamental shift of HOW we work. I have always argued that salaries aren't the problem, it doesn't make that much difference if Qantas give a 2.5% or 3% or 3.5% pay rise, if we want to keep the engineering side alive in this country we are going to have to figure out how to get rid of as many of the inefficiencies that we can and get our maintenance programs well and truly "leaned out".
I have seen many times in career statements to this effect. There is a simple problem that won't go away - and that is the human element in itself. The legislation is quite clear on what is required of a LAME to do his/her job, ESPECIALLY in regards to supervision. It's explicit, there is no grey area. There are punitive fines out there for breaches in the legislation.
When I hear management types say we need to do things differently, it usually means join the race to the bottom and have minimal comparatively higher paid LAME's overseeing the AME's doing the work. The thing is, generally, you won't get LAME's in Australia that will accept a system that has them 'overseeing' vast numbers of unlicenced people doing tasks. There never will be a possibility of competition with other MRO's in the region that only have 2 LAME's overseeing an entire C check with cheap labor doing the work. If that's what it takes to keep jobs in this country, then in my opinion it's work that doesn't pay enough for the potential risk of losing your livelihood should something go wrong. And it only needs to go wrong once for your life to be ruined.
And good luck defending yourself against 1000's of pages of legislation, policy manuals and the like. They're not written to protect the actual worker at the coalface.