Australia now fifth in the world for skills!

After four days of intense competition and much anticipation, the WorldSkills Team Australia ‘Skillaroos' are now ranked fifth in the world for skills and trades - the best result for Australia since 1988.

Australia will be bringing a total of five medals back from Japan - with one gold, three silver and one bronze medal awarded to the Skillaroos at the 39th International WorldSkills Competition.

Among the winners were Dale McMullen from Western Australia, who achieved gold in the Automobile Technology category.

Silver medallists include John Rudge (NSW) for Electrical Installations, Jewellery competitor Joel Drew (VIC), and Stuart Aisbett for Car Painting (VIC). Suwanna Rattananikom (NSW) achieved bronze in Cooking.

Dale also achieved "Best of Nation", with the highest point score and as best performing Australian team member.

Medallions of Excellence were also awarded to many of the Skillaroos, with 21 of 24 category entrants or teams recognised for their outstanding achievement with the accolade.

Australia jumped four rankings, up from equal ninth place in 2005. Korea was ranked first, with Brazil, Singapore, and Switzerland taking second to fourth place consecutively, spanning less than one point.

WorldSkills Australia CEO Mark Callaghan said: "This is the best result for an Australian team in WorldSkills since the International Competition in 1988 in Sydney."

"This superb achievement shows the incredible wealth of knowledge we have in these industries in Australia, and the importance of sustained and continued investment in our skills and trades.

"These are our finest young ambassadors for careers in skills and trades. Each and every competitor deserves our praise and congratulations."

The competition attracted around 200,000 visitors to the purpose-built complex in Shizuoka, Japan, with the Crown Prince of Japan, Naruhito attending and watching our gold Skillaroo Dale McMullen during the course of the competition.

The full list of Australian medal winners are:

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Australia now fifth in the world for skills!