Many Councils actively encourage improved employment opportunities in their communities through promoting local business and investment opportunities. But Victoria’s City of Whittlesea has taken this a step further, utilising its own position as a large local employer to provide clerical and administrative traineeships.
The traineeship program provides local unemployed people with a broad range of skills and a source of well trained and readily available staff able to take up relief work and permanent employment in the City and elsewhere.
Paul Healey, Manager of Human Resources, said the traineeships, which run for 12 months, give recipients a thorough grounding in every aspect of Council work.
“Councils are large employers and have some areas of high staff turnover where job opportunities come up constantly,” he said. “Trainees finish in a very good position to gain relief and casual work with ourselves, other Councils or other industry sectors and from there into permanent employment.
“For Council, the traineeships provide a pool of relief staff who understand Council policy, its objectives, procedures and systems and can readily take up positions in the organisation.
“It is not just a matter of ‘work experience’ or fill in positions,’ he said. “These trainees take an active role in the organisation. In a very short time, they are so motivated that they are already dealing with the public, handling incoming and outgoing mail and fielding all sorts of inquiries.
“As multi discipline organisations, Councils are in a position to give unemployed people a broad experience of the workplace and a meaningful job to do.
“The result here has been gains all around for Council, the community and the trainees themselves. Funds have already been committed to continue the program.”
The traineeship scheme is carried out with Inner Northern Group Training which also works with other employers in the area. Mary Cassidy, spokesperson from Inner Northern Group Training, said the City of Whittlesea is a leader in Local Government in the region, in realising its ability to provide traineeships, and is an example to other Municipalities.
For further information contact Paul Healey, telephone (03) 9217 2170.
