In August, Federal Minister for Vocational and Further Education, Andrew Robb, announced the winners of the 2007 Minister’s Awards for Excellence for Employers of Australian Apprentices. Among the winners was Queensland’s Mackay City Council, taking out the Central Queensland Category for its solid completion rate and site specific program for apprentices.
Minister Robb said the awards recognise businesses for their leadership in providing training and employment opportunities through the Australian Apprenticeships system.
“These employers make a significant and worthwhile investment, not only for their own businesses, but for the local economy and for our nation’s workforce,” he said.
In a workforce of 700, Mackay City Council employs 97 Australian Apprentices in traditional trades such as plumbing, mechanical and electrical, as well as a broad range of traineeships covering all facets of Council business. Almost 160 apprentices have successfully completed an Australian Apprenticeship with Council since 2002.
Mackay’s Organisational Learning and Development Advisor, Nikki Giles, said Council’s successful partnership with Australian Apprentices has had enormous impact on Council’s operations by gaining qualified tradespeople during a national skills shortage.
“Council has a compulsory ‘Induction program’ comprising a quarterly networking ‘meet and greet’ session, which provides apprentices with information relevant to the training contract, skill development and personal development,” she said. “It also gives them the chance to provide feedback, and in turn open the lines of communication between each other and the Learning and Development team.”
Nikki Giles said a big change occurred at Council approximately 12 months ago when Council developed information sessions for managers and supervisors.
“We are teaching them to mentor and coach by giving them information on what apprenticeships and training are all about,” she said. “Relationships at all levels are now much more productive and are constantly improving.”
In choosing its apprentices, Mackay City Council looks for commitment and a general understanding and knowledge of the certificate being applied for.
“We work with different Registered Training Organisations to develop training programs for each type of apprentice and the training organisations are becoming more flexible with delivery,” she said. “For example, with Statutory Compliance Level 4, we run workshops as well as online training. Some trainees also have tutorials outside the workplace. All training is in paid work time and Council has received compliments from training bodies regarding the hours we give trainees for their studies.”
Nikki Giles said Australian Apprentices often commence with Council through school based traineeships.
“We use career expos, and find them vital to build relationships with Vocational Education and Training teams,” she said. “We have five school based trainees and we also do the end of Year 12 grab for the best students.”
The lack of available labour has prompted Council to widen its intake by doubling the opportunities through the School-based Australian Apprentices program. Fields such as plumbing, diesel fitting, theatre lighting technician and IT have allowed the organisation to fill vacancies and develop potentially long term employees.
“Initially, we were recruiting to upskill, but now it is to retain,” said Nikki Giles. “We are looking to the future, to fill promotional vacancies from within.”
For further information on the Awards and the Australian Apprenticeships program visit www.australia.gov.au/australian apprenticeships.
