A new pathway for young people and high school leavers to enter the raft of long-term career opportunities in South Australia’s multi-billion dollar-a-year civil construction industry, is soon to be formally launched.
Critically, the new learning opportunities and apprenticeships are being backed and fully protected by the industry’s own Statewide construction lobby and training group, the Civil Contractors Federation (South Australia) (CCF(SA), rather than rest with single employers.
In a first for South Australia, the CCF(SA) has established its own Apprenticeship and Group Training Organisation (GTO), under the auspices of the CCF SA’s Civil Apprenticeships and Careers Ltd (CACL) entity.
Under its wing, young people will have their apprenticeships owned and managed by the CACL rather than by individual companies.
This will limit the risk and uncertainties that can cloud decisions by young people to make a three-year commitment to a civils sector apprenticeship.
The GTO will ensure high level professional training, security of tenure, correct pay and conditions, and mentoring, by a multitude of the State’s most accomplished civil contractors.
Importantly, graduates from the two certificated training regimes available under the GTO will be entering the adult workforce at a time of forecast skills shortfalls in SA’s multi-faceted civil construction sector – opening up immediate career building opportunities.
The move has attracted immediate and early strong support from some of SA’s leading civil companies, including Davison Earthmovers, T&J Construction, Hully, Prime Traffic, BMD, Ballestrin, Camco, Crane Services, LR&M, Beltrame, Diona and McMahon.
CCF(SA) Chief Executive Phil Sutherland says the establishment of the GTO was a landmark, reflecting the coming together of the major players in SA’s civil construction industry to create the first dedicated civil construction Group Training Organisation.
“Around Australia, Generation X is due to retire shortly,” he says.
“This means with 4.7 million individuals retiring and only 2.3 million individuals coming into the workforce, skill shortages will play a prominent role in the future of Australia’s built environment.”