Thanks to a new Vocational Training and Employment Centre (VTEC), 50 jobs for Indigenous Australians have been made in the Queensland resource sector and relevant supply chain industries.
While VTEC’s project manager is in Gladstone, Toowong-based Energy Skills Queensland manages the program that aims at obtaining jobs for disadvantaged groups.
Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion said employment roles will range from trades assistants to catering, and will be available across central and south Queensland.
“Increasing employment is a key priority for the Australian Government as we work towards growing job opportunities and reducing Indigenous disadvantage,” Minister Scullion said.
“The VTEC employment model is about guaranteeing positions to Indigenous Australians in the field that they are being training [sic] for.
“VTECs are collaborations between employment and training service providers, local employers, participation support services and local Indigenous communities.”
Energy Skills Queensland’s CEO Glenn Porter said he is confident that the company will play a critical role in getting the Indigenous workforce into the resource sector.
“For the past five years, ESQ has worked with gas companies QGC, Arrow Energy, Original Energy and Santos, assisting these companies to build on their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce,” Mr Porter said.
“We want to be a part of fostering cultural awareness and local community knowledge amongst the Resource sector and supply chain industries by connecting Indigenous workers to employers.
“As a result, Indigenous people will have meaningful, sustainable work that will lead to stronger communities and a better future.”
VTECs are an Australian Government initiative based on the GenerationOne employment model.
Chief Executive Officer of GenerationOne Mr Jeremy Donovan said the model is the future of Indigenous employment, essentially making training go beyond simply training.
“Both employer and employee can have confidence that from day one the new staff member will be ready to contribute to the company, that the post-employment support systems are in place and that the company has adequate cultural awareness training,” Mr Donovan said.
The 28 VTECs are in Sydney, the Hunter region NSW, South Coast NSW and Western NSW, Brisbane, North and Central Qld, Darwin, Alice Springs, the Barkley Region NT, Victoria, Tasmania, Adelaide and regional areas of SA, Perth, Kalgoorlie, Kimberley, Pilbara and Gascoyne regions of Western Australia.
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