AMMA has partnered with the Australian Government, other industry bodies and organisations to facilitate AMMA Skills Connect ? an initiative to deliver specialised training and skill development programs to get more locals into resource jobs.
Industry bodies and workforce development providers in the program include the XLT Institute of Welding, Engineering and Technology, the Master Plumbers Association, the Civil Contractors Federation, the National Electrical and Communications Association, IFAF and Vetassess.
The initiative will provide resource employers with a single point of access to services ranging from school to work programs, traineeships, apprenticeships, verification of competency, migrant gap training and labour sourcing.
?Australia?s mining, oil and gas operations are recording a phenomenal average employment growth of 25 per cent per year,? AMMA executive director for industry Minna Knight said.
?It?s not unusual for any one project to require thousands of workers with specialised skill-sets during the critical construction phase and this demand is forecast to intensify as a $500 billion pipeline of resource projects creates 90,000 new jobs by 2016.
According to Knight, a number of successful pilot programs have demonstrated the initiative will deliver practical solutions.
AMMA Skills Connect recently partnered with Consolidated Contracting Company (CCC) and XLT Trainers to develop a scholarship program for Australians with little or no experience in the resource industry to become qualified to work on pipeline construction.
The first graduates, armed with internationally recognised qualifications in metals and engineering, were offered positions with CCC as trade assistants.
They will go on to further their skills and become experienced welders on projects including pipeline construction from the Surat Basin to Gladstone for the Australia Pacific Liquefied Natural Gas (APLNG) project in Queensland.
Source: AMMA