News and Media
08 December 2009
Young apprentices gain life skills through Nation Building
Three of Canberra's newest apprentices have been given the opportunity to a bright future thanks to the Nation Building - Economic Stimulus Plan and Defence Housing Australia’s (DHA) Apprenticeship Support Scheme.
Nathan Selwood, Luke Gilbert and Matthew Crowe have all been lucky enough to secure carpentry apprenticeships this year straight after finishing high school and already they can see the benefits.
'It's my future I guess, it's what I want to be doing for a while,'Nathan, the 19 year old carpentry apprentice said.
However it has not only been carpentry that these boys have been learning, they have gained other life skills that can be taken across to any professional pathway.
For Matt it is about more than just the trade skills, "It taught me how to get up at 6am," Matt laughed. "Being on time to jobs is good though."
Don Rail, the field service manager for Master Builders group training (MBA), has marvelled at how he gains just as much as his apprentices and enjoys giving them all the skills they need to go out into the workforce and do a good job.
"Yeah it's a buzz, 'cause it's great when I have young people come up to me when they've finished their apprenticeship and they thank us," Don said. "I say well you don't need to thank me because all we do is basically give them access to life skills and what they do with it is their business."
These three Canberra based carpentry apprentices have also learnt some key trade skills along the way that they didn't expect to pick up.
Luke commented that he had never really learned to hammer properly.
"Well I was pretty bad at hammering when I first started – I hit my thumb a few times" Luke said. "But other than that I've just learned regular trade skills like measuring and getting used to how everything works and understanding the calculations involved."
The three young apprentices all have commented on the ease of getting into the program and the opportunity that it has given them. "I applied to three different places and managed to pick one up pretty quickly," said Nathan. "It's my future I guess, and it's really what I want to be doing for a while."
However, Nathan, Luke and Matthew may not have been so lucky if it wasn't for the Nation Building - Economic Stimulus Plan (NB-ESP) and the extra construction work it has created for DHA. The Apprenticeship Support Scheme, (DASS) run as a DHA initiative, complements the Federal Government's job creation and training objectives, and will also support an increase in DHA's residential constructions.
With DHA contracted to build an extra 802 houses with funding from the NB-ESP, the Apprenticeship Support Scheme was brought in to help support the creation of 20 new apprenticeship places. DHA will subside 50% of the apprentices wage in an attempt to encourage employers to take on new apprentices.
The DASS has played a small contribution in increasing the numbers of apprentices, again particularly for Don Rail, who had to cut his intake of apprentices last year.
"We dropped our numbers down by about 50% of our intake of carpenters,"Don stated. "In November last year we looked at what was happening world wide and we decided to hold back a little bit [on the intake]."
For Don the benefits of the extra construction work provided by NB-ESP work has also made an impact on the amount of jobs available for the apprentices.
"Well it benefited us in the fact that this year we could put more young people on. It gives us more exposure, getting more employers to employ young people," Don said. "I think it's great that these young kids are good and they'll put more on [the subcontractors] when offered which is an advantage to us and to everyone concerned. It’s a win-win situation."
The apprentices know they have to work hard but can certainly see the rewards at the end, as Nathan simply put it; "It was always going to be hard but you know that's how it is."
Luke offers a similar viewpoint.
"It's given me a stepping stone towards my future… so it's been really good. It really sets into stone to me what I want to do" he said.
The Nation Building construction work will continue on until June 2011, providing extra opportunities for many construction workers and apprentices in the coming year.
For more information
Natalie Cooper (DHA) 0421 040 098