Skills fund gives industry hands-on role

FEDERAL funding for action to combat workforce skills shortages has been announced, with the aim of encouraging industry partnerships to deliver training and development programs.

The federal government announced a $3 billion Building Australia’s Future Workforce package as part of this year’s budget, which includes the $200 million Critical Skills Investment Fund. The first round of the CSIF, worth $28 million, was announced this week and will be used to set up projects to provide training and up-skilling for more than 7,500 workers nationally.

GE Oil & Gas – the lead organisation for one of the 12 projects awarded funding in Western Australia – will work with local training organisation Navitas, a Tafe college in Perth, and four employer groups to deliver training in the oil and gas industry. 

GE Oil & Gas learning and development leader Stuart Manifold was instrumental in obtaining the federal funding under the CSIF and said gaps existed across the board for skilled workers in the oil and gas industry.

He applauded the government initiative and said the program had made significant progress in terms of encouraging co-investment in training and industry groups to work collaboratively.

GE has committed $12 million to develop a learning development centre in WA and, under the scheme, the company will train 118 new workers and up-skill 186 existing workers for operations in WA and the Northern Territory.

GE Oil & Gas will provide training in subsea, heavy-duty gas turbine and compressor work, and overall LNG training in operating systems and instrumentation training and maintenance.

The training program in subsea rotating equipment and heavy-duty gas turbines and aero gas turbines will open up access to these skills in Australia.

“Historically they (workers) would have had to either travel to the states [US] or Florence to undergo similar training. It means more people can get hands-on training at this point in time for less expenditure for the operators,” Mr Manifold said.

“It is a GE decision to really commit to the local market, to bring the training down, invest what we have invested, about $12 million in a learning development centre out at Jandakot, as part of the overall Jandakot development in subsea services for turbo machinery plus the office space, which is about $100 million now.

“That decision has been taken to cement the role that GE Oil & Gas plays in the Australian market now and for many years into the future.”

Mr Manifold said programs like the Critical Skills Investment Fund were pushing in the right direction to create a skilled workforce.

“What we are finding is, we have got people in who have had a lot of experience in industry and maybe haven’t gone through to get a qualification or certification of any sort so we are taking those guys and recognising prior learning,” Mr Manifold told WA Business News.

“It means that now we can actually train people in the subsea piece, in the rotating equipment piece and heavy-duty gas turbines and aero gas turbines here in Australia.

 “I think it is really exciting that industry are happy to work together to go in the right direction of solving the skills shortage problem.”

Construction company John Holland, heavy equipment supplier Westrac, the Manufacturing Industry Skills Council and EE-OZ Training Standards will lead other projects specific to WA.

Resources industry employer group AMMA, which already operates a registered training organisation, also gained funding to facilitate training projects for its members, primarily in WA.