The Gladstone area of Central Queensland has a long history as an industrial area—but with so much activity, by the mid-1980s there was a shortfall of appropriate labour skills. Kerry Whitaker, CEO of Gladstone Area Group Apprentices Ltd, explains to Andrew Pelis how her organisation has helped to fill that gap.
For roughly 100 years, the Gladstone area of Central Queensland, Australia, has been a hive of industrial commerce. Since 1914, Gladstone Port has offered a multi-commodity deepwater harbour, ideal for transporting coal, while the hinterland has also built up, with alumina plants and aluminium smelters, coal mines and other resource-rich industries. Gladstone is also set to become the location for the world’s first coal seam gas (CSG)-to-liquid natural gas (LNG) plants in the next few years, which will put an even greater emphasis on the requirement for plenty of skilled labour.
That is where organisations like Gladstone Area Group Apprentices Ltd (GAGAL) come into their own, training and preparing the next generation of tradespeople to maintain the Central Queensland area’s proud industrial heritage. GAGAL operates as a not-for-profit organisation and has developed Australia’s youth for a quarter of a century. “Our core business is managing the employment and training of trade-based employees. We also operate other divisions which support that activity, including our community division,” says CEO Kerry Whitaker.
Community is indeed a key word for GAGAL, which is headquartered in Gladstone and operates other centres in Biloela, Blackwater and Rockhampton. The organisation has helped to develop careers for over 2,000 people in these communities since 1985. “We use a uniquely Australian concept called ‘group training’,” Whitaker explains. “The idea started about 30 years ago and came to Gladstone in 1985. Traditionally, an apprentice is indentured for up to four years; however, that can be tough for an employer to commit to in the modern world, so group training allows GAGAL to become the employer and allows us to rotate apprentices through a variety of industries to ensure that they achieve all the necessary competencies required to acquire their trade qualification.” The strategy has worked well for GAGAL; and skills diversity has assisted the region’s growth with a steady stream of local talent trained in areas such as carpentry, machining, welding, plumbing, painting and all the engineering trades.
Far from having a negative impact, the recent global financial crisis presented GAGAL with an opportunity to turn the circumstances to its advantage. “There are always peaks and troughs in industry but also in regards to the demand for certain skills. During the downturn, many businesses cut their workforces and a large number of apprentices waited for work assignments that were not available. We operate a number of workshops through the GAGAL Technical Training Centre (GTTC) and were able to keep our apprentices engaged with work contracted by local businesses.”
The GTTC is comprised of a number of workshops catering for the trades of metal fabrication, fitting and turning, diesel fitting, carpentry, cabinetmaking, painting and decorating, and electrical. Additionally, GAGAL is able to quote on manufacturing, construction and painting jobs. Each workshop is run by internal staff with the workshops used as ‘incubation centres’, where the newest recruits can learn basic trade skills and important safety measures before they commence work with clients.
GAGAL is currently expanding these facilities to include industrial abrasive blasting and spray painting to support work undertaken in the metal fabrication workshop; but while the organisation works closely with local businesses introducing new technology, affordability is an issue. “We work with other bodies to develop innovation. Our machinery often comes from our relationships with local businesses and we are lucky to have some very good partners who assist us,” Whitaker says. The company is eligible for government grants; and with these grants, GAGAL is looking to develop its engineering skills training centre at its Biloela site.
GAGAL has a unique approach to hiring its technical experts at the workshops. “As a not-for-profit organisation, we are limited in what we can pay and certainly can’t compete with international mining companies. As a consequence, we have implemented a successful recruitment drive, hiring older tradespeople who are unable to work on the tools anymore, perhaps through injury. We have fantastic people here, willing to train apprentices from 18 to 50 years old. Twenty per cent of our trainers/supervisors are 60 to 70 years old and they provide apprentices with a real life work experience. I believe that an apprenticeship is more than a programme just for skills acquisition—it is also designed for young people to learn life skills.” As you might expect from a quality training programme, the success rate at GAGAL is high.
GAGAL has helped to train young local people at risk of disengaging from education through a series of initiatives including the government-supported Get Set For Work programme. It is currently working on a new initiative called the GAGAL GIVE (Get Into Vocational Education) programme, a partnership between Central State Primary School, Queensland University of Technology and GAGAL. The project aims to deter young people from disengaging from education at Year 4 level (aged eight to nine) by engaging them in trade-based activities that keep them at school and improve literacy, numeracy and attendance levels.
The GAGAL GIVE is a project with an eye to the future; and Whitaker hopes that it will eventually play its part in providing quality applicants for both trade-based and university careers to support the continuing expansion of Gladstone's industries. “The new CSG/LNG industry will create enormous opportunity,” she says. “We are community-based and try to get as many apprentices through our programme and into local industry as we can. With a focus on service and looking after people, we are very proud of the contribution we make. Other regions have expressed interest in our unique model and the services that GAGAL provides. For now though, our concentration is on Central Queensland. Without GAGAL, 2,500 people wouldn’t have trades today,” she concludes. http://www.gagal.com.au/
