CTF

How the Construction Training Fund is making it easier to hire mature-age apprentices and trainees

Extra wage costs are a significant obstacle for employers hiring older trainees and apprentices. Federal and State subsidies are designed to entice construction and resources enterprises to recruit the next generation of skilled trades. But for many smaller contractors the wage gap is simply too great. In a bid to overcome this – and create a more diverse workforce – the Construction Training Fund has started a mature-age pilot program.

The $3.44 million trial is targeting new trainees, hired after February 22, 2021, who are 21 or older.

The idea is to reduce the wage bill for an employer.

The wage-gap subsidy – up to $23,000 over three years – is expected to be a significant incentive to employ.

And the pilot may encourage those over 21 to reconsider a career in construction and resources.

Education Minister Sue Ellery says extra wages required for older workers have been a “major barrier”.

“This new pilot program will help alleviate some of the additional wages costs faced by employers who might be considering (employing) a mature-aged apprentice,” Ms Ellery says.

Construction Training Fund chairman Reg Howard-Smith says the trial is intended to create greater diversity in the workforce, particularly given the “strong pipeline of work” created by the State Government’s WA Recovery Plan.

THE TEAM

Phone: (08) 9244 0100 www.ctf.wa.gov.au

Top photo: Construction Training Fund chairman Reg Howard-Smith with CEO Tiffany Allen in the Construction Futures Centre in Belmont. Second photo: Primary school students on a journey of discovery about construction jobs in the Construction Futures Centre.

The mature-age wage subsidies paid to employers will be paid on top of the standard Construction Training Fund subsidies already paid.

Employers who have successfully trained apprentices, trained and retained Aboriginal and female trainees and provided appropriate support are front-runners for extra funding.

The mature-age funding is being directed to specific trades experiencing higher demand. They are brick and block laying; carpentry and joinery; civil construction (Certificate III traineeship); concreting; painting and decorating; plastering; plumbing and gasfitting; roof plumbing; wall and ceiling fixing; and wall and floor tiling.

Construction Training Fund chief executive Tiffany Allen says the mature-age wage-gap pilot is just one of the ways in which the CTF wants to help employers train up the next generation.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for them to have an apprentice,” Ms Allen says. “We hope this mature-age wage-gap pilot will make it easier to build a skilled workforce.

“We want to work out how we can help employers train and support the next generation of skilled tradies. We can’t be a just-in time provider of skilled labour because it takes years to train

people. But we would like to make it easier for employers to hire, train and retain apprentices and trainees.”

One challenge is making sure more Western Australians know about the Construction Training Fund.

Afterall, everyone who spends more than $20,000 on a construction project is making a contribution to the next generation of skilled WA workers. The Construction Training Fund collects the levy and pays it out. Every project owner pays a 0.2 per cent levy on construction projects valued at more than $20,000. It’s a condition of getting a building permit.

The levy is used to help pay for trainees, apprentices and short courses to upskill and to educate young and not-so-young people about the endless array of potential careers on offer in the building and construction industry. The levy money meets the training and upskilling needs of the industry.

It’s invested back into the workforce via payments, allowances, short course funds and other incentives paid directly to employers who hire apprentices and trainees.

The Construction Training Fund’s Belmont headquarters is also home to a construction and trades education centre, the Construction Futures Centre.

The Construction Futures Centre is a big warehouse with handson, interactive, touch-pad displays. Visitors can don virtual reality goggles to work out how to safely move loads from one site to another; wriggle down tunnels to simulate confined spaces electrical contractors navigate in commercial buildings; or follow prompts in a kinetic sand display that demonstrates how to prepare the landscape for a major road interchange project.

Construction Training Fund’s industry training advisors engage with schools, young people, training organisations, teachers, parents and industry.

Construction Futures Centre displays include a mini-home with various construction materials and techniques, light displays to

Construction Training Fund CEO Tiffany Allen in the Construction Futures Centre.

demonstrate how gas and electricity are connected and tools and interactive learning stations.

Ms Allen says the Construction Futures Centre is designed to give school children and young adults insight into the tremendous array of job and career opportunities on offer in the residential, commercial, infrastructure and resources sector.

“We are excited about how the Construction Futures Centre showcases so many of the genuinely exciting job opportunities,” she says.

Construction Training Fund Industry Training Advisor Levi Fordham with a primary school student in the Construction Futures Centre.

“We’d like to shift the conversation about skills shortages to a discussion about how government and industry can work together to make sure WA has the workforce it needs.”

Ms Allen said the construction and resources industry faces a new set of post-pandemic challenges.

“There’s a great deal of uncertainty now about international and interstate borders,” Ms Allen says. “This is going to make it more important that government and industry take a shared approach to workforce development.”

For example, in previous boom-bust cycles Western Australian employers relied heavily on international and interstate recruitment to offset local worker shortages. Despite the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, there is uncertainty about future travel, not just between countries but between States.

Ms Allen says the culture of training in the industry needs to change. “Western Australia historically has experienced extreme fluctuations in workforce demand,” Ms Allen says. “When the resources sector goes on a run, the construction sector follows. In 2021, we’re expecting more labour market pressure because the demand in each sector is high.

“The resource sector is strong, infrastructure is strong, housing is strong but our ability to recruit from interstate and overseas is really limited.

“We need find a way to build-in flexible, relevant skill upgrades to ensure we have a resilient, job-ready pool of workers.” Making it easier to train older apprentices is just the first step. To find out more www.ctf.wa.gov.au