Training Initiative of the Year 2014

Engineering Apprenticeship Learning Program (Certificate III in Engineering - Fabrication Trade (MEM30305) -

completed in partnership with Group Training NT (GTNT) and supported by the Northern Territory Government

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SECTION A: OverviewIn mid-2013, Group Training NT (GTNT) and Charles Darwin University (CDU) joined forces to launch and trial an innovative apprenticeship training program to help tackle burgeoning local workforce demands created by major new developments including the $34 billion INPEX gas venture at Wickham Point on Darwin Harbour.

The NT Government and GTNT Training Initiative, known as the Engineering Apprenticeship Learning Program, was designed to fast-track the first year of a three-to-four-year apprenticeship for a Certificate III in Engineering – Fabrication Trade (MEM30305). The successful model catapulted project-ready apprentice boilermakers into local workplaces to provide highly sought-after skills that are already benefitting small-to-medium businesses in Darwin and Katherine.

The program was designed to help minimise the impact on workplace productivity caused by first-year apprentices needing to be trained on the job. It also significantly reduced costs for employers by allowing them to tap into a suitably skilled local worker pool instead of having to fly tradesmen in from interstate and overseas.

The Engineering Apprenticeship Learning Program is unique in being the first of this type of training model presented within the standard apprenticeship system in the Northern Territory. The initiative has attracted significant industry interest from around Australia.

New apprentices presented with tool kits at induction

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“It’s an innovative program, comparable to but better than a normal apprenticeship program in some ways. We don’t need to make money out of apprentices at the end of the day. We need to train and keep them gainfully busy and to see them growing. We wanted to create a strong work ethic so that when they went out for industry experience, they would be straight into the task at hand instead of needing to be shown what to do.

Team Leader, CDU Metal Trades & Maritime School

How the program developedThere had been growing interest around vocational training circles in recent years about revisiting aspects of the 1970’s apprenticeship training format, which incorporated time spent on building skills to get apprentices ready for real work.

A new Northern Territory training model inspired by this thinking was suggested to GTNT and CDU early in 2013 by Rod Cryer, Director Training with the NT Department of Business. The qualified boilermaker, who gained his trade ticket through a similar NSW course in the early 1980s, proposed that a six-month program based on ‘an intelligent laid-out skills training approach’ could achieve the same results as the traditional first-year apprenticeship training as a full 12-month course. His idea was for an intensive and accelerated program that would see new apprentices being paid while undertaking full-time training, combined with work experience sessions off-campus.

“The apprenticeship program I did in the early 80s, was funded by the Commonwealth Employment Service (CES). I was fresh out of school and the program paid about half what the dole did,” Rod Cryer says. “I went to TAFE fulltime for 12 months and in that time we were required to knock over our first two years of trade school. We did project work as well and had to do real workplace aspects like time sheets to submit to CES to get our money every week. Effectively, I went into second-year trade school as a first-year apprentice.”

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How the program workedOnce the two partners decided on a suitable training model that would meet industry needs, GTNT, as the employer, advertised through television, newspapers and social media for suitable participants. It attracted more than 100 Territory and interstate applicants and, after a painstaking interview process headed by CDU’s Metal Trades and Maritime School Team Leader Rohan Badenhop, 15 young men aged between 17 and 30 were selected to undertake the program.

The applicants were screened on the basis of aptitude, commitment, work ethic and of good character. They also needed an idea of hand-eye coordination and some mechanical skills. Those selected were contracted to Group Training NT and were paid under the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award. The Department of Business allocated funding for wages and associated group training management costs, and further money to assist CDU’s training delivery costs.

They were registered and enrolled with Apprenticeships Australia (AANT) to train for the boiler making trade which incorporates the qualification, MEM 30305 (manufacturing industries) 30305 - Engineering Fabrication.

The new starters, proudly decked out in new work boots, uniforms including regulation high visibility shirts, and quality tool kits all paid for through the program, began 26 weeks of intensive training at CDU’s School of Trades at Casuarina campus on 21 July 2013. They combined their on-campus training with periodic work experience with local businesses and emerged as the equivalent of second-year apprentices with skills that have made them highly attractive to employers in the engineering and fabrication sector. They completed the work-ready component of the course on 31 December 2013.

As well as the university-based classroom and workshop-based training, CDU offered practical real-job exposure by having the course participants assist contractors working on small-scale infrastructure projects on campus, including welding workshop railings, installing fencing and finishing off a container to be used for confined space training purposes.

As add-ons to their core trade training, the apprentices studied for complementary units of competency and skill sets to attain their Construction Industry White Card, Elevated Work Platform and Forklift licences, First Aid Certificate and Working-in-a-Confined Space ticket.

To set a demarcation between its regular trade training activities and the simulated workplace environment, CDU employed a leading hand to support, advise and liaise with the apprentices on the campus workshop floor and to be their ‘go-to’ man for any questions or concerns during their project work. The intent was to create a real workshop situation. Alongside this, CDU’s Metal Trades and Maritime School staff were responsible for working with the apprentices to mould character and attitudes before handing them over as project-ready assets for their future employers. They passed the course confidently and Metal Trades Team Leader, Rohan Badenhop, said the group included some of the best apprentices he had ever come across.

The apprentices’ fulltime wages throughout their training was an attractive incentive for them to sign up to the program. They remained on the CDU books until January 2014 when they began taking up workplace offers in Darwin and Katherine to complete the final years of their apprenticeships.

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Influences on the program’s directionA number of factors influenced the partners’ decision to chose the Engineering-Fabrication trade, and boilermaking specifically, for their inaugural pilot scheme. Considerations included:

● Significant industry intelligence that local employers were desperate for boilermakers and that it was a skill shortage area.

● With the INPEX project ramping up, employers would need to take on boilermakers in time to start contracts around early to mid-2014.

● Nationally, employer surveys indicated that some employers were reluctant to take on first-year apprentices because they considered them to be unproductive and cost them money while someone had to train them.

● Engineering sector businesses face expensive upskilling to get ready for jobs with the INPEX and other major developments in the north. It would be more economically appealing for such businesses to take on locals – to train their own.

● Frustration that existing pre-employment type programs could not attract good participants who would have no income while training. People were not prepared to leave good jobs to take up pre-employment or pre-apprenticeship programs because they could not undertake intensive training while not earning an income.

In promoting their ground-breaking program, GTNT and CDU reinforced the fact that the participants would be coming out as skilled second-year apprentices with valuable add-on licences and certificates which would make them more attractive employees. The add-ons are not generally available as part of mainstream training courses.

GTNT engaged local employers to provide workplace experience. Throughout the course, the apprentices undertook week-long, on-the-job work experience sessions with Darwin engineering or metal fabrication businesses including Micks Ally Fab, FR Engineering, AKS Welding, NT Welding, Custom Works and Action Sheet Metal.

Of the original 15 participants who signed up for training, 12 completed the five-month course successfully. Three discontinued the course because of health and personal reasons.

Importantly, throughout the course, GTNT actively engaged with potential local employers to encourage them to take on the apprentices at the end of the program, either by hosting them or through direct employment arrangements. As a result, and because of the skills they learnt during training, nine of the 12 participants who completed the course have already been signed up as second-year apprentices and started work early in 2014 with companies including:

● NTK Windows (Darwin) – which took three apprentices ● Mine Maintenance and Construction (Darwin) – which took two apprentices ● Neptune Marine Services (Darwin) ● Crowhurst (Katherine) ● Steelvision (Darwin) ● A&B Welding (Darwin)

The other three participants are also in employment and will receive ongoing support to transition into apprenticeships.

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The futureWith the inaugural training program completed successfully and with workplace outcomes meeting the plan’s objectives, the coordinators are now looking at possibilities for extending and enhancing this innovative model to offer fast-tracked first-year apprenticeship training in alternative trades, and with employers involved at the start and throughout the program.

Negotiations are currently underway with Shell Prelude as a prospective partner in a new joint program that would run along similar lines to the boilermaker option. The company is attracted by the structure of the training format and its outcomes and is looking at partnering with the same agencies on a rigging and scaffolding training course, followed by an automotive course.

The partners say the success of similar programs in the future lies in targeted promotion within the relevant industry, engaging employers up front to provide input and constructive feedback throughout the course, and having a pool of companies committed to providing workplace experience for apprentices during their first-year training phase. The incentive for employers is that they will be getting work-ready people on their sites as apprentices from day one and won’t be losing precious productivity time showing first-year apprentices the ropes. They would be able to tap into a ‘try before you buy’ benefit by engaging apprentices as placements throughout the program. Effectively, the employers that come on board will get to observe the apprentices in real work situations and give feedback to training providers on what they are good at and what they are lacking and thereby help tailor the training needed to meet their workplace needs.

From a broader Northern Territory economic and social perspective, the Department of Business and other agencies involved in the employment sector have obligations to help industry grow its own workforce. They need to look at how future initiatives modelled on the successful Engineering Apprenticeship Learning Program can work and what training is required so that its projects line up with the NT Government’s current Framework for the Future policy. The 2013 fast-tracked training program comes under the linked Prosperous Economy banner.

“This program has given these apprentice boilermakers the opportunity to fast track their entry into the industry of their choice by completing the equivalent of the first year of a Certificate III in Engineering (Heavy Fabrication) in half the normal time.

John Hassed – CDU Pro Vice-Chancellor – VET

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Application of the skills gainedWhen completed, the Certificate III in Engineering – Fabrication Trade qualification will provide an industry-recognised skills profile related to work as an Engineering Tradesperson - Fabrication. Skills development would usually be undertaken through an Australian Apprenticeship arrangement where the mix of on- and off-the-job training would be specified in the Training Plan associated with the Contract of Training between the employer and apprentice.

Various occupational titles for which the qualification is suitable may include metal fabrication tradesperson, boilermaker, 1st class sheet metal worker, 1st class welder, moulder, foundry tradesperson and patternmaker.

Last year’s trial program trained apprentices to be capable of a ‘whole of job’ approach. “We’ve noticed a lot of apprentices are able to apply just about every job skill but don’t have the ability to tie all those skills together,” Metal Trades Team Leader Rohan Badenhop says. “They can do this aspect and that aspect, but not the complete work package like you’d expect from an experienced tradesperson. They are working on an immediate needs basis and never asked to plan, so our early approach was to set the new apprentices simple jobs to suit their limited skills, but get them to take the time to first write up a JSA (Job Safety Analysis) and think about how to go about it and the tools they’d use to do the job. We got them to do pre-thinking and pre-planning and as their tasks progressed and got bigger and more complex, they were able to take all that attitude and apply it on the bigger jobs. The really good thing is that they are all heading well towards being career tradespeople and not just ‘jobbers’ by the time they have finished their third year. This is something we believe employers should do and this has been our chance to prove the approach and it has worked very well.”

The streamlined program involved four blocks of two weeks each for schooling to give conceptual and technique training, then on-the-job component skills reinforcement of conceptual and technique training.

In the current climate, the big companies attracting a lot of the INPEX work are looking for highly skilled tradesmen and are forced to bring them in from interstate and overseas countries such as the Philippines because they don’t have the time or resources to train local tradesmen to the required high standard.

Programs similar to the CDU training model will make it easier for these companies to pick up skilled local tradesmen who can help them be competitive against major companies in bidding for contracts.

Employers who have taken on the new apprentices this year have provided feedback that their skills and attitudes have transformed the culture within their workshop. The metal fabricator and manufacturer, Mine Maintenance and Construction doesn’t routinely use CDU for its apprenticeship training purposes but has signed up two top class apprentices from this unique university program. Another high performer has been snapped up by Neptune and one has been signed up by a Katherine company and, since the program ended, the partners have received other requests from Katherine to have a similar program run out of CDU’s Katherine rural campus.

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Boilermakers are constantly in demand and there are opportunities to earn excellent money with penalties and extra qualifications. The trade presents a good career path, with highly skilled boilermakers employed in the mines or oil and gas sector being able to earn around $150,000 a year – and more than $200,000 a year if they get into the inspection side of things.

The Engineering Apprenticeship Learning Program was presented as a one-off trial that focused on proactive, rather than reactive training and concentrated on what industry needed and that showed up in the excellent results. There were very few pitfalls, thanks to the cooperation and close working relationship between the two partners, and their commitment to planning out the course and executing such successful outcomes.

“This initiative has offered real jobs and real potential career opportunities for people over an extended time, not some short, sharp feel good program where the benefits stopped as the program ended. This was a real job during the program and was linked to real national training that had real prospects for ongoing life-long employment.

Rod Cryer – NT Department of Business Director Training

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SECTION B: Awards Criteria

Criterion 1: Extent to which the collaboration demonstrates outstanding practice (i.e. above and beyond standard)Training provided through the Engineering Apprenticeship Learning Program meets national standards, gives apprentices a national qualification and addresses the skills shortages identified by Northern Territory business and industry. It shows a commitment by the Northern Territory Government, along with key partners CDU and GTNT, to respond to industry’s concerns about the loss of productivity suffered by taking on fresh starters and trying to provide a work-ready workforce.

The training program and its activities and progress were well thought out and were not a case of ‘We’ve got these guys on the job so let’s find them something to do’. The CDU training team made sure they were exposed to the expected breadth of work and were progressively gaining deeper experience and opportunities to upskill with add-on components in forklift training, first aid, working at heights and other competencies.

The initiative was unique in that it was a six-month intensive program where the participants were employed by GTNT, supervised and trained by CDU and given real work opportunities all focused on training and developing skills and knowledge.

The program demonstrated excellence in training, including providing additional learner support. The Head of CDU’s Learner Support Unit, Brendon Reed, came into the classroom through the first block to guide the apprentices through mathematics, study techniques and computing and literacy. The course included interactive computer technology combined with maths and exposure to relevant machinery, tools and basic welding. Early in the course, the participants were able to made good use of CDU’s Vertex 350 virtual reality welding simulator as part of their training – so e-learning was also a factor in the program.

CDU has won government praise for the way it has responded to pressing industry needs to organise and present the intensive training program. “CDU had the capacity to respond quickly to work with the Department of Business and GTNT as the employer, and to tailor a program around what was wanted in a very short time,” the department’s Rod Cryer says. “The program would not have been the success it was if not for key CDU training people’s contacts within the industry. I commend CDU on its ability to work with us and develop up the program and accommodate an additional class load on top of its already full training schedule and accommodate additional time load for six months with limited notice - and being able to structure a 12-month trade training program and real work experience into six months.

The training provided was of a national standard in an occupation experiencing skills shortage as identified by Territory business and industry. It also showed a commitment to respond to industry’s concerns about the loss of productivity caused by training up fresh starters and trying to provide a work-ready workforce.

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Criterion 2: Achievements of the collaborationTraining outcomes The participants completed the first year of a three-to-four-year apprenticeship that will culminate in a Certificate III in Engineering - Fabrication Trade. This means they are well on the way to gaining the full suite of skills required to work as engineering tradespeople specialising in metal fabrication, forging, founding, structural steel erection, electroplating, metal spinning, metal polishing, sheet metal work, and the use of related computer controlled equipment. They have undergone extensive welding training to Australian standards, and have the ability to use a wide range of heavy machinery. At the end of their trade course, the apprentices will have a sound understanding of job preparation and planning, and have developed an industry culture of workplace safety and quality control.

The qualification package was developed on an assumption that competency would be achieved through an integrated combination of on and off-the-job learning strategies such as those delivered through a formal apprenticeship. Employment opportunities related to this qualification are found in wide-ranging manufacturing and engineering-related sectors as well as in other industries.

During their comprehensive first training year in 2013, the apprentices completed 19 work units, which provide capacity to:

● Apply occupational health and safety principles in the work environment ● Participate in environmentally sustainable work practices ● Work with others in a manufacturing, engineering or related environment ● Apply quality procedures ● Apply quality systems ● Plan to undertake a routine task ● Organise and communicate information ● Interact with computing technology ● Perform computations ● Perform engineering measurements (Part 1: Rulers, Tapes, Squares & Measurement

Methods) ● Use hand tools ● Use hand-held power tools ● Carry out mechanical cutting ● Perform manual heating and thermal cutting ● Perform routine manual metal arc-welding ● Perform routine gas metal arc-welding ● Interpret technical drawing ● Select welding processes ● Perform routine gas tungsten arc-welding

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As well as completing their core trade training, the apprentices studied for add-on units of competency and skill sets to attain a:

● Construction Industry White Card ● Elevated Work Platform Licence ● Forklift Licence ● First Aid Certificate ● Working in a Confined Space ticket ● Lock Out-Tag Out ticket

With their first year of sound basic training behind them, the apprentices go on to tackle more complex trade units in Year Two (e.g. assembling sheet and plate, performing advanced welding, performing geometric development, applying fabrication, forming and shaping techniques, and assisting with on-the-job training) and Year Three-Four (e.g. repairing, replacing and modifying fabrications, assembling fabricated components, further advanced welding including using the flux core process, and planning a complete activity).

In the program’s early stages, the apprentices helped to complete work on a recently-constructed confined space training container by grinding and sanding back and finishing off, cleaning it up then helping to paint it. They then used it for confined space training. The project provided CDU with a quality training aid that was 100 per cent compliant with workplace safety regulations and significantly improved CDU’s training facility. The work to complete the confined space project was hailed as an excellent outcome for the university and the apprentices and lecturers involved in the program.

The Engineering Apprenticeship Learning Program focussed on linking career pathways, connecting with employers so the participants could continue into an apprenticeship, and preparing them to a stage where they could meet employment criteria.

The program represents a successful collaboration between the government, CDU and GTNT and has excelled in its aim to connect project-ready apprentices with ongoing work in the engineering industry. Progress meetings between the trainer and employer were held regularly throughout the six months and kept the program on track. Strong communication lines existed between CDU and GTNT with the employer’s coordinator visiting the apprentices on campus every two weeks to keep those lines open and effective.

Criterion 3: Ability to represent the National Training System at a broader levelThe innovative nature of the Engineering Apprenticeship Learning Program sets it apart from other Northern Territory trades training programs and most programs around Australia. In light of its success, it serves as a national model for future initiatives to get apprentices skilled up and onto career pathways.

The program was specifically tailored to meet engineering sector workforce demands by fast-tracking apprentices into jobs. This has been achieved by covering the traditional first 12 months of training in less than six months. The concept effectively puts second-year apprentices onto the factory floors and saves companies lost production from having to train first-year apprentices with limited workplace skills and experience.

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The ability to earn a full-time wage while completing the course was a major drawcard for the participants and was a key reason for its higher than normal retention rate. Under normal arrangements, young people are reluctant to leave well-paying jobs to take up an apprenticeship. Of the 15 young people who enrolled for the program, only three were unable to complete the course due to medical and personal reasons. Nine of the 12 have been signed up for apprenticeships with reputable local companies and the other three are working while awaiting apprenticeships. The program’s focus on character-building and life skills as well as core trades training sets the apprentices up as attractive staff members who are committed to doing what they do well, up-skilling on the job and starting on the pathway to a lifetime career.

Employers loved the concept. Employers involved in the program provided regular feedback to ensure the program was tailored to their workforce needs. As a result, the employers all fully supported the training model and in fact, indicated that they would like to see it as a permanent program to train their new apprentices.

The innovative nature of this unique training program has captured interstate interest and could have a national application across the training system. All other jurisdictions are grappling with an effective and efficient way to train apprentices to be work ready in the shortest possible time because employers demand that new employees, including apprentices, be as productive as possible when they commence work. Also, employers have options of engaging local, interstate or international employees to fill roles that were traditionally set aside for locally employed apprentices and tradespersons. The job market is a fiercely competitive environment. The innovative Engineering Apprenticeship Learning Program provides employers and training organisations throughout Australia with an innovative way to prepare job-ready apprentices for full-time work after completing the initial six months of intensive work oriented training. It has been a highly successful program in the NT and there are no obvious impediments to it being exported to other States and Territories.

When devising the training format, the partners looked at job market trends, and the Northern Territory’s current low unemployment rate. They needed to consider that the region is in the midst of a development boom and the industries the course is designed to help are filling their workplace needs elsewhere because of a lack of suitably skilled local tradesmen. The word is that there is plenty of work in the north but not enough skilled people to fill the positions.

The current trend is to employ skilled interstate and overseas tradesmen, largely on a fly-in/fly-out basis. It is usual practice for major companies to look for people who are ‘110 per cent’ capable and employ them for specific one-off contracts then let them go when the job is finished. The new fast-tracked training program is designed to open a window of entry into such jobs for more locals and set them on a rewarding career pathway.

Ongoing formal and ‘word-of-mouth’ promotion of the program’s success in training and nurturing disengaged young workers, giving them valuable skills and confidence, and helping them into attractive and satisfying long-term jobs, will entice other would-be apprentices either looking at options beyond school, seeking a rewarding career or in unsustainable jobs, to take up trades training.

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Criterion 4 (a): Impact of the collaboration The success of the program has reinforced the NT Government’s commitment to meet industry demands in light of the current booming economic climate, particularly the high demand for experienced boilermakers to work on the INPEX project and other major northern industrial and commercial developments.

The program’s outcomes have thrilled the trainers and received positive feedback from stakeholders including local industry and training interests. Industry employers are happy to have access to second-year apprentices who are skills-ready and productive from day one, so they can get straight into the work required and bring money in the door. As one trainer commented, instead of holding a piece of metal for someone else to weld, they can do the welding themselves. They are job-ready.

During the CDU training phase, the apprentices undertook week-long, on-the-job work experience sessions with Darwin engineering or metal fabrication businesses which benefited from observing their new skills in action and being able to provide feedback on future training aspects. Companies providing work experience placements included:

● Micks Ally Fab ● FR Engineering ● AKS Welding ● NT Welding ● Custom Works ● Action Sheet Metal

The CDU School of Trades has benefited from infrastructure projects completed on campus as practical exercises for the cost of materials. The apprentices applied their new skills on projects, such as new workshop steel racks, fences and other facilities, which mainstream apprentices couldn’t be engaged to do because of tight budgets. Such jobs have been planned for and tackled seriously because they are relevant to the training.

All participants signed up for the program because they could see a rewarding future career pathway within the engineering / fabrication trade and trades generally.

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Criterion 4 (b): Sustainability and future of the collaboration Buoyed by the success of the inaugural training program, the partners are looking for further opportunities to develop similar engagement happening with other project areas, and see it extend beyond the traditional trades and into areas such as hospitality. A program backed by Shell Prelude is being negotiated and CDU and GTNT are looking at other ways to enhance and tailor training modules to meet industry demands. They are also looking to negotiate with the Department of Business about future programs to be run the second half of 2014 and in 2015.

As part of their course, the new apprentices studied MSA V272B environmental sustainable practices as one of their units. The program aims to train the participants to look at the job as a whole, rather than just a skills set. Incorporated within this was the safety aspect, preparation and planning, the tools and equipment, and environmental considerations, e.g. efficient use of materials – such as not cutting a piece of metal from the middle of a sheet.

Throughout the course, only Australian-manufactured steel was used to support local industry and products to sustain industry here and not buy the cheap imports. Local suppliers were supported where possible. As an example, each new apprentice received a tool kit worth between $500-$1000 plus uniforms, all purchased locally to support and help sustain local businesses.

Training provided through the program addresses the increasing national emphasis on workplace health and safety aspects and demands for quality assurance, which have changed the face of the Australian engineering sector.

The partners says that, in a nutshell, the Engineering Apprenticeship Learning Program has done its small bit for the economy by taking people on unemployment benefits off the streets and turning them into useful, committed and confident employees with great hopes for a long-term career path.

Caption

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PATRICK MACKLINFormer Brisbane and Tiwi Islands chef Patrick had had enough of hospitality and wanted to try new things. He had just completed a Certificate III in Music at CDU when he saw a television ad late one night, calling for starters for a special apprentice boilermakers’ course. He was particularly attracted by the offer of accelerated training and he thought it would help him to find a rewarding new direction in his life and a new career path in the trades sector.

“I was getting a bit bored with hospitality and working nights and weekends,” he says. “I’d also thought about boilermaking a while back – so I applied and got accepted.” The 30-year-old is delighted with the new life the course has given him, including skills that have won him an excellent job with Neptune Marine Services.

He looks forward to building up new skills on the company’s pipeline work and other wide-ranging industry-related tasks it wins contracts. He’s already completed an industrial rope course with Neptune so will be able to put that to good use. There’ll be opportunities, not just for mainstream welding, but also aspects such as testing, further down the track.

Patrick embraced the CDU course and particularly liked the arrangement combining block work with practical set tasks in the workshop. “It was the first of a kind and a few things had to be ironed out along the way but we went with it and there were no dramas. It got me a foot in the door to a great job and great future.”

SECTION C: Apprentice Case Studies

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ANTHONY DURANFormer bartender and hotel bus driver Anthony migrated to Darwin with his parents from the Philippines as a 19-year-old. He thought about following in his mechanic Dad’s footsteps but when Dad bowed to pressure and let the lad use his oxy-torch to weld an aquarium stand, Anthony turned his thoughts to an engineering-type trade.

“I applied for the boilermaker course when it came up and luckily they called me. It has met all my expectations.” He reckons it’s the best field in the world to work in. The 26-year-old father-of-two now works for the fuel pipeline specialist, A&B Welding, where he’s applying his newfound skills to finish his apprenticeship and forge a career pathway based on welding.

He says his new employer is happy with his workplace ethic and skills and with the range of units the course covered – including measuring, maths, proper use and care of tools, metal specification, welding and combining metal together. “It’s a good course. It teaches you everything you need to know for working in this industry.” Someday, when he’s finished his training, he would like to do higher degree studies to become an engineer and work in the oil and gas sector.

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JOSH CRAGGSDarwinite Josh, aged 20, is feeling on top of the world after completing his first year of apprenticeship training and being signed up by the Katherine company, Crowhurst. He now envisages a bright and rewarding career pathway linked with the oil and gas industry, and would eventually love to start up his own business. But that wasn’t always the case.

Josh admits he’s struggled at times to fit into a workplace scenario and has had problems getting good jobs. His trainer, on the other hand, uncovered a young man with significant underlying qualities, “quite a perfectionist and an excellent worker who has skilled-up very well and will make a really valuable employee for Crowhurst”.

Josh left school in Year 10. “I got jobs labouring in fencing and glazing – but I wanted something else,” he says. He saw the apprentice boilermaker course advertised on TV and tried his hardest to be selected. It paid off.

“I was very happy and pretty surprised when they contacted me. I felt I was stuck in a ditch and was hanging out with a few bad people – but I started this course and set my mind to succeeding and I’m on a pretty straight road to where I want to go now. I want to get my ticket which I’ll have for the rest of my life and, maybe one day, start up my own business. Darwin’s always going to need boilermakers and fabricators so there’ll be plenty of work around - and it’s a good trade to be in.”

Josh says a special part of his training was in taking modules that he wouldn’t have if he hadn’t done the course. “I look back now on where I was and where I am today and there’s quite a big difference – a really good difference.”