Flags baring a single red heart adorn local windows, a symbol which has become a token of collective strength and resilience for a community still very much in crisis in many ways.
A year on from the catastrophic double flood disasters of 2022 and the second most expensive global natural disaster for insurers to occur last year (Munich RE, 2022), the Northern Rivers is still recovering. With a cumulative ongoing re-build cost a continuous climb in the billions of dollars, one of the greatest challenges and road blocks of the re-build has been human resourcing.
Major Training Group is proud to introduce our recently forged partnerships within the Northern Rivers area providing relevant training to up-skill locals to meet the demand for a skills shortage within the trade industry after the flood devastation.
This training has been made possible by the New South Wales Government who has provided essential funding through their Smart and Skilled program which was created to assist people obtain training of in-demand skills.
Through several training blocks, we have trained over 120 locals with the relevant skills to replace the need to outsource and recruit from abroad, keeping jobs and money within the local area where it is needed most.
Among our Northern Rivers neighbours accessing this government funding to upskill their workforce are the Lismore City Council, Byron Shire Council, Richmond Valley Council, Ballina Shire Council, AGS Commercial, O’Briens Electrical and Plumbing and Lipman.
We spoke to O’Briens Electrical and Plumbing Construction Administrator, Jacinta Paddon, about their experience of making use of this incredible opportunity.
“By having our staff undertake these training blocks, it means we have adequate qualified staff across our teams we can send out to site and not be limited to having to shuffle our teams around to suit the relevant skills needed.” Paddon explained.
“We are definitely excited to send more of our team out to do more training with Major when it becomes available.”
In the scope of training and tickets being offered through this program are Crane licenses, Earthmoving tickets, Heights courses, Dogging/dogman licenses, EWP 11M licenses and LF Forklift licenses.
Sue Franey from the Richmond Valley Council has expressed their appreciation and the necessitation of this program in the area. Franey explained that many people in their community are still left homeless while they await insurance assessments and the urgent need for training and assistance will be continuing for the unforeseeable future.
“We have a commitment to have our staff qualified in the work they do and to employ locally from our LGA (Local Government Area) where possible. Many of our staff were personally affected by flooding and their mental health and wellbeing is a high concern for us. The funding support has been a great help.” Sue explained to us.
“We truly appreciate Major Training for being able to deliver our training and be flexible with the many changes.”
As we continue to focus our attention on this area and advocate for more government funding within this space, we will continue to rally for the people and training of the Northern Rivers community who are so deserving of this hand up.
If you are an individual or organisation interested in accessing this training, please call our helpful advisors today on 1300 790 822.
