Russell Stewart with CEO Arthur Blewitt

Ten Cross Industry Traineeships are now being offered in Narrabri as a result of work undertaken by AgriFood Skills Australia to set up a regional pilot program in Narrabri in north west NSW.

The project, or model, was initiated by AgriFood Skills Australia in 2009 and it has won broad support from regional employers, industry and community leaders, and the NSW Department of Industry Investment is jointly funding the initiative for two years.

The Development Manager, Russell Stewart, said the traineeships pilot program was for 12 months and would allow the trainees to work across a number of different industries and work places. In most cases, he expected the traineeships would lead to full-time employment.

The initiative is understood to be the first cross-industry traineeship scheme of its kind and a significant step in building a whole-of-community approach to the attraction and retention of skilled workers and their families in regional Australia.

The traineeship scheme is jointly managed by AgriFood Skills Australia and Tocal College. A locally based working group under the banner of ‘Make It Work’ has been working on the broader attraction and retention project since a regional jobs summit was held in Narrabri in April.

Russell said a strong early commitment had been given by key employers in the Narrabri and Wee Waa area. “This strong employer commitment along with the logistics of travel and training has necessitated that the pilot program be concentrated in one area,” Russell said.

“Of course, the aim of this pilot is to prove to all stakeholders that our initiative is a winner and then mirror the same initiative throughout our region and then on to other regions of Australia.”

The trainees would work in grains, cotton, local government and mining.

Expressions of interest were being accepted and the places would be allocated within a month. The training would provide qualifications in a Certificate 3 in Rural Studies. Russell said local schools had expressed strong interest in alerting students to the traineeships.

Please direct inquiries to Russell on 0457 922 878 or to Sally Taylor from TESA Mining on: 0427 840 434.