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Skills Tasmania

High-Vis Army Program

Building the Workforce to Build Tasmania

The Tasmanian Government's $3.1 billion 'Construction Blitz' announced in June 2020 emphasised the significance of the State's building and construction industry in leading the economic and social recovery from COVID-19.

Following the release of the Tasmanian Building and Construction Industry – Workforce Action Plan in March 2021, the Premier of Tasmania convened a Building and Construction Industry Skills Roundtable on 16 June 2021, attended by key industry peak organisations.

At the Roundtable, the new Building the Workforce to Build Tasmania Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the State Government, the Civil Contractors Federation (CCF), the Housing Industry Association (HIA), the Master Builders Tasmania (MBT), and Keystone Tasmania.

This commitment continues with the ‘High-Vis Army’ election commitment to support the construction labour force to grow by 25% with Government Grants being issued to the CCF, HIA and MBT over 4 years.

Tasmanian Building and Construction Industry – Workforce Action Plan

Building the Workforce to Build Tasmania – Memorandum of Understanding

1Master Builders Tasmania (MBT) target outcomes

Target outcomes

  1. Collaborate with the parties who have signed the Building a Workforce to Build Tasmania MOU in supporting the growth and productivity of the building and construction workforce in Tasmania.
  2. Increase the scale and scope of training courses on offer for new entrants and existing construction workers to upskill by developing courses where gaps have been identified.
  3. Increase the number of construction workers through MBT training from 1,200 per year to 3,000 per year by 2024-25 by offering an additional 1,600 training places in 2021-22.
  4. Train the trainers, including 3 new trainers, and administrators to deliver the new courses.
  5. Employ an additional 80 apprentices, with 40 completing over the next 4 years, through the MBT Group Training Organisation (GTO) and maintain an above 90% completion rate.
  6. Increase construction pathway programs across regions in partnership with regional development agencies and Job Ready organisations.
  7. Improve and enhance the delivery of CPD short courses and accredited vocational courses specifically in the areas of fit outs for specialised asbestos and silica management training, waterproofing, condensation, working safely at heights, confined spaces, demonstrated building processes, codes and standards.
  8. Increase the number of workers in construction and new entrants that have completed adequate safety training by delivering an expanded safety training program.
  9. Improve the awareness of training courses on offer to encourage upskilling by a promotional campaign implemented across all regions and remote areas.
  10. Improve awareness of employment opportunities in construction for people with diverse backgrounds – in this context Skills Tasmania understands diversity to include Aboriginal people, women, mature aged (at career entry), social or community housing backgrounds, regional or rural locations, disabled, culturally and linguistically diverse or refugee populations.
  11. Increase scope to deliver Advanced Diploma of Building and Construction and Waterproofing Certificate III in 2022.

www.mbatas.org.au

2Housing Industry Association (HIA) target outcomes

Target outcomes

  1. Increase the uptake of apprenticeships and traineeships in the Tasmanian building and construction industry by expanding HIA Apprentices GTO operations to Tasmania.
  2. Have a special emphasis on increasing diversity within the building and construction industry, including supporting individuals facing disadvantage or barriers to employment by the development of a specialised support plan and service guide.
  3. Target a minimum of 20 percent, and a preferred 50 percent of the total new apprentices and trainees from the under-represented groups or people facing barriers to employment, including:
    1. people who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander;
    2. women entering trades;
    3. people living in social or community housing;
    4. people from regional or rural locations;
    5. people with low level language, literacy or numeracy skills;
    6. mature aged (at career entry) people;
    7. people with a disability;
    8. people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds;
    9. refugees; and
    10. other groups facing disadvantage or barriers to employment in the building and construction sector.
  4. Support YouthBuild student progression to apprenticeships.
  5. Partner with appropriate organisations, specialists and other service providers to ensure services address the specialised needs of individuals, and work with their employers, to ensure that apprentices and trainees are supported to succeed.
  6. Improve the prospects of long term employment opportunities for participants beyond the life of the project by providing a combination of training, employment and career development outcomes.
  7. Provide a ‘wrap around’ service to industry for increasing diversity and inclusion, consisting of job ready training, mentoring and mental health support, literacy and numeracy assistance as well as tailoring options to meet individual needs.
  8. Introduce higher standards of apprentice and trainee safety policies and procedures to the Tasmanian building industry.
  9. Collaborate with the parties who have signed the Building a Workforce to Build Tasmania Memorandum of Understanding in supporting the growth and productivity of the building and construction workforce in Tasmania.

www.hia.com.au

3Civil Contractors Federation (CCF) target outcomes

Target outcomes

  1. Collaborate with the parties who have signed the Building a Workforce to Build Tasmania MOU in supporting the growth and productivity of the building and construction workforce in Tasmania.
  2. Improved workforce planning and workforce development activities in the civil construction industry to attract, develop and retain employees, with a target of more than 65% of businesses audited.
  3. Increased completion rates for trainees and apprentices, aiming for a 75% completion rate.
  4. Enhanced opportunities to upskill and progress into leadership roles through successful implementation of the TasTAFE paraprofessional course.
  5. Increased number of female job seekers registering and applying for positions in the civil construction industry, measured through CCF Job Hub registrations and employment outcomes.
  6. Increased numbers of trainers and assessors with direct civil construction experience.
  7. Enhanced understanding, collaboration and cooperation between the CCF, Tasmanian State Government, Keystone Tasmania, Registered Training Organisations and civil construction employers, evidenced through pre- and post-project surveys.
  8. The development of an Industry accepted Apprenticeship Pathway for the Civil Industry through increased Certificate training undertaken by industry.
  9. Improved relevance of training provided through increased training participation rates.
  10. Promote and enhance diversity in the industry – in this context Skills Tasmania understands diversity to mean: Groups that are traditionally under-represented in the civil construction sector including Aboriginal people, women, mature aged (at career entry), young people, social or community housing backgrounds, regional or rural locations, disabled, culturally and linguistically diverse or refugee populations.

www.ccftas.com.au

4Keystone Tasmania

Keystone Tasmania is an independent state-wide organisation. Its work is funded by a levy on building and construction projects over the value of $20,000. A Board of Directors with broad industry and education experience administers the allocation of funds to workforce development projects and via training subsidies across all sectors of the industry, in line with Keystone’s annual training plan.

Keystone Tasmania are building their understanding of gaps in the quality and quantity of potential industry candidates and how candidates can be attracted, mentored, and developed to join their industry. Prevocational and work readiness training are a priority as are identifying gaps in training delivery. Keystone will be able to provide this High-Vis Army working group with valuable and consistent statistics on skills demand from the SOPHIA platform. Keystone also intend to work closely with allied industry bodies such as the National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA), The Master Plumbers Association of Tasmania (MPAT) and The Air Conditioning and Mechanical Contractors Association (AMCA) on the workforce development challenges they face as part of the Tasmanian building and construction industry.

www.keystone.com.au

5High-Vis Army Program Working Group

The High-Vis Army Program Working Group will meet biannually. The priority for this working group is for all signatures of the MOU to collaborate with each other over training and workforce development.

High-Vis Army Program Working Group - Meeting 1 - Communiqué

High-Vis Army Program Working Group - Meeting 2 - Communiqué

High-Vis Army Program Working Group - Meeting 3 - Communiqué

6High-Vis Army Progress Update - 27 Feb 2023

Current situation

  • In June 2021, the Tasmanian Government signed the “Building the Workforce to Build Tasmania” Memorandum of Understanding with key industry stakeholders to implement its High-Vis Army commitment.
  • The Tasmanian Government allocated $9 million over four years for this work program to support a 25 per cent growth in the building and construction industry workforce to meet current and projected industry demand.
  • The ‘High-Vis Army’ election commitment will support the building and construction industry workforce to grow by 25 per cent by working with key sector peaks.
  • In December 2021, $4 million grants were issued to the Civil Contractors Federation and Master Builders Association with a further $1 million grant to the Housing Industry Association to deliver the High-Vis Army commitment.
  • Skills Tasmania continues to work closely with key stakeholders through the High-Vis Army Working Group and the Building and Construction Industry Roundtables to implement the Building and Construction Industry - Workforce Action Plan along with implementing the Building and Construction Industry Compact.

Master Builders Tasmania update

  • The plans for the Master Builders Tasmania (MBT) new training facility have commenced with construction to begin once planning approval is received.
  • MBT has reported that 34 new apprentices have signed up since the program began.
  • MBT finalised commitments to: collaborate with Jobs Tasmania to connect with the Regional Jobs Hub Network to support the delivery and promotion of its programs and services; and signed an MOU with TasTAFE to help build the High-Vis Army.
  • MBT CEO Matthew Pollock recently noted, “We need to build successful and rewarding careers in construction. We need to train an extra 6500 people between now and 2025 to deliver the pipeline of work. This partnership with TasTAFE and the support of the High-Vis Army program will do that”.

Housing Industry Association update

  • The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has registered its Group Training Organisation and is actively recruiting apprentices. 16 apprentices have commenced so far across equity groups including eight apprentices from regional areas and some adult apprentices.

Civil Contractors Federation update

  • The Civil Contractors Federation (CCF) has begun a skills audit of both member and non-member organisations to establish a skills matrix which will inform future training and workforce development needs, alongside completing its first ‘Women in Civil’ program.
  • CCF Interim CEO, Phil Sidney, recently noted the High-Vis Army project was vital for the sector. “The government has listened to our industry and has committed to the most ambitious infrastructure program in the state's history” Mr Sidney said. “But to turn that vision into reality, we need to grow the size of the civil workforce by 25 per cent. That’s why the High-Vis Army policy is vital. It’s giving us the support to take the industry to the next level.”

Keystone Tasmania update

  • In the backdrop of the High-Vis Army commitment, ongoing activity to promote the building and construction sector continues through Keystone Tasmania.
  • In its Training Plan for 2022-23 Keystone Tasmania has allocated $5.75 million for the training and workforce development of some 15,000 eligible industry members. This reflects an increase in $.25 million in funding to an additional 3,000 eligible industry members from its 2021-22 training plan.

For further information or queries regarding the the High-Vis Army Project, contact the Project Manager, Ingrid Andersen, on ingrid.andersen@skills.tas.gov.au