Training Initiative Award

Sponsored by Ichthys Project.

Winner: GTNT in collaboration with Charles Darwin University

In mid-2013 Group Training NT and CDU joined forces to trial an innovative apprenticeship training program to help tackle increasing local workforce demands created by major new developments in the Top End.

The NT Government and GTNT Training initiative, Engineering Apprenticeship Learning Program, was designed to fast track the first year of a three to four-year apprenticeship in Certificate III in Engineering. The successful model catapulted project-ready apprentice boiler makers into local workplaces to provide sought after skills that are 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 having 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 NT.

The system has attracted significant industry interest from around Australia.

Runner up: Karen Sheldon Training and Development in collaboration with The Darwin Turf Club