Kalgoorlie now has its first Vocational Training & Employment Centre (VTEC) which will place 150 Indigenous people into guaranteed jobs in the eastern regions of Western Australia.

Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator Nigel Scullion, announced the Centre today saying the VTEC initiative brought an end to the cycle of training for training’s sake.

“The Kalgoorlie VTEC will offer up to 150 guaranteed jobs in the mining industry to job seekers who complete the required training,” Minister Scullion said.

“It’s vital that training and employment programmes are aligned to real jobs because getting Indigenous Australians into ongoing employment is critical to reducing Indigenous disadvantage.”

The VTEC will be run by MAX Employment, which is an organisation that provides a variety of employment, health and training services to Indigenous communities from 113 locations nationally.

MAX has sites currently operating in Kalgoorlie, Esperance, Kambalda West, Leonora and Laverton and has a strong regional presence in the area.

MAX Employment has been assisting people return to work for more than a decade and has over 100 sites across Australia.

The Australian Government has committed up to $45 million for VTECs to place up to 5,000 Indigenous Australians into guaranteed jobs across Australia before July 2015.

VTECs are an Australian Government initiative based on the GenerationOne employment model. GenerationOne manages the Australian Employment Covenant, an industry-led initiative that has established more than 60,000 job pledges for Indigenous Australians from Australian companies.

“The VTEC initiative is based on strong collaboration between employers, employment and training service providers, participation support services and local Indigenous communities,” Minister Scullion said.

“As part of the process of rolling out the VTEC initiative, we have spoken to employers across the country to determine where jobs are located and what industries they are in.

“Increasing Indigenous employment is one of the three key priorities of the Australian Government and I congratulate GenerationOne on its enthusiastic involvement in this critical area.”

GenerationOne National Development Director, Jeremy Donovan, said VTECs were driven by a demand-led employment model that was the future of Australian Indigenous vocational training and employment.

“Both employer and employee have confidence that from day one the new staff member will be ready to contribute to the company, that the post-employment support systems are in place and that the company has adequate cultural training,” Mr Donovan said.

MAX Employment Managing Director, Deborah Homewood, said it was a great honour to be awarded the VTEC contract.

“MAX Employment is committed to providing increased and more effective training and employment opportunities for Indigenous people,” Ms Homewood said.

“We look forward to using our employer connections, local knowledge and strong community partnerships to benefit VTEC participants.

“At MAX we believe that jobs have the power to change lives, so we look forward to empowering Indigenous people through their chosen career pathway.”

VTECs will be located in Sydney, The Hunter Region, South Coast NSW, Brisbane, North and Central Queensland, Perth, Darwin, Melbourne, Kalgoorlie, Alice Springs, The Barkley Region of the Northern Territory, the Kimberley and Adelaide.

Download media release:
14-07-02 Minister Scullion VTEC_Kalgoorlie.pdf