Adelaide now has its first Vocational Training & Employment Centre (VTEC) which will provide training and guaranteed jobs in multiple industries for up to 200 Indigenous people.

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

“The Adelaide VTEC will provide training and guaranteed jobs for up to 200 people in multiple industries such as health and banking, airlines, construction, waste management, and local and state government,” Minister Scullion said.

“It’s vital that training 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 Maxima Group, which is a not-for-profit organisation that has previously implemented employer demand-led services funded under the Indigenous Employment programme (IEP).

Maxima has successfully supported the employment of Indigenous Australians through Indigenous mentoring, labour hire, group training and Registered Training Organisation services.

The Australian Government has committed up to $45 million for VTECs to train up to 5,000 Indigenous Australians for specific 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 model 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 model, we have spoken to employers across the country to determine where the 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.

Chief Executive Officer from Maxima Group, David Cockram, said Maxima had been working with Indigenous Australians for around 30 years through the provision of vocational employment and training programs.

“As a signatory to the Australian Employment Covenant we are strongly supportive of the Generation One Indigenous Employment model,” Mr Cockram said.

“We have achieved particular success in facilitating sustainable job outcomes via our extensive industry networks.

“We have achieved this by securing employer commitment to providing real jobs and working with employers to deliver targeted and relevant industry and employability skills training.

“We believe the practical and holistic support provided to participants under the VTEC model will resonate with the expectations of both employers and individual Indigenous Jobseekers, creating a framework which facilitates sustainable long term employment outcomes and meets the current and future staffing needs of Industry.”

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_Adelaide announcement.pdf