Western Australia’s civil construction industry peak body welcomes today’s launch of the State Government’s Infrastructure Ready training program, which will offer a pathway into a civil construction career for hundreds of Western Australians.

Civil Contractors Federation WA CEO Andy Graham said the four-week program would provide the first step to an exciting and rewarding career in civil construction. “There’s a very strong pipeline of road and rail infrastructure projects to be delivered over the next few years in WA,” Mr Graham said. “It’s an exciting challenge for our industry, and it’s also a great opportunity for Western Australians who might not have previously considered a career in civil construction.

“Everyone is aware of the traditional trade-level jobs in housing and high-rise construction, but there are lots of ‘tradies’ in civil construction too, with a wide variety of interesting and well-paid trade-level roles in areas such as plant operations, pipelaying, road and bridge construction, tunnelling, and utilities installation.”

Mr Graham said the industry and the TAFEs had worked together to devise a program that quickly and effectively delivers ‘basic training’ in civil construction, providing the foundation skills for working safely on infrastructure projects. The program will include a work placement that will provide hands-on experience on a major project.

“The work placement will also be the first step to helping participants connect with potential employers,” Mr Graham said. “After all, that’s what this initiative is all about – finding jobs for Western Australians in the thriving civil construction sector.”

Mr Graham said the State Government, through the Office of Major Transport Infrastructure Delivery (OMTID), would encourage head contractors and subcontractors on its projects to provide employment to successful graduates from the program. “OMTID is to be congratulated for its proactive approach in both driving the creation of this program, and incentivising the employment of people in entry-level roles on its projects,” he said. “These new workers will be the future ‘top guns’ our industry needs to ensure a sustainable, home-grown workforce for years to come.”