A local forestry organisation has received a significant cash injection from the State Government to ensure their success now and into the future.
The State Government has announced a $300,000 funding contribution towards the implementation of the Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub’s (GTIFH) new Workforce Development Program.
The funding enables the GTIFH to increase its impact and effectiveness in its workforce development within the timber industry and recruit a workforce development officer, whose role will be to increase recruitment in the forest industry.
The implementation of the GTFIH Workforce Development Program expands on its initial program that commenced in 2023.
Minister for Forest Industries and Regional Development Claire Scriven said there have already been some positive outcomes from the existing program.
“This funding will enable an extra two years of this program and that’s really important for the future of the forest industry,” she said.
“We know the forest industry and the forest products industry are going to need far more staff going into the future from all sorts of roles from working in the mills, from being in the forest themselves to transport haulage to computer engineering and the list goes on.
“It is really important that we do have the skills available and also that we do make sure we have the connections with employers.
“The work of the Work Force Development Program through the Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub is going to be really crucial in that.
“I think iniatives like this in addition to the ‘This is Wood Work’ campaign has resulted in a lot more awareness of the opportunities.”
GTIFH will be working in tandem with partners across the region including the Forestry Centre of Excellence, ForestWorks and the South Australian Forest Productions Association.
The program will also capitalise on the development of the education training and research precinct in Mount Gambier featuring the Forestry Centre of Excellence, the UniSA Mount Gambier campus, the new Mount Gambier Technical College and the Mount Gambier TAFE.
Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub general manager Tony Wright said the hub was “very grateful” for the funding and the investment in the forest industry from the State Government.
“For us, it means we can continue the two year program we have been running which has already produced really significant results in the region,” he said.
“I think there is about 32,000 people of employment age in the Limestone Coast and about 7500 of them are either directly or indirectly employed (in the forest industry) so that is about one in five.
“It is a significant employer in the region so this program will help us continue to get the message out to the community and the schools about the opportunities in forestry.
“We are seeing some really strong interest and a part of that is through the work we are doing with schools as well where we are showing teachers and career educators and students the broad breadth of opportunities that can exist in the forest industry.”
Independent Learning Centre students Declan Malinowski and Josh Potter are two of five new school based trainees who have been working in the forest industry for around three weeks.
The pair said they enjoy the variety of opportunities the forestry industry has to offer.
“I had some sort of understanding but I did not realise how much variety and opportunity there actually was once you got into it,” Mr Potter said.
“I saw an application for a traineeship that was happening and I was interested in the forestry side of things and I decided that it would be a good opportunity to try and get into (the forestry industry).
“I have had multiple family members and friends who have worked in the industry and have said it is a pretty good industry with lots of opportunities.
“When you do an apprenticeship in most mills they usually put you in one area of the mill … but because of the traineeship we have been offered and gotten, we have worked in probably about five/six different parts of the mill so far and it has only been our first three weeks into it.”
“Because of how much we have been able to try out, we have been sort of able to figure out what part of the industry we like the most,” Mr Malinowski added.
“We have been spending time with all of the departments at OneFortyOne at their site and getting trained up and ready to go on for the rest of the term.”
