Anew State Government-funded initiative will support the Limestone Coast timber and forestry sectors to address current skills gap shortages and develop the ‘workforce of the future’.

Minister for Education, Skills and Training Blair Boyer officially opened the Mount Gambier Skills Centre last Thursday by sawing through a pre-cut engineered timber plank before testing the facility’s harvesting simulator.

The establishment will have a specific focus on timber and forestry, with an accompanying field-based role working directly with industry.

Funded by a $565,000 Skills SA grant, the centre was an initiative by the Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub, Group Training Employment, Logging Investigation and Training Association and backed by 12 industry representatives.

Minister Boyer said while he feels skills and training has previously been overlooked at community forums, it was an area of great importance raised by the local community at last year’s Country Cabinet Community Forum and one he was pleased to deliver on.

“I have been involved in these (community forums) in different capacities for about 10 years as a staffer for previous ministers and skills and training never ever got raised, it was never the sexy issue that got raised by the media, never on the front page,” he said.

“Community forums, no one raised it but the first one we had here there was a lot of questions raised by members of the public who came along.

“When I had individual meetings, particularly with providers of support for elderly and people with disability, the first thing that was raised was around skills every time.

“To me it showed a real shift but also the magnitude of the problem that we have particularly in regional areas around finding the skilled workforce that we need.

“I know how keen people are in this neck of the woods to have some more work behind growing that workforce.

“This skills centre here and the partnership we have got with LITA, Green Triangle Forest Industries and Group Training Employment is going to be really important.”

Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub workforce development manager Josh Praolini said the Mount Gambier Skills Centre allows the industry to expand the offerings for training in the region.

“We obviously as the forestry industry are a huge part of the primary industries in Mount Gambier, we have got the plantations, harvest haul and milling,” he said.

“For the first time in a long time we’re able to offer a qualification, certificate two and three in timber and wood product operations and that’s going to allow traineeships, apprenticeships into the timber mills with a skill base.

“As we have got these advanced machines, high tech machines that are becoming online in the timber mills, we’ll be able to now train workers through that so that’s the future of workers and also current employees we’ll be able to put through these opportunities.

“The last part is the access to technology that can help with our training so we have got that new harvesting simulator, a single grip harvester costs about a million dollars for a company to buy.

“If you’re unskilled and never operated it before, it can be dangerous is you’re cutting down whole trees so instead there is this extra opportunity now to train young people through.

“They can get in a simulator, they can see if it’s a job for them, they can use it for career exploration, if they’re interested they can spend some time understanding how the controls work in a controlled, safe environment before they enter the proper cab.”

Group Training Employment general manager Greg Megaw said Mount Gambier’s Andrew Norman had been newly appointed to the Field Officer role in October and was already out meeting with local businesses.

“Andrew is out there in the field developing those all-important relationships with industry, to talk about skill gaps and understand the current and future employment needs of the sector, whether it’s milling, silviculture, or harvesting and haulage businesses,” he said.

“As a GTE Field Officer, Andrew will provide a one-stop-shop for the forestry sector to recruit, promote and employ trainees, including facilitation, monitoring of training and pastoral care.

“Through Andrew’s role, we’ll also see greater promotion and education of forest industry vocations at schools and job networks across the Limestone Coast.”