Skills eFlash #129

Date: 13-Aug-2024

1. National Skills Week

Now in its 14th year, National Skills Week recognises, celebrates and informs on the diversity, benefits and achievements a VET pathway can offer individuals and businesses.

National Skills Week was founded on four key areas of focus, notably to dispel the negative perceptions that surround vocational education and training (VET), highlight its diversity, the career pathways, and the success stories that emanate from VET, plus bring focus to emerging skills needs, and industry trends.

There are many events planned throughout the week as well as resources that employers can access freely.

The resources include an newly updated schools kit which can be downloaded.

There are useful links through to other groups that can help with promotion of your organisation or provide further information around VET and opportunities for apprenticeships/traineeships.

2. Operator and Young Operator of the Year Award Winners Announced

For those who may have missed the news in our regular eFlashes and on LinkedIn, the winners of the 2024 Young Operator of the Year and Operator of the Year (Civil/Allrounder) Awards were announced at the WIOA QLD Conference on 25 July.

The 2024 Young Operator of the Year is Luke Reid from Bundaberg Regional Council. Luke impressed his supervisors and workmates with his rigorous work ethic and commitment to safety as evidenced by over 1,200 actions in the work management system over his two-year tenure with BRC. All Luke’s actions are accompanied by comprehensive notes and requisite safety documentation, reinforced by commendations from colleagues on his adherence to safe working practices. As well as the trophy and title, Luke received an all-expenses paid opportunity to join the WIOA delegation on their next New Zealand tour.

The 2024 Operator of the Year (Civil) is Ross Watt, Supervisor Water & Sewerage Infrastructure at Gympie Regional Council. You’re likely to find Ross repairing a public hazard he spotted on the school run (his tools always ready in the van) or leading educational sessions with the community, effectively communicating the importance of water management. His nomination form lists a string of achievements including best practice processes and operations, implementing new systems for monitoring and managing water pressure, fostering a collaborative and motivated work environment, contributing to the implementation of a fatigue management strategy and more. Ross received a trophy and bragging rights, along with professional development opportunities fully funded by qldwater.

There must be something in the water at Bundaberg Regional Council with Josh van Hout joining Luke in the limelight as the 2024 WIOA Operator of the Year. Josh is an incredibly dedicated teacher and mentor to the operations team at Bundy and a huge asset to the water sector as a whole.

We would also like to make a special mention of a Team of the Year nomination we received for the team at Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council for the way in which they came together to restore community supply in the aftermath of Cyclone Jasper. In the nomination form, Wujal Wujal CEO said their commitment to being part of the process to achieve long-term water solutions fostered a sense of confidence and reassurance. The Team of the Year Award will be selected by WIOA later in the year.

Congratulations to all nominees and our very worthy winners for 2024!

3. qldwater Annual Forum 2024

The program for the qldwater Annual Forum has now been finalised and we are pleased to announce the Hon. Dr Anthony Lynham, Chairperson at Seqwater, and Adrian Hart, Head of Construction and Infrastructure at Oxford Economics as our two keynote presenters.

Other presentation topics include insurance trends for PFAS and emerging contaminants, detailed asset assessments in remote South-West Local Governments, contaminant liabilities associated with infrastructure development, the real cost of third-party damages to Australia’s utilities, the potential of wastewater, cyber security, Harmful Algal Blooms and more.

The Forum will take place on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 August 2024 at our offices in Eagle Farm, Brisbane.

You can find more information and register on our website.

4. Calculations Course Released

The next in a series of introductory courses developed in partnership with Trility is now available on the Water Training website. The course is available at no cost to qldwater members.

The Trility Calculations course is designed to develop your knowledge and skills to help you perform accurate calculations quickly and confidently. Thanks to Charles Dyer from Tablelands Regional Council for reviewing the course and contributing a couple of explanatory videos along the way.

Topics covered in this course include:

Measurement and units
Area and volume
Size and significance of numbers
Concentration and percentage
Flow and pressure

5. Micro-Credentials EOI extension - SCADA

The first two deliveries of the 2024 Micro-Credential courses were delivered in Cairns last week with around 20 water industry workers from across the region gathering to learn how to make sense of data and operationalise the Drinking Water Quality Management Plan. The courses were delivered by James Howey from Viridis.

There are a handful of spots left for the micro credential course on SCADA, to be delivered by Murray Thompson on 4 and 5 September 2024. The introductory course will be delivered over two days at the qldwater offices in Eagle Farm on 4-5 September, with refreshments provided.

We hosted a webinar during Micro Credential May, where Murray provided an outline of what learners could expect. For those that missed the webinar, the recording can be accessed here.

The updated EOI form is available here. Numbers are strictly limited for the course and we are close to capacity so please do not hesitate to register if you have an interest.

The Micro-Credentialing Program is part of the Queensland Workforce Strategy 2022-2032 and is proudly supported and funded by the Queensland Government.

6. RSL Partnership – Skilled Candidates Available

The RSL Employment team have shared the latest list of skilled candidates looking for employment across all regions. Those previously looking for employment can be viewed here.

The RSL Employment Program works with employers across Australia to assist ex-serving and partners of current and ex-serving Defence members in making connections and ultimately finding meaningful employment.

Our members can also place adverts on the RSL Employment Boards without charge and the dedicated RSL will seek to align the roles with their skilled cohorts. In the first instance if interested members can please reach out to skills@qldwater.com.au, we will coordinate with the RSL team. Just copy and paste the URL of the advert and qldwater and the RSL will do the rest.

You can encourage your recruitment teams to forward adverts through at any time. These can be at any level in your organisation, to even the most senior roles aligned with the water/wastewater or network teams.

7. DEWR Hiring Outside the Box Webinar Series

The Department of Employment and Workforce Relations (DEWR) has been running a series of webinars in their Hiring Outside the Box series.

You'll learn about alternative recruitment practices to develop your workforce. Hear from industry experts and employers about practical strategies they’ve used, including the benefits of tapping into new pools of talent, and hiring a diverse and inclusive team.

All webinars (both those upcoming and previous recordings) can be accessed at the DEWR website.

8. Ongoing Invitation - BuildSkills Australia – Make a Case for Change

A reminder that the new Jobs and Skills Council, BuildSkills Australia, is looking for sector feedback on the issues that they need to look at around training packages and workforce planning.

George Wall, National Manager Water Sector Industry Engagement made a call to the sector to engage with the BuildSkills Australia Make a Case for Change system, which lodges sector issues and allows BSA to assess issues that require positive action.

We would encourage members to engage and submit issues via this link.

This enters the issues into the BSA system, allowing investigation, follow up and feedback. It is important that members lodge issues, whatever they may be, so that BSA can examine them.

Be as specific as you can with the changes you’d like to see – this provides intelligence to BSA on issues troubling the sector.