Monday, 23 April 2018
MEMBER for Northern Tablelands and Assistant Minister for Skills Adam Marshall today announced local councils across the region were set to upskill and grow following the statewide rollout of a new $4.6 million vocational education and skills program.
Mr Marshall said the program, called the Local Government Skills Strategy (LGSS), was a fantastic opportunity to create stronger career pathways within local government in country NSW.
“This program is all about giving councils every opportunity to build the skills in their employees they need to operate as effectively and efficiently as possible,” Mr Marshall said.
“It will help existing local council employees improve their skills through full or part-time training and it will also provide opportunities for more people to get into local government careers.
“This new program will be rolled out to Moree Plains, Gwydir, Inverell, Glen Innes Severn, Armidale Regional and Uralla councils, giving them the chance and necessary support to boost the skills of their current workers and take on new trainees and apprentices.”
Mr Marshall said the decision to roll out the program across the whole State followed positive feedback from a pilot program, which ran between May and October last year.
“As a former Mayor, I recognise the significance of local government as major employer in smaller communities and I want councils to be able to recruit more people and retain their best workers,” he said.
“I want people to look to rural and regional towns and think ‘I could have a great life there’ and the role of local councils and the jobs they provide plays a big part in achieving that.
“As part of the broader roll out the government is encouraging councils to increase their intake of apprentices and trainees by 10 per cent per year over the next two financial years.”
For more information on the program, please visit www.training.nsw.gov.au/