By NSW Premier Mike Baird @MikeBairdMP
I visited the Sydney Metro construction site at Rouse Hill in Sydney’s north west this week to announce new jobs and training targets that will apply for major projects across the state.
With so many building projects underway across the state we have a unique opportunity to help young people enter the workforce, and allow existing workers the chance to learn new skills.
We want to ensure the benefits of our $73 billion infrastructure program extend well beyond the delivery of major projects by helping more workers learn new skills while on the job.
The Sydney Metro is Australia’s largest public transport project and will be the first project to apply the new targets, with others to follow.
This year alone, the Government is able to subsidise 550,000 vocational training places and we know how proud our employees are to be part of Australia’s biggest public transport project so it’s great to have the Sydney Metro taking a leading role in providing further training for its workers.
The Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program will help fill skills shortages in the construction industry by setting a range of minimum targets that major projects will be required to meet. The targets will require 20 per cent of workers across a project to be ‘learning workers’ and 20 per cent of all trades positions will need to be set aside for apprentices. There will be targets around the employment of women in trade-related work, part of the total value of each project will need to support Aboriginal participation, and eight per cent of workers will need to be under 25 years of age.
New South Wales is experiencing a once-in-a-generation infrastructure boom and this initiative to clearly outline training and employment targets will give existing workers the chance to upskill, and will significantly increase the representation of young people, women and indigenous people in the construction industry. We’re also looking at ways projects can employ and train people from the local area and more details can be found at, www.industry.nsw.gov.au
In other news, a recent health report card shows the state’s hospitals are admitting more patients and performing more elective surgeries than ever before.
The Bureau of Health Information (BHI) quarterly report shows there were nearly 480,000 hospital admissions – the highest level ever reported and an increase of 4.7 per cent compared to the same time last year. There were 58,583 elective surgery procedures performed – an increase of 7.2 per cent.
The figures show hospitals are continuing to perform at a high standard despite major demand across the board, and shows doctors, nurses and hospital staff are continuing to do a great job caring for the largest number of patients anywhere across the country.