Industry Tackles Skills Shortage
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Architects who have had difficulty in finding bricklayers will appreciate the need to boost numbers of bricklayers Australia-wide. To address this need, The Australian Brick and Blocklaying Training Foundation Ltd (ABBTF) is working hard to improve and maintain quality in bricklaying. Read on for more about the state-based schemes in operation.
The Chairman of the ABBTF, Lindsay Partridge explains; "this initiative sees the trade promoted through schools and the general community, while providing incentives and support for people in pre-apprenticeship training and subsidies for the employment of apprentices via group schemes and growth programmes."
To date the scheme has seen a significant increase in numbers of pre-apprentices enrolled and apprentices both enrolled and directly employed.
A variety of state-based schemes have previously been in operation however the Foundation is the first move to provide a national framework to address the shortage of bricklayers. The strategies adopted are funded by a levy on bricks and blocks which is equally matched by the brick and block manufacturers. The levy adds less than $20 to the cost of a brick veneer home.
